Schematization of Node-Link Diagrams and Drawing Techniques for Geo-referenced Networks

Networks can be represented as node-link diagram. In geo-referenced networks, the used node-link diagram has nodes placed accordingly with geographical criteria. Different graph drawing techniques can be applied on such layout to improve their readability. This work proposes a systematization of node link layouts and graph drawing techniques. We use the proposed schematization to classify geographic node-link diagrams. A unified classification of layouts and drawing techniques has several advantages. On the developer perspective, the design of a specific layout is driven by the understanding of graph drawing techniques. On the user perspective, graph drawing techniques applied to improve the layout readability are specifically designed for a subset of layouts.