Wind and currents 2000: A new tool for the visualisation of vectorial time-series data

• Published in: Computers & geosciences 2001-06, Vol.27 (5), p.597-600
• Main Authors: Woolfe, Ken J., Stewart, Lachlan K., Heap, Andrew D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models; Marine
• ISSN: 0098-3004; 1873-7803
• DOI: 10.1016/S0098-3004(00)00147-3

Time-series data recording the movement of air or water (velocity and direction) frequently are used in meteorological and oceanographic field studies. The parameter pairings of velocity and direction lend themselves to presentation in vector form, and the interpretation of such data often is aided through visualisation. A popular technique involves displaying observations that relate to a specific time interval as vectors in polar coordinates. Visual comparison of polar plots for consecutive time-intervals allows analysis of temporal variability. Similarly, spatial variability and flow patterns may be determined by considering synchronous data from multiple sites. Zwartz (1992) and Stewart et al. (in press) developed computer programs that utilise "circular plots" to visualise directional data contained within one or more files on a single graph. Here, we extend this method of presentation by scaling the length of the directional line to represent vector magnitude. This multi-ring graphical format is particularly useful for the visualisation and comparison of wind and current time-series data. It is possible to concurrently view and directly compare data associated with (a) a specific interval of time that is common to a selection of files (sites), or (b) consecutive time intervals, from a single file (site). "Wind and Currents 2000" (WC2000) incorporates this expansion to circular plots to facilitate visualisation of vectorial, time-series data.