Visual Harmonics: Discover the Rhythms of Data with Sankey Diptychs
In an era overflowing with data, the ability to visualize complex datasets is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. Sankey diptychs, a special form of Sankey charts, enable us to capture the essence of data flows, highlighting the inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and energy transfer dynamics that would otherwise remain hidden within unwieldy spreadsheets or charts. In this article, we delve into the world of Sankey diptychs, their creation, and their varied applications.
Understanding Sankey Diptychs
A Sankey diagram is a type of flow diagram used to display the quantitative relationship between different elements of a system. It was invented by an English engineer, William Playfair, in 1847, intended for the presentation of energy flow in thermodynamic processes or material flow in industrial systems.
Sankey diptychs are a unique variation of Sankey charts that are designed to enhance visual storytelling by integrating two Sankey diagrams into one. They are often presented as side-by-side visualizations, hence the term “diptych,” making it easier for the eye to identify patterns, trends, and relationships across different sectors or metrics.
Components of a Sankey Diptych
- Flow Lines: The vector lines are directed and proportionally scaled to represent the magnitude of the flows of materials, energy, or costs.
- Energy/Resource Labels: Markers indicating the type of flow, such as ‘Energy’, ‘Resources’, ‘Costs’, etc., flow from a source to a destination.
- Processes/Intermediaries: These are the systems, nodes, or stages of transformation within the process that represent a transformation on the flow.
- Rectangles or Boxes: Markers for the source and the destination processes or flows and often include other information such as the process name.
- Arrowheads: These serve to determine the direction of flow for energy or resources and the direction in which energy or resources move.
Creation of Sankey Diptychs
Creating a Sankey diptych consists of the following steps:
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Data Collection: Gather all the necessary data, making sure to break it down into flows, processes, sources, and destinations.
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Calculation of Flows: Determine the magnitude of the flows for each line based on the data you have. For visual harmony, the thickness of each line should correspond to the amount of material, energy, or information it carries.
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Diagram Setup: Begin setting up your Sankey diagram using software such as Sankey Designer, Sigma.js (with libraries like sigma-sankey or sankey-chart), or D3.js. This involves creating nodes (processes) and edges (flows).
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Sankey Layout Algorithms: You’ll need to apply the layout algorithm of the tool to align the edges in a hierarchical structure from source to destination. These algorithms will also determine the shape of the flow lines to create a consistent flow, ensuring the diagram looks neat and tidy.
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Adjusting and Customizing: Once your Sankey is laid out, you should tweak the colors, labels, and line widths to enhance the visual appeal of the diptych and make it more intuitive to readers.
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Creating the Diptych: To form a Sankey diptych, duplicate the process of creating a Sankey diagram and adjust the visual elements accordingly. This could mean two separate diagrams next to each other or two Sankeys within the same canvas with clearly separated sections.
Applications of Sankey Diptychs
Sankey diptychs can be applied in a variety of sectors and for multiple purposes:
Urban Planning and Transport
Visualizing public transit systems, traffic patterns, or energy flows within urban areas allows for understanding how resources are allocated and identify potential improvements.
Sustainability
In the context of environmental data, Sankey diptychs can be used to represent flows of materials and energy in industrial processes, revealing emissions and helping to optimize resource use.
Industry and Logistics
Sankey diptychs can map out the flow of goods, services, production capacity, or costs in a company’s supply chains, providing insights into efficiency and waste reduction opportunities.
Economics and Finances
They help analyze cash flow, investment flows, or any type of financial input and output, highlighting the financial sources and uses in an organization or industry.
Energy Consumption
Sankey diptychs are incredibly useful for energy analysis, showing where energy is used or lost and identifying energy-saving strategies.
In conclusion, Sankey diptychs are a powerful tool for anyone needing to understand complex data. By following the steps of data preparation, chart creation, and interpretation, we can uncover the rhythms and inefficiencies within our data landscapes. Ultimately, visual harmonics facilitated by Sankey diptychs help us make more informed decisions and create a more sustainable and efficient world.
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.
