Somewhere Over the Rainbow: How to Make Effective Use of Colors in Meteorological Visualizations

JOURNAL:  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
AUTHORS: Reto Stauffer, Georg J. Mayr, Markus Dabernig and Achim Zeileis.
SUMMARY:  Results of many atmospheric science applications are processed graphically. Visualizations are a powerful tool to display and communicate data. However, to create effective figures, a wide scope of challenges has to be considered. The guidelines and examples should help readers to switch over to the alternative HCL color model, which will result in a greatly improved quality and readability of visualized atmospheric science data for research, teaching, and communication of results to society.
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CULTURAL REFERENCE:  Over the Rainbow" is a ballad written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. ​On the album Facing Future (1993), Israel Kamakawiwo'ole included "Over the Rainbow" in a ukulele medley with "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.

Scientific paper

Song