TY - JOUR
T1 - RGB plots as a tool for the simultaneous visualization of multiple data layers in a two dimensional space
AU - Suari, Yair
AU - Brenner, Steve
PY - 2014/7/16
Y1 - 2014/7/16
N2 - Visualization of multidimensional data helps in understanding complex systems and environments. We present here a red, green, blue (RGB) visualization method that can serve to display environmental properties. The saturation of each color is used to represent the concentration of a given property. The implementation of that figure is illustrated through visualization of three dissolved inorganic nutrient concentrations along a vertical transect of the Mediterranean, as well as through a vertical time series of three phytoplankton group cell numbers. The RGB figures show well known properties of the water column. In addition, they reveal some lesser-known properties, such as regions in shallow water in which the ratio of phosphorus and silica to nitrogen is high, and a deep eukariotic phytoplankton community. Visualization of such data is usually performed with three separate contour or surface plots, and occasionally two properties are presented as an overlay in a single figure. The RGB figure offers a better way to visualize the interactions among the three separate plots than is commonly available.
AB - Visualization of multidimensional data helps in understanding complex systems and environments. We present here a red, green, blue (RGB) visualization method that can serve to display environmental properties. The saturation of each color is used to represent the concentration of a given property. The implementation of that figure is illustrated through visualization of three dissolved inorganic nutrient concentrations along a vertical transect of the Mediterranean, as well as through a vertical time series of three phytoplankton group cell numbers. The RGB figures show well known properties of the water column. In addition, they reveal some lesser-known properties, such as regions in shallow water in which the ratio of phosphorus and silica to nitrogen is high, and a deep eukariotic phytoplankton community. Visualization of such data is usually performed with three separate contour or surface plots, and occasionally two properties are presented as an overlay in a single figure. The RGB figure offers a better way to visualize the interactions among the three separate plots than is commonly available.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84904276933&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0102903
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0102903
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C2 - 25028934
AN - SCOPUS:84904276933
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 9
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 7
M1 - e102903
ER -