Interactive Animation to Visually Explore Time Series of Satellite Imagery

Are users able to extract relevant information from an animation? There is mixed evidence about the usefulness of animations in the geosciences, and little is known about how users work with animations. This paper focuses on particular aspects: variables of the temporal dimension of a running animation, the dynamic visualization variables. Research emphasis was on methods to use these variables to encode geodata and to enable the user to manipulate the dynamic properties of the animation by interaction with these variables. Vegetation monitoring has been used as case study. A prototype animation environment, designed to explore large time series, has been qualitatively evaluated by experts in monitoring. Data collection methods used are the think aloud method, interviews and a questionnaire. The evaluation revealed user strategies, tool use and the role of effects of animation use. Results indicate that users are able to extract relevant information in a monitoring context.

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