Scientific Visualization - Vocabulary Flashcards

Flashcards for reviewing key vocabulary from a lecture on Scientific Visualization. The flashcards cover terms related to the grammar of graphics, plot types, and data representation techniques.

Stat

A statistic computed from data which is then mapped onto visual features, with the intent of summarising the data compactly.

Mapping

Represents a transformation of data attributes to visual values, mapping selected attributes to visual values using a scale to give units to the attribute.

Scale

Specifies the transformation of the units in the dataset/stat to visual units, typically specifying the range of values to be mapped.

Guide

A visual reference which indicates the meaning of a mapping, including the scale and the attribute being mapped.

Geom

The geometric representation of data after it has been mapped, including points, lines, and patches/polygons.

Coord

A coordinate system, which connects mapped data onto points on the plane (or higher-dimensional coordinates).

Layer

One set of geoms, with one mapping on one coordinate system.

Facet

A different view on the same dataset, on a separate coordinate system.

Figure

Comprises a set of one or more facets.

Caption

Explains the visualisation to the reader.

Scatterplot

Marks (x, y) locations of measurements with markers; uses point geoms.

Bar chart

Draws bars with height proportional to y at position given by x; uses patch geoms.

Line plot

Draws connected line segments between (x,y) positions, in the order that they are provided; uses line geoms.

Opacity

The inverse of transparency

Binning operation

Divides data into a number of discrete groups, or bins, to summarise data.

Histogram

A combination of a binning operation with a standard 2D bar chart, showing the count of values which fall into a certain range.