Geovisualisation: Sense-making and knowledge discovery with location-based data

The increasing ubiquity and proliferation of locationbased data comes with a need to make sense of it. Geovisualisation provides a tool with which, through the exploitation of our powerful perceptual abilities, we can uncover patterns and links between previously disparate data sources. However, in the context of sense and decision making, presenting information through the frame of location is not enough ¿ a holistic system, that incorporates geovisualisation, needs to be aware of the broader context in which it exists. A point represented by GPS coordinates can have different meanings to different people, and even an individuals¿ interpretation of a location can change over time. This paper will discuss the role of geovisualisation in knowledge discovery, with location as a context to this process.