Putting Consolidated Global Temperature Data on-line

In this post I describe an R script that retrieves monthly global temperature anomaly data from 5 sources and consolidates the data into a single CSV file. I then post the consolidated file in an on-line  Google spreadsheet so that users can download the data and conduct their own global temperature trend analysis.

Decadal Trend Rates in Global Temperature

This post presents an R based chart of global GISS land and sea temperature anomaly data for the 1880-2009 period with both the long term trend and the individual decadal trends. Links to the source data file and the R script are provided so that readers can reproduce/ improve on this analysis.

Chart Doctor Update

Non Issue Is Over

It’s been an interesting 24 hours  in the chart blog world. I am happy to announce that the Chart Doctor name issue is completely resolved on my part and I apologize for generating what turned out to be an unnecessary controversy because Akismet flagged my comment to Chandoo’s post as spam.

The Original Chart Doctor

Chart Doctor Started 9/30/06

I started my Chart Doctor feature at ProcessTrends.Com way back on 9/30/06:

rpanel Package – Adds Interactive Capabilites to R

This post presents a short video that shows an interactive regression application using the rpanel package.

rpanel

Hadley Wickham’s Crantastic site currently lists 1,531 R packages.  This post shows how I have used one of these  packages, rpanel, to build an interactive regression tool,  similar to the interactive regression tool I built in Excel.

Excel users often add check boxes, sliders, drop down lists to add some interactive capabilities to worksheets. rpanel provides the same type of capability in the R environment. Since a video is worth a lot of text, here’s a short video that shows my interactive R regression application:

done

rpanel has been developed by Adrian Bowman, et al at the University of Glasgow, Department of Statistics. They have several excellent support documents and scripts at this link.

The script and source data file are available at this link.

Only 1,530 R packages to go!

R Lets You Put Chart Inside Chart

In this post I give a quick tip on how to embed one chart within another chart. This can be useful in situations where you want to expand a part of your chart or show distinct ranges of your data set.          

2009 Kentucky Derby Bumps Chart

In this post I show a bumps chart of the 2009 Kentucky Derby made with Excel. This was an incredibly exciting race, with the winner, Mind that Bird, moving from last place to 1st place in the last 1/4  mile.   The bumps chart captures the horses positions at 6 posts during the race.

Don’t Try This With Excel

In this post I show 4 charts of the same data to demonstrate  what Excel chart users are missing by not having a more powerful charting tool. This post,  building on my previous discussion of using factors for conditional formatting,  shows the potential advantages of plotting summary values and bounding area polygons . These analytical displays are not readily available to even advanced Excel users.

Learn R Toolkit Videos

My list of free Learn R Toolkit videos is growing. Here’s the latest list of free videos:

• Get Familiar with R
• Download & Install R
• Configure Working Directory – Set Start-in Folder
• Example R Session
• Getting R Help
• R Packages
• Compare R and Excel Worlds
• Missing Data – R and Excel

Modules 3-6 of the toolkit includes video training, working R scripts and data files to get you started writing R chart scripts in less than a day. Modules 3 – 6 are available for $19 with my  money back guarantee.

So there’s no reason for you to put off learning R. You now have a risk free way to start using R  for your advanced charts.

Excel Deja Vu All Over Again

In reading a recent Excel charting post, I got that Yogi Berra feeling, “..this is deja vu all over again”. I could have sworn that I had made or seen  a similar chart several years ago. This  post looks into the deja vu mystery and reports on my findings. You’ll have to read this post to see if Yogi’s quote applies to Excel charts.