Animated Map Timeline, Syria

Abstract

Cartographic evidence can often be used to find pattern in large sets of data that are widely scattered in time and space. Thus, when co-author Haidar considered spreadsheets with many thousands of entries, it seemed useful to map the data in her quest to look for pattern in incidence of the disease, Leishmaniasis, in Syria. She wished to view the data by Syrian province over a period of eight years, on a monthly basis. In that way she hoped to be able to see, at a glance, variation in incidence from north to south in a seasonal framework. The animated map offered one approach to that task.