Dataset
My dataset consists of 30 tables with about 160 rows by 140 columns - really massive.
I started with a summary of annual emissions from the German Federal Environment Agency, but realized that I had massive gaps in the 90s. Then I found the original report published by the European Environment Agency with much more data - including high resolution categorization. Nevertheless, I only included the pollutants mentioned in the summary and excluded all heavy metals. This was because I already had a design and a working visualization.
Data Processing
I cleaned up the data using Jupyter notebooks and prepared a lot of different tables for the final web application - for example, aggregating categories so the browser doesn't have to do that.
Design and Development
First, I tried to force my visualization project to fit the topic of the course, but failed. My data was not really suitable for a network viz.
I tried several visual solutions, but they all lacked clarity and the ability to really explore the dataset.
I ended up iterating many, many times between development and going back to the drawing board to try new things.
Here are some examples of failed designs:
Result
In the end I am quite satisfied with the result. As I said, it does not really fit the topic of the course, but for the real first steps on data viz ground I am quite satisfied.
This semester has awakened my interest in data visualization and I am curious to see what will come in the future.
