Watch the demo at http://greeninfo-network.github.io/AnimatedWindMapping/
When GreenInfo saw the beautiful data-viz artistry of the hint.fm wind map, we were inspired to see if we could make that work in our standard web mapping software stack. This proof-of-concept illustrates how we might show currents of any type—from global wind patterns to San Francisco Bay microclimates to ocean currents around the Sargasso Sea.
The interactive map uses the standard two dimensions of space, with the animation showing a third dimension of time. The color of the currents can show a fourth parameter (temperature, elevation, speed, etc.), resulting in a visualization that is both informative and beautiful. This demo shows a snapshot of data from 2014, but can be modified to update recent conditions in real-time.
This technique has been developed by the good folks at http://hint.fm/wind/, https://github.com/cambecc/earth, http://earth.nullschool.net/, and http://esri.github.io/wind-js/. We adapted it further to make it possible to add this type of visualization to our standard web maps.
Read more at http://www.greeninfo.org/work/project/animated-wind-mapping