A chorem-based approach to visualizing COVID-19-related data

Abstract

ABSTRACT Due to the increasing availability and openness of data from many countries worldwide, visualizations of the COVID-19 pandemic that aim to track the virus over time and across geographic areas are multiplying; geovisualization is proving to be an effective solution to better understand the spread of SARS-CoV-2. However, due to the resulting “infodemic,” many visualization approaches are sub-optimal. For example, direct projections of COVID-19-related data on display are unsound from a cartographic point of view; the results are often overcomplicated, leading to cognitive overload, which may in turn, lead to misinterpretations. Thus, developing effective geovisualization methods is necessary to improve epidemiologists’ and local authorities’ decision-making abilities. This study proposes a novel approach to geovisualizing COVID-19-related data based on chorems. Our objective was to define a chorematic map that could represent, through visual summaries extracted from the analysis of COVID-19-related data, the origin of the first cases and evolution of the virus in Algeria during the first months of the pandemic. Accordingly, we propose a geovisualization methodology based on spatial data mining techniques and GIS technology.