Reimagining geophysical data using cartograms

In human geography and other social sciences cartograms have been used as an alternative approach to visualising quantitative mostly socioeconomic data for quite some time. However, in environmental sciences this mapping technique has rarely been used, often also due to their (presumed) limited capabilities of showing more complex datasets. In this talk I introduce you to gridded cartograms, a novel approach to using cartograms as an alternative map projection. Gridded cartograms provide unique insights into highly detailed datasets from the geophysical environment, and can also be used to depict correlations between two spatial dimensions differently than conventional maps do. While the results are very unusual depictions, these techniques have the power to provide new perspectives on our planet and understand the underlying phenomena and processes in an entirely new way. This can be relevant in communicating science to the public as much as for our own understanding of the data that we are working with.