Himalayan Glaciers Dashboard

A comprehensive visualization of glaciers, glacial lakes, and GLOF events in the Himalayan region

3,301

Nepal Glaciers

25,614

Glacial Lakes

736

GLOF Events

Glacier Distribution

Himalayan Dashboard

GLOF Events Timeline

Glacier Temperature Animation

Project Documentation

Gestalt Principles

This dashboard applies several Gestalt principles to enhance visual perception:

  • Proximity: Related elements are grouped together in containers
  • Similarity: Consistent color coding across related elements
  • Continuity: Smooth transitions and scrolling between sections
  • Closure: Visual elements form complete units even when parts are hidden

Color Theory

The color palette is designed around a meaningful schema:

  • Blue Palette: Represents water and ice features (glaciers, lakes)
  • Red Accents: Highlight danger areas (GLOF events)
  • High Contrast: Ensures readability and accessibility
  • Color Coding: Consistent use of colors to represent specific data types

Typography

A clear typographic hierarchy guides users through the content:

  • Headings: Bold, larger fonts (H1: 48px → H3: 20px)
  • Body Text: Clean, readable fonts (16-18px)
  • Font Family: Roboto for consistent, modern appearance
  • Spacing: Appropriate line height and margins for readability

Data-Ink Ratio

The design maximizes the data-ink ratio by:

  • Minimizing decorative elements that don't convey information
  • Using white space effectively to separate content sections
  • Focusing visual attention on the data visualizations
  • Removing unnecessary chart junk and distractions

This dashboard incorporates multiple interactive elements to allow viewers to explore the data dynamically:

  • Maps: Interactive maps showing glacier distribution and GLOF events
  • Charts: Interactive charts with hover tooltips and zoom capabilities
  • Timeline: GLOF events timeline with year-by-year exploration
  • Filters: Data filtering options in the main dashboard

The dashboard follows a 5-chapter narrative structure to guide users through the data story:

  1. The Story: Introduction to the Himalayan glacier system and design principles
  2. Glacier Distribution: Interactive maps showing the spatial distribution of glaciers
  3. Glacial Lakes: Size distribution and risk assessment of glacial lakes
  4. GLOF Events: Timeline and locations of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods
  5. The Connection: Synthesis of relationships between glacier melt, climate factors, and flood events

This narrative approach helps viewers understand the complex relationships between glacier melt, climate oscillations, and flash floods in a structured, guided manner.

The visualizations are based on the following datasets:

  • Nepal Glaciers 2001: 3,301 glacier features
  • HKH Glacial Lakes 2005: 25,614 glacial lake features
  • HMA GLOF Database v3.0: 736 Glacial Lake Outburst Flood events
  • Elevation Change: HMA Glacier elevation trend data for 1975-2000 and 2000-2016 periods

The dashboard is built using the following technologies:

  • Dash 3.3.0: Python framework for building interactive web applications
  • Plotly 6.5.0: Interactive visualization library
  • Geopandas 1.1.1: Geospatial data processing
  • Pandas 2.3.3: Data manipulation and analysis
  • HTML/CSS/JavaScript: Front-end implementation