A 3D Visualization of Multiple Time Series on Maps

In the analysis of spatially-referenced time-dependent data, gaining an understanding of the spatio-temporal distributions and relationships among the attributes in the data can be quite difficult. We present a visualization technique that addresses some of the challenges involved in visually exploring and analyzing the distributions of geo-spatial time-varying data. We have developed a pictorial representation that is based on the standard space-time cube metaphor and provides in a single display the overview and details of a large number of time-varying quantities. Our approach involves three-dimensional graphical widgets that intuitively represent profiles of the time-varying quantities and can be plotted on a geographic map to expose interesting spatio-temporal distributions of the data. We show how combining our visualization technique with standard data exploration features can assist in the exploration of salient patterns in a data set. The visualization approach described here supports expeditious exploration of multiple data sets; this in turn assists the process of building initial hypotheses about the attributes in a data set and enhances the user's ability to pose and explore interesting questions about the data.