Short Summary

Team Name: Angry Nerds

This is a short summary component of submissions for the Pale Blue Dot: Visualization
Challenge.

Our visual presentation serves as a dynamic representation of Water Equivalent

Thickness in the Save River region over time. By harnessing data from GRACE and
GRACE-FO JPL satellites, the visualizations offer a nuanced understanding of how
water content evolves. The temporal aspect provides insights into the seasonality,
trends, and potential anomalies in water dynamics, which is critical for making
informed decisions related to agriculture and water resource management. The
primary dataset employed in our analysis is the Water Equivalent Thickness – Land
dataset sourced from GRACE and GRACE-FO JPL satellites. This dataset contains
timestamped information on water content in the Save River region, enabling a
comprehensive exploration of the region's water dynamics. Our project is driven by the
objective of advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger. The
temporal analysis of the water equivalent thickness over more than two decades
reveals fluctuations, extreme values in March 2003 and March 2004, and potential
seasonal patterns. Abrupt changes in June 2010 and June 2015 are notable, indicating
dynamic shifts. Despite an overall decreasing trend, recent data from February 2022
suggests a reversal with increasing values. Missing data points and varying
observation intervals pose challenges to trend accuracy, and notable negative peaks in
2015 and 2020 hint at significant events impacting water thickness. The visualizations
and insights derived from the water content data contribute to informed decision-
making in agriculture, directly impacting food security. By understanding the temporal
variations in water availability, stakeholders can optimize planting times, choose
suitable crops, and implement water-saving technologies, all of which are crucial steps
in addressing hunger and ensuring sustainable agriculture practices. The visualizations
and data analysis were executed using Python programming language, facilitated by
the collaborative environment of Google Colab. Python's robust ecosystem of data
analysis libraries, such as Pandas and Matplotlib, empowered us to process the
dataset and create insightful visualizations. Additionally, we utilized a moving average
technique within the same plot, enhancing our ability to discern underlying trends and
patterns in the water content data. This moving average served a dual purpose,
providing smoother visual representations and offering a basis for forecasting future

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trends. Furthermore, we explored the potential of machine learning, implementing
neural networks and deep learning to model and predict future water dynamics in the
region which is discussed in detail on the report. This combination of traditional data
analysis techniques and advanced machine learning approaches allowed us to extract
meaningful insights and make informed projections for the Save River region.