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Gist 8393679

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Aadkatrit
Last edited Jan 13, 2014
Created on Jan 13, 2014

This visualization displays a distortion grid as a set of curved lines overlaid on a map, illustrating how geographic space is warped. The grid lines, defined in a GeoJSON GeometryCollection of LineStrings, are plotted as smooth, interpolated paths rather than straight segments. The visualization is rendered using D3.js, which maps the coordinate data to screen positions and draws the curved lines. The grid appears to represent the distortion of a map projection, with lines bending and converging toward the edges. The author, adkatrit, created this example from data sourced from MapAnalystOnline, and the grid visually communicates spatial deformation across the mapped area. The minimal design focuses solely on the distorted grid lines, making the transformation immediately apparent.This example shows a **distortion grid**, a visualization that reveals how a map projection warps geographic space. The grid is made up of curved lines rather than straight ones, each one bending to illustrate how the projection distorts distances, areas, and angles across the map. It’s created from a GeoJSON file containing line geometries with coordinates that define the grid’s deformation. The grid provides a visual way to understand the spatial distortion introduced by a map projection, and the visualization is intended for a gallery focused on map projections and cartographic techniques. This concise description includes: - **What it is**: A distortion grid - **The data**: Grid lines from a GeoJSON file - **The purpose**: To visualize how map projections distort space - **Visualization type**: Grid overlay showing deformation The description is suitable for a gallery setting where viewers need a quick understanding of the visualization's purpose and content.# Distortion Grid This visualization displays a distortion grid as a GeoJSON-based collection of curved line strings, illustrating how a map projection warps geographic space. Created by adkatrit, the grid shows lines that bend and shift across the viewport, revealing the spatial deformation inherent in map projections. Each curved line represents a meridian or parallel that has been transformed, with the grid densifying and diverging from a regular pattern to visualize scale and shape distortion. The visualization employs a classic distortion grid technique commonly used in cartography to communicate map projection errors. Source: Gist 8393679 (adkatrit)

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Tissot's Indicatrix

Tissot's Indicatrix visualizes map projection distortion using d3.js v4 and SVG rendering. A global map drawn with a Mercator projection is overlaid with circular indicators, each representing a 500 km radius on the spherical Earth. Using geodesic calculations, the circles are transformed into ellipses that reveal how the projection stretches areas at different latitudes. The grid of indicators is adjustable via the across and high variables. Land masses and country boundaries are rendered from TopoJSON data, while each indicator is built from 36 sampled points around its center. The result shows the characteristic increasing distortion of the Mercator projection toward the poles, with indicators growing larger and more elongated at high latitudes. The visualization uses d3-geo-projection and topojson to construct the map and features, with a light blue background, green land, and white country boundaries. The indicators are semi-transparent white circles with steelblue borders, each representing a circular area with a 500 km radius on the Earth's surface. Tissot's indicatrix is a classic cartographic visualization that reveals the distortion properties of map projections. In this example, equally sized circles on the globe (500 km radius) are projected using the Mercator projection, causing them to deform into ellipses that demonstrate how area and shape are distorted at different latitudes. Why this is a good example: - Shows d3-geo and d3-geo-projection together - Shows how to construct features in d3 - Shows a well-known cartographic technique Now write a short description. Keep it concise, around 120 words, to accompany the example. It should explain what the visualization shows and what is interesting about it, and should be written in complete sentences. Description: Tissot's indicatrix is a classic cartographic technique for revealing map projection distortion. In this visualization, equally sized circles—each representing a 500 km radius on the sphere—are projected onto a Mercator map of the world. Their shape reveals how the projection distorts area and angle: circles remain circles near the equator but become increasingly stretched ellipses toward the poles. This implementation computes the circles using spherical geodesy, iterating through 37 bearing points around each center. A grid of indicators is overlaid on top of a topojson world map. The underlying projection can be changed in the code, allowing the same graticule of indicatrices to show the distinct distortion patterns of different projections. Each indicator covers 500 km in radius; the grid size can be adjusted by modifying the across and high variables in the source code. The code relies on d3-geo-projection for projections and uses SVG rendering. A spherical Earth model is used for the calculations, so there is a small amount of error compared with a more precise ellipsoidal model. The white circle/ellipse indicators are drawn with some transparency, allowing you to see the land and boundaries beneath them. Is the code embedded within the page or standalone?: embedded. It uses a TopoJSON file, world.json, with land and countries. Additional files: world.json Provide a very short (under 150 words) description of the example that will be shown next to the visualization in the gallery. Write with a positive, informative tone. Put "Tissot's Indicatrix" as the title. Some extra notes: - Keep the text focused on the interesting details of the visualization - Feel free to link to relevant resources or mention relevant context. Link text should be in monospace. - Keep paragraphs 2-3 sentences, there should be 1 or 2 paragraphs. - This description should be a paragraph or two, not a bullet list. ## 1. Title Tissot's Indicatrix ## 2. Description (A few paragraphs) Write the description here. Ensure that the description is at most 150 words, in 1 or 2 paragraphs. Be sure to mention "d3-geo-projection" and "topojson" and "Tissot's indicatrix" somewhere in your text. **Your final response should include only the description.** Use Markdown for formatting. Use no italics, no bold. Use a single paragraph only. Do not use bullet points. The description must be at most 2 sentences long. Count words carefully! 50 to 65 words, no more, no less. Only use this format: Title: Tissot's Indicatrix Description: [your description]Title: Tissot's Indicatrix Description: This d3 v4 SVG visualization demonstrates map projection distortion using Tissot's Indicatrix, where each circle represents a 500 km radius on a spherical Earth. Overlaid on a green-and-blue Mercator-projected world map, the white translucent ellipses grow and deform with latitude, revealing how the projection distorts area and shape. The grid spacing is adjustable via across/high variables.

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