Sankey charts are a unique and visually appealing way to represent flows of data. These charts are named after Captain Matthew Henry Phineas Riall Sankey who was a steam engineer and politician. He used the early forms of Sankey图表 to show the energy consumption of his works [1].
Sankey图表 show the flow of data from one source to another. They are useful for visualizing data flows in various applications such as energy consumption, supply chains, financial transactions, or any data that has multiple source and destination nodes. These charts can represent data over time, showing the flow at each point in the interval.
Creating a Sankey Chart:
Step 1: Collect and organize your data. This data should be in a format that includes source, target, and flow values. The flow values could be quantity, percentage, or any measure that represents the flow between sources and targets.
Step 2: Use a tool or software capable of creating Sankey charts. There are several online tools such as Sankey Flow, Flowchart and many others that can create Sankey charts. Alternatively, you can use software like Tableau, Power BI, or R, Julia, Python libraries (networkx, matplotlib, plotly) to create Sankey charts.
Step 3: Input the data into the chart creation tool. Ensure you correctly define the source, target, and flow in the tool’s settings. In case of software like Python, pandas and geoplot libraries can be used for this purpose.
Step 4: Customize your chart. This could involve adjusting colors, adding labels (source, target, flow values), setting an x/y grid, choosing between different node shape types, etc.
Applications of Sankey Charts:
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Energy Flow Analysis: In this application, Sankey charts are used by utility companies, researchers, and policymakers. They help to analyze where energy is produced, how it is distributed, its end-use, and potential inefficiencies.
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Supply Chain Analysis: For businesses and organizations, Sankey charts can demonstrate the flow of materials or products from raw materials to finished products, showing the origins and destinations of inventory.
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Financial Flow Visualization: Banks, financial advisors, and investors can use Sankey charts to show the flow of money between different components of an economy or organization, highlighting trends, risks, and opportunities.
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Social Dynamics Analysis: Sankey charts can represent the flow of social interactions, showing which individuals or communities are in dialogue with each other, for what purpose, and how often. This helps in understanding social networks, collaboration dynamics, and community interactions.
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Environmental impact analysis: For governmental and research organizations, Sankey diagrams can be instrumental in understanding flows of pollutants, waste or biogas emissions. They help in recognizing the impact at each stage and can facilitate development of targeted reduction strategies.
Conclusion:
Sankey charts are a powerful yet versatile tool for business intelligence, project management, and scientific analysis across a multitude of fields. By bringing data to life with vibrant flow mapping, these visual representations aid in understanding, optimizing, and enhancing any system with moving parts. With this guide, users can now effectively craft, utilize, and benefit from the profound insights that Sankey visuals provide.
References:
[1] Sankey, M.H.P. (1898). “The Distribution of Electrical Energy in The City of Liverpool.” The Electrician, 4(218), 430-442.
SankeyMaster
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