Intuitive Colormaps for Environmental Visualization

Visualizations benefit from the use of intuitive colors, enabling an observer to make use of more automatic, subconscious channels. In this paper, we apply the concept of intuitive color association to the generation of thematic colormaps for the environmental sciences. In particular, we provide custom sets of colorscales for water, atmosphere, land, and vegetation. These have been integrated into the online tool: ColorMoves: The Environment to enable the environmental scientist to tailor them precisely to the data and tasks in a simple drag-and-drop workflow.

[1]  James P. Ahrens,et al.  Interactive Colormapping: Enabling Multiple Data Range and Detailed Views of Ocean Salinity , 2016, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[2]  Philip K. Robertson,et al.  A methodology for scientific data visualisation: choosing representations based on a natural scene paradigm , 1990, Proceedings of the First IEEE Conference on Visualization: Visualization `90.

[3]  Catherine Havasi,et al.  Automated Color Selection Using Semantic Knowledge , 2010, AAAI Fall Symposium: Commonsense Knowledge.

[4]  L. Berry.  The Interaction of Color Realism and Pictorial Recall Memory. , 1991 .

[5]  Cynthia A. Brewer,et al.  ColorBrewer.org: An Online Tool for Selecting Colour Schemes for Maps , 2003 .

[6]  Maureen C. Stone,et al.  A field guide to digital color , 2003 .

[7]  H. Wainer,et al.  An Empirical Inquiry concerning Human Understanding of Two-Variable Color Maps , 1980 .

[8]  Stephen M. Pizer,et al.  Contrast Transmission In Medical Image Display , 1982, Other Conferences.

[9]  Stephen M. Pizer,et al.  Intensity mappings to linearize display devices , 1981 .

[10]  J. C. Dietrich,et al.  A High-Resolution Coupled Riverine Flow, Tide, Wind, Wind Wave, and Storm Surge Model for Southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Part II: Synoptic Description and Analysis of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita , 2010 .

[11]  J. Albers,et al.  Interaction of Color , 1971 .

[12]  J. Davidoff,et al.  Color categories are not universal: replications and new evidence from a stone-age culture. , 2000, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[13]  Haim Levkowitz,et al.  The Design and Evaluation of Color Scales for Image Data , 1992 .

[14]  John D. Hunter,et al.  Matplotlib: A 2D Graphics Environment , 2007, Computing in Science & Engineering.

[15]  B. E. Trumbo,et al.  A Theory for Coloring Bivariate Statistical Maps , 1981 .

[16]  Colin Ware,et al.  Color sequences for univariate maps: theory, experiments and principles , 1988, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[17]  Samuel S. Silva,et al.  Using color in visualization: A survey , 2011, Comput. Graph..

[18]  David Borland,et al.  Rainbow Color Map (Still) Considered Harmful , 2007, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[19]  Bernice E. Rogowitz,et al.  Data visualization: the end of the rainbow , 1998 .

[20]  J. Itten.  The art of color : the subjective experience and objective rationale of color , 1973 .

[21]  James P. Ahrens,et al.  Colormaps that Improve Perception of High-Resolution Ocean Data , 2015, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[22]  Johji Tajima.  Uniform color scale applications to computer graphics , 1982, Comput. Graph. Image Process..

[23]  M. Bajo.  Semantic facilitation with pictures and words. , 1988, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[24]  Daniel A. Keim,et al.  ColorCAT: Guided Design of Colormaps for Combined Analysis Tasks , 2015, EuroVis.

[25]  Jeffrey Heer,et al.  Selecting Semantically‐Resonant Colors for Data Visualization , 2013, Comput. Graph. Forum.

[26]  Charles D. Hansen,et al.  A Survey of Colormaps in Visualization , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[27]  Jeffrey Heer,et al.  Color naming models for color selection, image editing and palette design , 2012, CHI.

[28]  E. C. Dalrymple-Alford.  Associative facilitation and interference in the Stroop color-word task , 1972 .

[29]  Patrick J. Bartlein,et al.  The end of the rainbow? Color schemes for improved data graphics , 2004 .

[30]  Philip K. Robertson,et al.  The Generation of Color Sequences for Univariate and Bivariate Mapping , 1986, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[31]  Kenneth R. Sloan,et al.  Color map techniques , 1979 .

[32]  Roxana Bujack,et al.  Strategic Initiatives for Flow Visualization in Environmental Sciences , 2016, EnvirVis@EuroVis.

[33]  Bernice E. Rogowitz,et al.  A rule-based tool for assisting colormap selection , 1995, Proceedings Visualization '95.

[34]  S. Guhathakurta,et al.  Impact of urban form and design on mid-afternoon microclimate in Phoenix Local Climate Zones , 2014 .

[35]  Colin M. Macleod.  Half a century of research on the Stroop effect: an integrative review. , 1991, Psychological bulletin.