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Home : Geovisualization

Geovisualization

Over the past decade, improvements in both technology and our understanding of human cognition have resulted in the development of myriad innovative methods for visualizing geospatial data, processes, analyses, and models. Collectively, these new methods are referred to as geovisualization techniques, and they have provided exciting new ways for synthesizing and understanding geospatial data.

Due to improvements in both technology and our understanding of human cognition, myriad innovative methods have emerged for the visualization of geospatial data, processes, analyses, and models. Collectively, these new visual improvements are referred to as geovisualization techniques, and are providing exciting new ways for synthesis and understanding.

Some of the research in geography at Minnesota includes animation and four-dimensional cartographies (in particular for historical geospatial data), user interface design, the visual effects of geographic scale and cartographic generalization, and the visualization of multivariable data.

Specific questions under investigation include: How can one both collect and represent localized knowledge in visual (cartographic) form? How can the intrinsic data quality and error of geospatial data be visualized for both population and biophysical problems? What are effective methods of visualizing complex spatial relationships, such as those between hazardous materials and vulnerable populations? How can one visualize complex human spatial processes, such as migration, social inequity, and spatial mismatch? How can biophysical processes, such as vegetation change and lake-level change, be visualized?