ChoroWare: A Software Toolkit for Choropleth Map Classification |
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Authors: | Ningchuan Xiao Marc P Armstrong |
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Institution: | Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH,;Department of Geography and Program in Applied Mathematical and Computational Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA |
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Abstract: | Choropleth mapping plays an important role in exploratory spatial data analysis. Several objectives have been suggested to guide choropleth map construction. These objectives, however, often conflict and, consequently, a choropleth map that is best for one objective may not be best for others. Choosing a set of choropleth class intervals is thus a multiobjective problem. This article describes an open-source software toolkit, called ChoroWare that is designed to help cartographers identify class intervals that are suitable for a specific application. The software uses a genetic algorithm to generate a set of nondominated solutions to the multiobjective choropleth class interval problem and uses an interactive visualization tool to display members of this classification set. Using ChoroWare, cartographers can examine trade-offs between alternatives and find desirable choropleth classifications that meet their objectives. |
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