Visualization idea

I’d been looking for a clear visualization of Japanese radiation data, and finally came across one. Here is an example of the data-view.

The site is useful, but unfortunately it only recently started scraping data; baseline data is missing, and there gaps in the record. In spite of the shortcomings, you can almost-instantly understand the current situation in Japan far better than reading an article.

Shortcomings and opportunities:

• The current visualization assumes an understanding of how Japanese prefectures relate to cities, and where each are located. Brushing and linking, for instance, could establish clearer associations between them.
• Understanding units of radiation requires domain expertise. Baseline data and benchmarking would make the data more meaningful, and give better context so one could understand, “How much radiation is this?”.
• The data could be summarized at the map-level, using a scrubber or timemap.

Update: The New York Times finally is showing radiation data!