Sankey charts are a powerful visualization tool that can help us better understand complex flows and connections between data points. These charts offer an easy-to-understand way of visualizing multiple data streams, making it an immensely valuable tool for a wide range of applications, from environmental science to business analysis. In this article, we will explore Sankey chart creation and applications to understand how this visualization method can unleash new insights and efficiencies.
Introduction to Sankey Charts
Sankey charts, named after their creator, energy engineer and engineer of the Royal Navy, Matthew Henry Phinney Sankey, are flow diagram charts that provide a clear depiction of the source and destination of flows or quantities within a system. The width of the arrows in the charts represents the magnitude of the flow, conveying the volume of movement between two points.
Creating Sankey charts
Creating a Sankey chart involves a few key steps:
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Data preparation: Gather data that indicates the amount of flow between different categories or elements. This data often includes source and target nodes, as well as the corresponding ‘flows’ between them. For example, in analyzing energy usage data, you’ll collect information about electricity production, consumption, and distribution across different sectors like industrial manufacturing, residential, or commercial.
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Selecting the right tool: Various software tools are available for creating Sankey diagrams, ranging from open-source options like FusionCharts or AnyChart to more specialized software like Sankey-React for web development and Gephi for more complex data analysis.
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Designing the chart: Use the data to create node labels and connections. In Sankey charts, nodes represent quantities and flows between these quantities. The connections, or links, illustrate the flow’s direction and magnitude. The width of these links visually communicates the volume of materials, energy, or other quantities moving between the nodes.
Examples of Applications
Sankey charts find applications across various domains, benefiting from their capacity to simplify complex information:
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Environmental Science: In environmental studies, Sankey charts can illustrate energy flows, water usage, or atmospheric pollutant dispersal pathways. These charts are particularly useful for visualizing carbon footprint, showing where emissions originate from and where they are dispersed to.
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Business Analysis: In the business world, Sankey diagrams can showcase supply chains, highlighting where raw materials originate and how they are processed and distributed across different parts of the business value chain. Additionally, they can indicate financial flows, such as revenue distribution across departments, helping in strategic decision-making.
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Healthcare: In healthcare management, these charts can depict patient care flow, indicating pathways through healthcare services, medication distribution, or patient diagnoses journey, aiding in optimizing healthcare logistics and resource allocation.
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Urban Planning: For urban planners, Sankey diagrams can be used to map traffic flows, indicating the movement between different zones. This helps in designing more efficient public transport systems, traffic lights, and infrastructure, contributing to reduced congestion and environmental sustainability.
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Education: In educational frameworks, Sankey charts visualize knowledge pathways, showing student transitions between courses, skill acquisition, or learning processes.
Conclusion
As it becomes more commonplace to deal with vast datasets and intricate relationships, the power of Sankey charts to simplify these relationships should not be underestimated. They offer a nuanced and visually compelling way to grasp the dynamics of complex systems, revealing patterns, bottlenecks, and potential opportunities for improvement. Whether illuminating energy usage, economic flows, or personalized learning paths, Sankey charts provide a universal language for understanding the connectedness within our world, unlocking deeper insights and fostering strategic decision-making.
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.
