Overview

The sugarglider package extends the capabilities of ggplot2 by introducing functions specifically designed for visualizing seasonal patterns in spatio-temporal data. It includes geom_glyph_ribbon() and geom_glyph_segment() , which represent measurements recorded over time at specific locations through the use of glyph maps. These functions enable clear depictions of seasonal trends by leveraging the combination of x_major and y_major coordinates.

The structure of glyph maps in sugarglider consists of four main layers: the base map, glyph boxes, reference lines, and ribbon or segment glyphs. Additionally, users can create a legend, adding an extra layer to the glyph maps. Apart from the base map, sugarglider offers functionalities to generate all the elements of a comprehensive glyph map, as illustrated in the figure below.

Each layer can be plotted independently, and the package supports the creation of glyph plots using either ribbon or segment geometries. The core functionality includes:

• geom_glyph_ribbon(): Displays an interval on the y-axis for each x_minor value, with the bounds defined by ymin_minor and ymax_minor. This function draws ribbon geometry using geom_ribbon() from ggplot2 to draw ribbon geometry, resulting in ribbon glyphs. Each glyph is plotted based on the combination of x_major and y_major coordinates. This functionality is particularly useful for visualizing ranges or uncertainties in the data.

• geom_glyph_segment(): Connects y_minor to yend_minor with a straight line using geom_segment() from ggplot2, resulting in segment glyphs. Each glyph is plotted based on the combination of x_major and y_major coordinates.

vic_temp <- aus_temp |>
  filter(id %in% c("ASN00026021", "ASN00085291", "ASN00084143"))

# Define a color palette
color_palette <- c("deepskyblue4", "coral3")

p1 <- vic_temp |>
   ggplot(aes(x_major = long,
              y_major = lat,
              x_minor = month,
              ymin_minor = tmin,
              ymax_minor = tmax)) +
  geom_sf(data = abs_ste |> filter(NAME == "Victoria"),
          fill = "antiquewhite", color = "white", inherit.aes = FALSE)  +
  # Customize the size of each glyph box using the width and height parameters.
  add_glyph_boxes(color = color_palette[1]) +
  add_ref_lines(color = color_palette[1]) +
  geom_glyph_ribbon(color = color_palette[1], fill = color_palette[1]) +
  # Theme and aesthetic
  theme_glyph() +
  labs(title = "geom_glyph_ribbon()") +
  theme(plot.title = element_text(hjust = 0.5),
        title = element_text(color = color_palette[1],
                             family  = "mono")) 

p2 <- vic_temp |>
   ggplot(aes(x_major = long,
              y_major = lat,
              x_minor = month,
              y_minor = tmin,
              yend_minor = tmax)) +
  geom_sf(data = abs_ste |> filter(NAME == "Victoria"),
         fill = "antiquewhite", color = "white", inherit.aes = FALSE)  +
  # Customize the size of each glyph box using the width and height parameters.
  add_glyph_boxes(color = color_palette[2]) +
  add_ref_lines(color = color_palette[2]) +
  geom_glyph_segment(color = color_palette[2]) +
  # Theme and aesthetic
  theme_glyph() +
  labs(title = "geom_glyph_segment()") +
  theme(plot.title = element_text(hjust = 0.5),
        title = element_text(color = color_palette[2]))

grid.arrange(p1, p2, ncol = 2) 

In addition to these two functions, sugarglider offers several other features that enhance the customization of glyph maps. The add_ref_box() function introduces reference boxes that visually frame individual glyphs, helping to define boundaries and distinguish glyphs from each other. The add_ref_line() function draws a horizontal midpoint for each glyph, facilitating comparisons across data points. The add_glyph_legend() function allows users to display an enlarged version of a randomly chosen glyph in the bottom-left corner of the panel, enabling users to visualize the data range. Lastly, the theme_glyph() function provides a customized theme for glyph maps, built on top of theme_map() from ggthemes. It adjusts the plot’s appearance, including the legend position, text styles, and background settings, to create a clean, visually consistent layout for glyph visualizations.

Aesthetics

sugarglider provides the same aesthetics for geom_glyph_ribbon() and geom_glyph_segment() as those available in geom_ribbon() and geom_segment() from ggplot2. To include a variable in the glyph plot, it must be specified as an aesthetic. The functions in sugarglider expect spatial coordinates as the major axis and temporal data, along with some measurements, as the minor axis.

To produce glyph-maps, the following aesthetics are required:

The functions add_ref_box(), add_ref_line(), and add_geom_legend() are compatible with either ymin_minor, ymax_minor, or y_minor, yend_minor. Additionally, sugarglider introduces several customizable options to further tailor the visual aspects:

Options

Options within the sugarglider package allow you to tailor the behavior of your visualizations to meet the specific needs of your analysis. The global_rescale argument provides control over whether rescaling should occur globally across all data points or be handled individually for each glyph.

sugarglider also offers a variety of customizable features to enhance the flexibility and precision of visualizations. For example, it facilitates the scaling of minor values within the glyph along both the x and y axes. Users can specify their own rescale function by replacing “identity” with a custom function in x_scale and y_scale. If a user wishes to modify the rescaling function on only one axis, they can replace the value of the corresponding parameter with their chosen function and retain “identity” for the other. In this package, “identity” rescale the minor axes to an interval of [-1,1]. The impact of rescaling on glyphs and its implications for visual interpretation will be thoroughly discussed in the upcoming section.

Additionally, the width and height of the glyphs are adjustable, allowing users to modify the appearance of each glyph to match the dimensions and scaling of the data being visualized. These customization options ensure that sugarglider can adapt to a broad range of data types and requirements, making it a versatile tool for seasonal spatiotemporal data visualization.

Interactivity

Interactive graphics are particularly useful when working with spatio-temporal data as they allow users to explore the data from multiple perspectives. The cubble package, exemplifies this by creating linked interactive plots using crosswalk::bscols(). In this vignette, we will demonstrate how to create interactive glyph maps using Leaflet.

Create glyph maps with leaflet

The dataset used in this example, train, provides a comprehensive monthly summary of daily patronage at each train station in Victoria for the fiscal year 2023-2024. To create interactive glyph maps with Leaflet, we first need to save each glyph as a PNG and then add these to the Leaflet basemap as icons. The process begins by creating a list of all unique train stations that service both metro and vline. We then iterate over each station and generate ribbon glyphs using geom_glyph_ribbon(), add_glyph_boxes() and add_ref_lines(). Each glyph is saved in PNG format, and the file paths for all the PNGs are stored in an object for the next step.

# Generate a list of unique train stations
df_station <- train$station_name |> unique()

# Generate PNG of all the ribbon glyph
purrr::map(1:length(df_station), function(i) {
  dt <- train |> filter(station_name == df_station[i])
  p <- dt |>
  ggplot(aes(x_major = long, y_major = lat,
                   x_minor = month_year, ymin_minor = min_monthly,
                   ymax_minor = max_monthly)) +
    add_glyph_boxes(color = "#FFAD60", 
                    fill = "#FFEEAD", alpha = 0.5,
                    linewidth = 1, width = 3, height  =2) +
    add_ref_lines(color = "#FFAD60", alpha = 1,
                  linewidth = 1, width = 3, height  =2) +
    geom_glyph_ribbon(color = "#A66E38", fill = "#A66E38",
                      width = 3, height  =2) +
    theme_void() 
  
  file_path <- paste0("figures/glyph_", df_station[i], ".png")
  ggsave(file_path, plot = p, width = 3, height = 2, units = "in", dpi = 300,
         bg = "transparent")
  return(file_path)

  }) -> train_png 

To create the base map for Leaflet, we use the leaflet() function and addProviderTiles() with CartoDB.Positron as the provider to achieve a light, grey map aesthetic. Additionally, a scale bar is added at the bottom left corner for reference.

# Create a leaflet map 
leaflet_map <- leaflet() |>
  addProviderTiles("CartoDB.Positron") |>
  addScaleBar(position = "bottomleft")

Next, we iterate through all the PNG files and convert them into icons using the makeIcon() function. Users can control the dimensions of each icon by modifying the iconWidth and iconHeight arguments. The final step is to add each icon to the Leaflet map using addMarkers(). Within the options argument of addMarkers, users can fine-tune each glyph’s display properties, such as the opacity level. The label argument allows users to specify the information they wish to display with the hover-over effect, which in this example is set to display the station ID.

# Loop through the PNG files and add them to the map
for (i in seq_along(train_png)) {
  icon <- makeIcon(iconUrl = train_png[i], iconWidth = 100, iconHeight = 60)

  dt <- train |> filter(station_name == df_station[i])
  leaflet_map <- leaflet_map |>
    addMarkers(lng = dt$long[1], lat = dt$lat[1], icon = icon,
               label = dt$station_name, options = markerOptions(opacity = 0.1))
}

leaflet_map

Create interative glyph maps with ggiraph

User can generate interactive glyphs with ggiraph::girafe using sugarglider. To illustrate, we will use the aus_temp dataset in this example. First, users need to specify tooltips, which are the details displayed when hovering over the glyphs. In this example, the tooltips consist of station id, month, minimum and maximum temperature across all month.

vic_nsw <- aus_temp |>
  filter(id %in% c("ASN00026021", "ASN00085291", "ASN00084143",
                   "ASN00055325", "ASN00049000"))
# Specify tooltip for ggiraph 
vic_nsw <- vic_nsw |>
  mutate(tooltip = paste("Station ID: ", id,
                         "\nmonth: ", month,
                         "\nmin-temp: ", round(tmin,2),
                         "\nmax-temp: ", round(tmax,2)))

Tooltips needs to be provided in the asethetic to in the tooltip argument. User can then plot their desired glyph map and save it as a ggplot object. This ggplot object is then converted into girafe object using the girafe() function.

temp <- vic_nsw |> 
  ggplot(aes(x_major = long, y_major = lat,
             x_minor = month, y_minor = tmin,
             yend_minor = tmax,
             tooltip = tooltip)) + 
  geom_sf(data = abs_ste |> filter(NAME %in% c("New South Wales", "Victoria")),
          color = "white",
          fill = "antiquewhite", inherit.aes = FALSE) +
  add_glyph_boxes(color = "#CD5C08") +
  add_ref_lines(color = "#CD5C08") +
  geom_glyph_segment(color = "#CD5C08") +
  coord_sf(xlim = c(140,153)) +
  theme_glyph() 
# Interactive plot using ggiraph
girafe(ggobj = temp)