Sankey Charts: Unleashing the Power of Visualizing Flows and Connections
Sankey charts are an increasingly popular way to visualize complex flows and connections in data. These diagrams consist of arrows with varying widths that represent the magnitude of the flow or connection, making it easy to see where the most significant movements are happening. In this article, we’ll explore the basics of creating and applying Sankey charts to gain deeper insights from your data.
What are Sankey Charts?
Sankey diagrams are named after their inventor, Scottish engineer and physicist Matthew Henry Phineas Riall Sankey. They are used to represent a flow of something like energy, materials, or money. Sankey diagrams are made of blocks (nodes) connected by arrows (links), and each link has a width that represents the quantity of flow. The colors of the blocks, links, or both can be used to show categories or groups associated with the flow.
Creating Sankey Charts
Creating a Sankey chart involves a few key steps:
- Data Preparation: Compile your data, which should have three main components: source (initial point of the flow), sink (final point of the flow), and the flow quantity (the amount moving from source to sink).
- Choosing the Right Tool: There are various tools and software options for creating Sankey diagrams, including Microsoft Excel, Tableau, R, Python (using libraries like plotly, bokeh, or networkx), and dedicated Sankey charting tools like DrawSankey. Select a tool that best suits your data and your skills level.
- Designing the Chart: Determine the layout for your Sankey chart, including the placement of nodes and the flow direction (clockwise, counter-clockwise, or linear). Decide on the visual appearance, such as colors, node shapes, and link styles, that best represent your data and align with your design preferences.
- Adding Interactivity: If using a web-based tool like Tableau or a dynamic visualization library like plotly, add interactivity features such as tooltips, zooming, pan, or hover effects to allow users to explore the chart in more detail.
- Review and Refine: Revisit the chart, make any necessary adjustments, and fine-tune the visual aspects to ensure that the message is clear, the data is accurately represented, and the overall design is visually appealing.
Applications of Sankey Charts
Sankey charts have various applications in different fields:
- Energy Flows: Display the flow and transfer of energy resources like oil, coal, or renewable energy (e.g., solar, wind) within an ecosystem, as well as the transformations they undergo.
- Material Flows: Visualize the movement of resources within various industries, such as manufacturing, construction, or recycling, to identify areas of waste or potential optimization.
- Financial Flows: Represent financial transactions or wealth distribution within a company, economy, or sector. This can be particularly useful in understanding the distribution of capital, investments, or revenue streams.
- Supply Chain Analysis: Illustrate the flow of goods, services, or data through a supply chain, highlighting potential bottlenecks or inefficiencies.
- Resource Allocation: Show the distribution of resources or costs across different departments, projects, or countries within an organization.
To conclude, Sankey charts are a robust data visualization tool that can help us uncover hidden patterns, relationships, and trends within our datasets. By carefully designing and applying Sankey charts, we can visualize complex flows and connections, making our data insights more accessible and actionable. Whether you are working with energy, materials, finances, supply chains, or any other flow-based data, Sankey charts are an indispensable way to communicate and explore your information in depth.
SankeyMaster
SankeyMaster is your go-to tool for creating complex Sankey charts . Easily enter data and create Sankey charts that accurately reveal intricate data relationships.
