Big Ten Academic Alliance Data Viz Champions
Faculty/Staff: Laura Guertin, Penn State University
Blue Skies and Cloud Cover
Description: In 2022, I sailed for two months on the oceanographic research vessel JOIDES Resolution. While at sea, a Daily Operations Report (DOR) is published each day to update the scientists and crew with data recorded during the previous day. The JOIDES Resolution not only record data from the ocean floor but also meteorological measurements from the atmosphere. These data include the visual observations made by the 2nd mate on the Bridge of sky/cloud cover. Cloud cover is the fraction of the sky covered by cloud of any type or height above the ground. It is measured on a scale that starts at zero for a clear sky and extends to eight for a sky that is completely overcast. A value of one means that 1/8 of the sky is covered in clouds, a value of 2 means that 2/8 (or ¼) of the sky is covered in clouds, and so on. The units used to report sky cover is okta. I took the daily sky measurements and generated a quilt to represent these daily data recorded. Each batik fabric on the scale across the top and bottom of the quilt represents an okta value, zero/dark blue on the left side, and across to eight/black on the right side. Each tumbler (or trapezoid) is for each day of my time at sea (Expedition 390, April 7 through June 7, 2022). The clouds are placed over some of the days with the most cloud cover and are made of fabric manufactured in South Africa, the country the ship departed/returned to.
Student: Elsie Lee-Robbins, PhD Student in the School of Information - University of Michigan
LEGO Themes: From Generic to Franchise
Description: These are the top LEGO themes by the number of sets developed for each theme over time. This data visualization shows that LEGO has moved away from generic themes such as "Universal Building Sets" and "Town" and towards specific and franchised themes, like "Star Wars" and collectible minifigures of popular characters like Elsa from Frozen.
We received several dynamic and compelling vizzes that we have a gallery of honorable mentions.
Staff Contact
Lori Frost
Program Manager
Programs Team
Phone: (217) 333-9228
Email: info@btaa.org
Institutional Coordinators
Illinois – Amy Edwards (aledward@illinois.edu)
Indiana – Bridgett Milner (bharsh@indiana.edu)
Iowa– Matthew Anson (matthew-anson@uiowa.edu)
Maryland – Michelle Appel (mappel@umd.edu)
Michigan – Tracy Pattok (tpattok@umich.edu)
Michigan State – Bethan Cantwell (cantwelb@msu.edu)
Minnesota – Colin Delong (delo0041@umn.edu)
Nebraska – Jason Casey (jcasey10@unl.edu)
Ohio State – Maureen Henry (henry.371@osu.edu)
Penn State – Paulina Krys (pmk5516@psu.edu)
Purdue – Andrea Pluckebaum (apluckeb@purdue.edu)
Rutgers - Eduardo Molina (e.molina@irap.rutgers.edu)
Wisconsin– Beth Helmueller-Perkins (helmuellerpe@wisc.edu)