● SPC Tornado Data

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center provides data about tornadoes with reports existing back from 1950 to 2016. More details about the data is found in Database Format Specification document.

To represent data for counties, FIPS county codes were used from census.gov website.

The user can navigate the application through the control panel, with additional ability to interact using the maps.

● The user can see the tornado tracks by state and using the controls can compare the data from two states in the map as well as in tabular and chart form.

● Further, the user can view the data on per county basis by selecting the counties from drop-downs provided in the control panel.

● In addition to using the control panel, user can switch to the State or County mode and then directly make the selection on the map for looking at the tornado tracks.

● The user can view the heat map showing where it is more or less safe to be regarding tornadoes on per county basis.

● The tornado data can also be viewed as parallel co-ordinates chart which allows user to find correlations between different parameters like magnitude, injuries, fatalities, loss and year.

● In addition to that the data can be viewed as bar chart and table which represents injuries, fatalities, loss and number and percentage of tornadoes which in combination with filters mentioned below will show data by year, month or hour of the day.

● Using the top level filters the user can refine the data by Year | Month | Hour | Distance from Chicago and County. User can also step through time year by year using the slider play button.

● Also, the user has been provided with controls to further detail down the data using these filters. Some of the options include filter by: Magnitude | Width | Length | Distance from Chicago | Loss | Injuries and Fatalities

● The user has the ability to change the tornadoes color and width on the basis of the filter criteria mentioned above.

●The user can alter the map background to any of the five different types. Different map types used are:

Dark (Default theme): Provides better contrast and allows the user to focus on the data

Light: Some users prefer light themed applications, so this map type can be helpful for them

Satellite: Can be used to see the correlations between the geography and tornado occurrences

Minimal: Users can view the tornado tracks without being distracted by loads of labels. Minimalistic labels have been provided.

High Contrast: In contrast to Minimal map type, this map type along with being high contrast also has lots of labels which is helpful for users who are unaware of the geography. In addition to that, the colors used in this map type are color blind safe.

The time measurements can be switched from am/pm to 24hr time format and also between metric and imperial measurements.

Responsible for visualization design component and presentation decisions, including application layout, colors, aesthetics, scalability and improving user interaction and experience.

Jaspreet Kaur Sohal

Amey Barapatre

Sai Phaltankar

Vivek R. Shivaprabhu