Force directed flow map layout

A flow map is a thematic map that is been used to emphasize the spatial pattern of one or more geographic attributes. Although this kind of thematic maps is often drawn by hand, a few automatic computer algorithms exist. In this research paper, we proposed a novel algorithm for the automatic generation of flow maps that is theoretically grounded on physics' laws to describe the motion and force of attraction or repulsion between points. Properties associated to these laws are then used to merge different flows, as well as for the improvement of the maps' visual quality. Finally, we evaluate our work by generating a set of flow maps and by doing a comparison with flow maps produced by existing algorithms.

[1]  Peter Eades,et al.  A Heuristic for Graph Drawing , 1984 .

[2]  Terry A. Slocum.  Thematic Cartography and Visualization , 1998 .

[3]  Bettina Speckmann,et al.  Flow Map Layout via Spiral Trees , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[4]  Bettina Speckmann,et al.  Angle-Restricted Steiner Arborescences for Flow Map Layout , 2011, Algorithmica.

[5]  Peter Eades,et al.  An Algorithm for Drawing General Undirected Graphs , 1984 .

[6]  Kim Marriott,et al.  Integrating Edge Routing into Force-Directed Layout , 2006, GD.

[7]  P. Hanrahan,et al.  Flow map layout , 2005, IEEE Symposium on Information Visualization, 2005. INFOVIS 2005..

[8]  Satoru Kawai,et al.  An Algorithm for Drawing General Undirected Graphs , 1989, Inf. Process. Lett..

[9]  Jeffrey S. Torguson,et al.  Cartography , 2019, Dictionary of Geotourism.

[10]  Waldo R. Tobler,et al.  Experiments In Migration Mapping By Computer , 1987 .

[11]  Andrew Harley,et al.  Cambridge Dictionaries Online , 2000 .

[12]  Hong Zhou,et al.  Geometry-Based Edge Clustering for Graph Visualization , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[13]  Michael Friendly,et al.  Re-Visions of Minard , 1999 .

[14]  Stefan Wrobel,et al.  Visual analytics tools for analysis of movement data , 2007, SKDD.

[15]  Edward M. Reingold,et al.  Graph drawing by force‐directed placement , 1991, Softw. Pract. Exp..

[16]  Jarke J. van Wijk,et al.  Force‐Directed Edge Bundling for Graph Visualization , 2009, Comput. Graph. Forum.

[17]  Ayellet Tal,et al.  Multi-Level Graph Layout on the GPU , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.