title: RGB plots as a tool for the simultaneous visualization of multiple data layers in a two dimensional space.
abstract: Visualization of multidimensional data helps in understanding complex systems and environments. We present here a red, green, blue (RGB) visualization method that can serve to display environmental properties. The saturation of each color is used to represent the concentration of a given property. The implementation of that figure is illustrated through visualization of three dissolved inorganic nutrient concentrations along a vertical transect of the Mediterranean, as well as through a vertical time series of three phytoplankton group cell numbers. The RGB figures show well known properties of the water column. In addition, they reveal some lesser-known properties, such as regions in shallow water in which the ratio of phosphorus and silica to nitrogen is high, and a deep eukariotic phytoplankton community. Visualization of such data is usually performed with three separate contour or surface plots, and occasionally two properties are presented as an overlay in a single figure. The RGB figure offers a better way to visualize the interactions among the three separate plots than is commonly available.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environment, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Yair
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suari
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environment, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brenner
mesh_terms: D003116:Color; D003626:Data Display; D017753:Ecosystem; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000502:physiology*; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010758:Phosphorus; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D009584:Nitrogen