Mars Weather Visualization
My Role:
- Planning
- Organizing all Data
- Coding
Tools:
- Processing
Project Type:
University Project
Project Year:
2024
Overview
This semester project was all about turning data into meaningful, interactive visual experiences. In our team, we chose to explore something a little more extraterrestrial: the weather on Mars. The goal was to create a generative design that could be displayed on two screens, one showing Mars’ orbit in real time and the other visualizing weather data like temperature and sunlight over time.
Process
At the heart of our concept was a real-time data feed from NASA’s open API. We wanted to create a visualization that would be clear, informative and a bit inspiring. Something we imagined being shown at NASA or ESA.
- One screen tracked the orbit of all planets.
- The second screen visualized changing weather values, like temperature and sunshine duration, matched to Martian days (sols).
During development, we discovered that the data transmission from the Mars rover had stopped after it could no longer receive solar power, so our data only covered a specific time frame. Still, it was fascinating to work with real-world data from another planet.
My role was finding and organizing the API data, setting up the generative coding environment and making sure the visualizations were running smoothly.
Final Thoughts
I honestly didn’t expect to have this much fun digging into space data! It was exciting to learn that open APIs for things like Martian weather even exist. This project showed me how playful and informative generative design can be and reminded me once again that coding and curiosity are a pretty great combo.