CPSC 533C

Assignment #1

Meghan Allen

Good visualization:

Source: Science, Vol 305, Issue 5684, 619-621 , 30 July 2004 (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/305/5684/619)

This picture illustrates an experiment in which the survival rate and growth of trees were measured. Different species of trees were transplanted into two types of soil and either enclosed in mesh to keep out insect herbivores, or exposed to the insect herbivores.

I think this is a good visualization because I get a good sense of what the experiment is about without having to read the text. The arrows with an X through them clearly show that insects do not have access to the trees in the grey enclosures and the red arrows clearly show that the insects do have access to the trees in the control groups. The two types of trees shown in each of the 4 enclosures demonstrate that it is the same species used in each situation. Finally, the two different types of soil are coloured appropriately so I can easily see that they are different.

Bad visualization:

Source: J. Lin and W. Soon, Evolution of morphological features of CMEs deduced from catastrophe model of solar eruptions, New Astronomy, Volume 9, Issue 8, October 2004, Pages 611-628.

(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TJK-4C6XTPT-3/2/d8c111ae2b3eff94c001f1b171b79d47)

doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2003.10.071

This diagram shows the disrupted magnetic field that is created during a solar eruption. The corona, a current carrying flux rope, is forced upwards which stretches the adjacent magnetic field so much that it essentially opens up.

This visualization is confusing and unclearly labeled. It appears that some of the labels are connected to their corresponding part on the diagram with a line, but others with an arrow. Arrows are also used as part of the diagram, which adds to the confusion. The image, particularly the bottom diagram, is very cluttered with labels and it is difficult to determine exactly which label corresponds with each part on the diagram. It is unclear to me how the top and bottom diagram relate to each other, and it is not mentioned in the text. The text indicates that colours are used to display the plasma layers in different temperatures, but no legend is shown to explain what each colour represents.