Unstandardized Choropleth Map

http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/308-the-pop-vs-soda-map

Unstandardized maps are obviously choropleth maps that are unordered, in other words, they display information cannot be ranked; no category is higher or lower than another. I found this map to be interesting because of the topic that it measures is pretty funny and that is generic names for soft drinks. The term “pop” clearly dominates the map and takes over half of the country in the north. The term “coke” is used in the majority of the south excluding all of California and Arizona, and the southern half of Nevada. California, Arizona, southern half of Nevada, and the northeast corner of the country call soft drinks soda. In addition, there is the other category that is very sparse in the country which only triggers my curiosity on what else could you possibly name a soft drink?

Isopleth

http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chem/CHEM869V/CHEM869VLinks/weather.about.com/newsissues/weather/library/weekly/aa071600a.htm

An isopleth is a contour line that connects points that have an equal value of a certain variable at a certain time and in a certain area. This variable can be many things including temperature and population. Isopleths also show a continuous distribution of data. This isopleths shows the hydrogen ion concentration as pH from measurements made at the field laboratories in 1998. The highest levels of field pH are represented by shades of green with the darkest shade being the greatest, and the shades of orange represent the lowest levels of field pH with the darkest being the least. The western side of the United States presents the highest levels of field pH, while the eastern side of the United States presents the lowest levels of field pH.

Correlation Matrix

https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/UFA.HTM

The correlation matrix is a matrix that displays the relationship between all pairs of data sets.  These relationships range from -1 to 1 with 1 representing the greatest correlation and -1 representing the least correlation. This table represents 10 things GNP per capita, trade, power, stability, freedom of opposition, foreign conflict, U.S. agreement, defense budget, Percent GNP for defense, and international law acceptance. This shows that the greatest correlation is between GNP per capita and trade. The least correlation is between freedom of opposition and percent GNP for defense.

Nominal Area Choropleth Map

http://politicalmaps.org/2008-house-of-representatives-election-maps/

Nominal Area Choropleth Maps are thematic maps that show areal data with the use of colors to distinguish different areas. The only data that is represented in these maps are nominal data. This map shows the House of Representatives Election map of 2008. This map displays that the democrats are the majority party with 255 votes and gained 20 seats. The Republican party was the minority and obviously lost 20 seats with the Democrats victory. There is no obvious trend to which sections of the country are Democratic or Republican. 

Box Plot

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/boxplot.htm

A box plot is a graphic representation of data in the shape of a rectangle. In addition, it has extensions, which indicate the maximum and minimum values, and have markers showing the median, and the first and third quartiles. This box plot is comparing the energy output of four machines. The results show that the machines output has a significant effect on energy in accordance to location and variation. Machine 3 has the greatest energy response with an output of about 72.5. Machine 4 has the lowers energy response with an output of about 67.5. 

Scatterplot

http://www.stat.yale.edu/Courses/1997-98/101/scatter.htm

A scatterplot is best for showing the extent of a correlation and making sense of that correlation. If the y-axis variable increases as the x-axis increases the correlation is positive. If the y-axis variable decreases as the x-axis variable increases or vice-versa, the correlation is negative. If there is no correlation, between the variables the points appear randomly placed on the coordinate plane. This scatterplot displays the correlation between the price of a diamond and the size of diamonds in carats.  The trend shows that as the size of the diamond increases in carats, the price also increases.

Univariate Choropleth Map

http://www.dailyyonder.com/poverty-rate-jumps-rural-america/2009/11/23/2466

Univariate choropleth maps, like the title suggests, only displays a single set of data. This maps data set is poverty in rural America in 2008. The highest poverty percentage is represented by red and then fades toward the average, and the lower percentage starts at a pale green and progresses to a dark green color. The trend in this map is that counties with higher rates of poverty tend to be in the south and northwest, and counties with lower rates of poverty tend to be in the north.

Standardized Choropleth Map

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/92f0138m/2008003/figures/5200001-eng.htm

Standardized choropleth maps are just the opposite of unstandardized choropleth maps in that the data is ordered, and the information can be ranked. This map displays the percentage of the population that is age 14 and under in Canada by the 2006 Census Division. This map shows that the majority has 36.7% of the population being represented by kids 14 and under. The southern parts of the country have a lower percentage.

Similarity Matrix

http://cgi.mtc.sri.com/Cluster-Lab/

The purpose of the similarity matrix is to show the similarity between the number of data points. Each element of the similarity matrix has a measure of similarity between the data points. This is a behavioral clustering similarity matrix with pixel (I,j) represents the similarity between the i-th and the j-th synopsis. A red pixel indicates that the similarity is close to 1 indicating that the synopsis are nearly identical, while the blue pixels represent that there is little similarity.

Stem and Leaf Plot

http://mainland.cctt.org/mathsummer/josephbond/stemandplots/stem-and-leaf_std.htm

The Stem and leaf plot is called stem and leaf because each data value is split into two categories, the stem and the leaf.  The leaf is generally the last digit and the stem is usually the other digit. Stem and leaf plots are meant to show the spread of data rather than listing a bunch of numbers. This stem and leaf plot shows the income data for countries in Western Africa. The lowest income data is around 80, the mean falling in between 300 and 500, and the highest being around 900.

Isohyet

http://rainfall.geography.hawaii.edu/downloads.html

The isohyet is similar to the isobar and the isotach but instead of pressure and wind, it has a line that connects points that have equal amounts of rainfall in a given period. This isohyet shows the average monthly rainfall on the Island of Kaus.

Isopach

http://www.geo.mtu.edu/volcanoes/central_america/nicaragua/cerro_negro/gvn/cerro_negro.v20n11_12.html

An isopach map shows lines of equal thickness in a layer and that thickness is measured perpendicular to the boundaries. This isopach map shows ash fall from Cerro Negro on November 19, 1995.

Bilateral Graph

http://www.energytribune.com/974/green-energy-advocate-amory-lovins-guru-or-fakir#sthash.o114zo0G.dpbs

As suggested in the name, a bilateral graph is a graphs that displays the relationship between to or more different sets of variables. This graph is showing the correlation between energy used per capita and energy use per dollar GDP from 1980 to 2030. As you can see there since 1980 there was a steady, yet significant decrease in energy use per dollar GDP. Also, since 1980 there was a slow and steady increase in energy use per capita.

Accumulative Line Graph or Lorenz Curve

http://randomperturbation.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/the-lorenz-curve/

The Lorenz curve is a graphical representation of wealth distribution, for instance what percentage of a nations population possesses what percentage of the nations wealth. On the graph there is a straight line that is diagonally increasing and it is what represents perfect equality, as in everyone has an equal amount of the wealth.  The curved line beneath the straight line is what is considered the Lorenz curve.  This line shows that the distribution actually is in the nation, i.e. the inequality of wealth distribution.

Index Value Plot

http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/index.php?id=real&sid=w__plot&r=nc

Index value plots are graphical depictions of a line according to data through a an equation. This plot is a time series plot of the stream flow of North Caroline.  The graph shows data since July 2, 1999 and is measured by wet, normal, and dry according to the average stream flow index. You can see that from 2001-2003 it was dry, then changed to wet from 2003-2007, then dipped back to dry for around three years and then stayed in the normal range.

Population Profile

http://www.yorku.ca/anderson/geog2500-07/2500topic8/topic8.htm

The purpose of a population profile is to show a number of people as a function of their ages, more than likely it is used to profile a country. This data can be useful because it can provide information in areas that may need help. For instance, if you notice that there is a very small population of older people there may be a lack of resources or services readily available that could benefit the older population, and they are struggling. In this graph, we see three graphs comparing the population age of Kenya, the U.S, and Canada. The Kenya map shows they are currently having rapid population growth. Both the United States and Canadian maps have bulges in the middle most likely resulting from the baby boomers after World War II.

Digital Raster Graphics

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/natureofgeoinfo/c6_p6.html

DRG or digital raster graphics are raster images of standard quadrangle format USGS topographic maps. “A DRG is a raster image of a scanned U.S. Geological Survey topographic or planimetric map including the collar information georeferenced to the UTM grid.” The image below is a scanned USGS topographic map and is a useful backdrop for data to be interpreted.

Star Plot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MER_Star_Plot.gif

A star plot is a way of showing multivariate data involving two or more quantities. Each branch off of the plot represents a dimension in the data set.  In the star plot the center represents the most desirable results. This star plot is showing MER IDD and automated designs, illustrating that improvements in one metric often come at the expense of others. By looking at the shapes of the designs, you can tell that designs 3 and 4 had the best outcomes because the points show that just one system doesn’t have to sacrifice for another. On this graph the things that are being measured are time, mass, actuator saturation, trajectory completion, link deflection, accuracy, and collision.

Isotach

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/btv/events/28Oct2008/ua2.php

An isotach is very similar to an isobar except for they measure two different things but in the same way. An idobar is a line that connects points where equal pressure has been recorded. An isotach is a line that connects points where winds of equal speeds have been recorded. This isotach shows northwesterly winds of 75-100 kt across the North and South Dakota as well as Montana with broadly diffluent flow downstream across the mid and upper Mississippi River Valley.

Histogram

http://test.cita.illinois.edu/aria/longdesc/longdesc1.php

The histogram is a graphical display of data that is grouped into ranges and then arranged into rectangular bars.  The histogram in similar to the bar graph except for each bar represents a range of data. This histogram shows the heights of black Cherry trees.  The results show that the average black cherry tree is between 75 and 80 feet tall.

Bivariate Choropleth Map

http://proceedings.esri.com/library/userconf/proc99/proceed/papers/pap171/p171.htm

Bivariate mapping displays two variables on a single map by combining the two different sets of graphic symbols. This map displays both the data of the population of 1997 and the data of the median house value in that time. This map has no consistent findings because in some areas it seems that higher population leads to a higher median house value and in other it does not indicate that.

Isobars

https://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/dstreme/extras/usr_guide/Pressure.html

An isobar is a line that connects points on a map that have equal pressure. These isobars are represented by the solid blue contour that you can see on the map above. This map also shows that the pressure is lower in the north east and north was parts of the country compared to the rest of the country. High pressure indicates that the weather is fair and sunny because are tends to dry out. Low pressure indicates that the weather is cloudy and rainy, these situations bring the stormiest weather because the area rises and then condenses into clouds and rain. Also since the air is moving from higher pressure to lower it can result in windy conditions as air rushes between the two.

Parallel Coordinate Graph

http://staplecrops.com/2010/07/

A parallel coordinate graph shows each row in the data table as a line. Then each attribute of a row is represented by a point on that line. This looks very similar to a line graph but it is similar to plot as well. This graph shows a data visualization of 50 Cent’s career from 1999 to 2008. The data included is his word count, syllable count, polysyllabic word count, sentence count, flesch, and smog. This graph shows that 50 Cent has had a stable career and has been producing music, by produced more in the beginning of his rap career.

LIDAR

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s798b.htm

The LIDAR is a remotes sensing technology that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and evaluating the light that reflects back. This particular image is of ground zero on September 27, 2001 a few weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This technology was useful in the situation because regular images were cloudy from the debris and because there was so many little pieces everywhere it was hard to see the actual level of what still existed. This image clearly shows what was left from all the destruction and what surrounding buildings survived the attacks.

Unclassed Choropleth Map

http://gis.depaul.edu/shwang/teaching/geo381/LN9.htm

When reading unclassed choropleth maps it is harder to tell how much data is actually being represented compared to classed choropleth maps which includes the key. However, generally most people will still be able to understand the higher percentages are most likely in the darker areas and the lower percentages are in the lighter areas. However in this map they did not even include the data being measured so the viewer has literally no idea what they are looking at.

Classed Choropleth Map

http://gis.depaul.edu/shwang/teaching/geo381/LN9.htm

Choropleth maps are incredibly easy to read, the data is represented by different shades of the same color and generally the highest number is represented by the darkest color. The classed choropleth map shoes you the percentage key of what the colors are representing.  Here the lightest shade does represent the lowest percentage and the darker green represents the highest percentage. This map is measuring the percentage of married couples and shows that in the urban setting there are less married couples and in the urban areas there is a higher percentage of married couples. This may be due to the fact that there is higher number of jobs in downtown areas and people may be too busy to settle down and get married because of their career.