methods to enhance climate - nasa · methods to enhance climate change imagery for communication...
TRANSCRIPT
Methods to Enhance ClimateChange Imagery for Communication
Robert Simmon¹; Kevin Ward¹; Michael J. Carlowicz¹; Jesse Allen¹; Holli Riebeek¹;Paul Przyborski¹; Michon Scott²
1. Sigma Space Corporation, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.2. University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
[email protected] of measurements, model results, and physical processes can be powerful for enhancing understanding of complex scientific topics. However, many of the graphics that are used in public communication were designed for scientific peers, and not lay audiences. These graphics can often be improved by applying principles drawn from graphic design and information visualization. Redesigned graphics from a NASA press release and the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report demonstrate some of these concepts. Examples drawn from NASA’s Earth Observatory web site provide additonal illustrations.
U11B-0017earthobservatory.nasa.gov
5
10
15
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2007——2008———
1979–2000 mean————
Arctic Daily Sea Ice Extent (millions of square kilometers)
2 standard deviations1 standard deviation
1980 1990 2000 2010Year
-1.0
-0.5
0
0.5
1.0
Temperature Anomaly (˚C)
lower tropospheremiddle troposphere
lower stratosphere
Pinatubo
El Niño
El Chichón
Sea Surface Height Anomaly (mm)
-220 -110 0 110 220
High-resolutionland mask for print.
Lines showuncertainty clearly.
Written quantitiesreplace stacked bar chart.
Gray fill valuesemphasize data.
Perceptually-based color palettepreserves relationships between values.
Equal-area projection preservesthe relative importance of features,
especially at high latitudes.
Left-justified textis easiest to read.
Diverging color palette makespositive and negative anomalies
immediately apparent.
Too-thick coastlines.
Original
Redesign
Original Examples from NASA’s Earth Observatory
BibliographyBrewer, Cynthia. Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users.Redlands: ESRI Press, 2005.
Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. Third Edition. Vancouver: Hartley and Marks Publishers, 2004.
Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips. Graphic Design: The New Basics. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2008.
Tufte, Edward. Envisioning Information. Cheshire: Graphics Press, 1990.
Tufte, Edward. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Second Edition.Cheshire: Graphics Press, 2001.
Ware, Colin. Information Visualization, Perception for Design. Second Edition. San Francisco: Elsevier, 2004.
Redesign
Artifacts from low-quality JPEG compression unsuitablefor republication.
Distinct colorsease readability.
Labeling between ticksreduces ambiguity.
Fine and thick linesshow original and smoothed
data simultaneously.
Variations in fontweight and size create aheirarchy of importance.
Thick framedetracts from data.
Resampled imagedoes not print well.
Statistical variability insteadof “spaghetti graph” to showhistorical values.
Direct labeling iseasier to interpret
than a key.
Dashed linescreate visual noise.
Gutro, Rob. (2011, January 13). NASA Satellites Capture a Stronger La Nina.Accessed November 28, 2011. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/strong-la-nina.html
Forster, P., et al. 2007. Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. et al. (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. 136.
Riebeek, Holli. (2010, June 3). Global Warming. Accessed November 28, 2011. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/
Scott, Michon. (2009, April 20). Sea Ice. Accessed November 28, 2011. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/SeaIce/
Radiative Forcing of Climate Between 1750 & 2005
-1 0 1 2
Carbon dioxideRadiative Forcing Terms
Other greenhouse gases*Stratospheric ozoneTropospheric ozoneStratospheric water vaporLand useBlack carbon on snowAerosol direct effect
Linear contrailsAerosol cloud albedo effect
Solar irradiance (natural)
Total net human activities
*CH4 (0.47 W/m²), N₂O (0.14 W/m²), and halocarbons (0.28 W/m²).
Radiative Forcing (Watts per square meter)
Stacked barsare ambiguous.