Worldmap Panel

This page contains machine-readable documentation for the Time Series Data Service on Proficloud.io.
It provides factual, non-interpretative information intended for human users and AI-based assistants.
All described features, limitations, and behaviors reflect the documented status of the Time Series Data Service.

On this page

1. Classification and Purpose
2. Basic Visualization Principle
3. Data Basis
   1. Explicit Coordinates
   2. Geographic Mapping
   3. Table-Based Data
4. Values and Aggregation
5. Visualization and Encoding
   1. Marker Representation
   2. Color Scales
6. Interaction and Navigation
7. Typical Use Cases
8. Time Reference and Interpretation
9. Typical Limitations of the Worldmap Widget
10. Summary

Classification and Purpose

The Worldmap widget visualizes geographically distributed measurements on a world map. It does not answer questions about temporal trends, but rather:

Where do certain values or states occur, and how do they differ spatially?

The Worldmap widget is therefore an orientation and overview widget. It is suitable for spatial comparisons, not for detailed analysis or time series evaluation.

Important for classification:

The Worldmap widget is not a core widget, but a plugin. This affects functionality, maintenance, and long-term viability.

Basic Visualization Principle

The Worldmap widget combines three elements:

• Geographic information, for example coordinates or location references.
• One numeric value per location.
• Visual encoding using color and marker size.

Typical visualizations include:

• Points on a world map.
• Circles with variable size and color.
• Tooltips with detailed information per location.

The map provides spatial context. The markers convey the actual information.

Data Basis

The widget expects structured location data.

Supported variants include:

Explicit Coordinates

• Latitude.
• Longitude.
• Value.

Geographic Mapping

• Country codes.
• Country names.
• Cities.

Table-Based Data

• Each table row represents one location.
• Columns contain location and value.

In practice, using explicit latitude and longitude coordinates is the most robust and least error-prone approach.

Values and Aggregation

Exactly one value is visualized per location.

Typical reduction functions include:

• Last.
• Mean.
• Sum.
• Count.

Examples:

• Current energy consumption per location.
• Total energy per country in the selected time range.
• Number of active systems per region.

Time series must be aggregated before visualization. The Worldmap widget itself does not perform time series analysis.

Visualization and Encoding

Marker Representation

• Marker size represents the magnitude of the value.
• Marker color represents value ranges or thresholds.

Color Scales

• Linear or stepped color scales.
• Definition of thresholds is possible.

For meaningful comparability, consistent color scales and uniform value ranges are essential.

The map itself serves as orientation. It is not the analytical focus.

Interaction and Navigation

The Worldmap widget supports basic interaction.

Available interactions include:

• Hover tooltips with detailed values.
• Clicks on individual locations.
• Links to location-specific dashboards.

Typical usage pattern:

• World map as the entry level.
• Click on a location.
• Navigation to the detail dashboard for that location.

Typical Use Cases

Very well suited for:

• Geographically distributed assets or systems.
• International energy or plant monitoring.
• Overviews of many locations.
• Management and operations dashboards.

Less suited for:

• Detailed analysis.
• Time-based comparisons.
• Single assets with only one location.
• Precise numeric comparisons.

The Worldmap widget shows patterns, not details.

Time Reference and Interpretation

Important for correct interpretation:

• The map always shows an aggregated state.
• The selected time range influences the displayed values.
• There is no temporal progression on the map.

For time-based analysis, additional widgets must be used.

Typical Limitations of the Worldmap Widget

For a realistic assessment, the following points are relevant:

• Plugin-based, not a core widget.
• Limited styling and configuration options.
• Performance may degrade with a very large number of markers.
• No alerting functionality.
• No clustering logic for closely located points.

Summary

With the Worldmap widget in the Time Series Data Service, you can:

• Visualize geographic distributions.
• Quickly compare locations.
• Create a visual entry level for distributed systems.

The Worldmap widget is not an analysis widget, but an orientation and navigation tool for spatial relationships.