What kind of Chart would you use?

[Dimster]

I want to create a chart that visually demonstrates the effects of various activities on a main event. For example if the main event is Forest Fire and the activities are temperature, wind speed, precipitation and density, what kind of chart would you use to display all this information. I've been looking at bar charts, pie charts and a scatter charts but none of them appeal to me. Do you guys use charts and if so would you recommend it?

[TerryRitchie]

I want to create a chart that visually demonstrates the effects of various activities on a main event. For example if the main event is Forest Fire and the activities are temperature, wind speed, precipitation and density, what kind of chart would you use to display all this information. I've been looking at bar charts, pie charts and a scatter charts but none of them appeal to me. Do you guys use charts and if so would you recommend it?

Here's a web site I found showing many different types to choose from. Perhaps one of these will help you decide.

https://chartio.com/learn/charts/essenti...alization/

[SpriggsySpriggs]

According to Microsoft Copilot:

There are several types of charts that could be used to represent data from a forest fire, including temperature, wind speed, precipitation, and density. Here are a few options:

1. **Line Chart**: This is a good option for showing trends over time. You could have time on the x-axis and the different variables (temperature, wind speed, precipitation, and density) on the y-axis. Each variable would be represented by a different line.

2. **Scatter Plot**: This could be used to show the relationship between two variables. For example, you could plot temperature against wind speed to see if there's a correlation.

3. **Bar Chart**: This could be used to compare the different variables. You could have a separate bar for each variable and the height of the bar would represent the value of the variable.

4. **Heat Map**: This could be used to show the density of the forest fire. The different colors in the heat map would represent different densities.

5. **Multi-variable Chart**: This is a more complex type of chart that can show multiple variables at once. It could be useful for showing the relationship between all four variables (temperature, wind speed, precipitation, and density).

Remember, the best chart to use depends on the specific data you have and what you want to convey with it. It's always a good idea to try out different types of charts to see which one works best for your data.

[James D Jarvis]

Lot's of good advice here already.  I worked as a a technical illustrator for decades and have drawn thousands if not tens of thousands of charts; the choice of chart depends a lot on what you want to do with that chart, that a has a large impact on choice. The only wrong answer is the one that obfuscates your data against your wishes.
That link TerryRitchie provided is pretty good and worth reading and covers the general topic well.

[SMcNeill]

Instead of a chart, I prefer a simple program with an interactive slider for folks to play around with.

For a presentation, It might have one central graphic which displays chance of fire, or estimated damage from fire, and then the sliders can be slide left to right to showcase various scenarios.  One slider for windspeed.  One for temperature.  Another for dryness/drought level.  A last one for forest density.

Then the user (or my boss) can play with sliding those controls (and let's admit it, who doesn't like playing with those type controls??), and have the information update via graphic or text box in the central area.  (690% chance of fire, doing $800,000,000.00 damages, and lasting for 3 months, with 40 MPH winds, 112 degree temperatures, 7 year drought conditions, and heavy, unmaintained forest density, with a group of rednecks partying in the forest and celebrating Independence Day.) 

As for charts, they're colorful, but make most folks eyes glaze over.  But those sliders....  There's just something magical about them... From kid to oldster, EVERYONE just wants to slide them and have the power to see what happens as they do.

[TarotRedhand]

SMcNeill you do realise your solution strays into Probability Theory, P(E), don't you? P(E) is a maths function for those that don't know (and one of a vanishingly small list of maths things that I actually have some small idea about). P is probability and E is an event. An event is basically any change to the data being passed to the function. However, don't ask for the actual maths because it's been decades since I touched this (I converted a Bayesian Inferencing Engine from one BASIC to Another and that code is long gone) and what I just said is the sum total of all I remember about the subject these days .

TR

[Dimster]

Thanks guys. Read the articles, lots of food for thought here. Some time back I thought there was a 3D chart which I'm still looking for. Seems I will need to bone up on my math formulas for Sliders and TarotRedHand's Probability Theory P(E). I've always looked at charts as a simple visual to a boring set of data, that is just displaying what was already there but some of these ideas would make the tired old chart really pop. I remember the first chess game which actually had the pieces get up and walk and battle out the targeted square. So maybe I'll invent a colorful, animated, talking chart. Dream big if your going to dream at all. Thanks again.

[LEM]

It gets challenging to visualize in one graph once you get into more than a couple of variables.  Perhaps something like this video can provide some inspiration:
Intro to Multivariate Visualizations and Analysis in Spotfire - YouTube 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCLamJcdyrE
Are you wanting to graph using QB64PE or use some other software for the graphing?  Excel or LibreOffice can do reasonable graphing up to 3D plots and such, but you might need something more fancy for more complex graphs.  One thing that might be worth checking out for inspiration are pivot tables and pivot charts.  Simple intro here:  What is a pivot chart (video) | Exceljet

[Dimster]

Interesting stuff there LEM. Surprising how many ways you can chart data. Yes, I do want to use QB64PE coding for my chart and have only just started to try and visualize what kind of chart would be best. I have my QBasic for Dummies book and Terry's tutorial on graphics as my base resources, and now all the great comments and resources on this tread. Ain't life great?
Thanks again LEM.

[TarotRedhand]

[Warning - Own Trumpet about to be Blown] Before you get too deep into writing your own code for this, a library that I submitted on here might be of use to you (or it might not, just take a look and decide) - Large 2D Graphics Library.

Thanks.

TR