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Heatmap_Tech_Details.txt
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Heatmap_Tech_Details.txt
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## this is intended to possibly replace the second paragraph of the current heatmap description ##
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While the EPA provides the data for contamination sites and dates for the state of Michigan, the dataset contains hundreds of data points and is difficult to determine the impactful data. To alleviate this issue, we first used Python, through libraries such as Pandas and NumPy, to gather, analyze, and organize the EPA data into structured csv (spreadsheet-ish) files.
Afterwards, the Matplotlib library was used to generate chemical heatmap images from the csv files. The heatmap images generated from this process were a significant step up from the raw EPA data, and made it very easy to look at the image and immediately see which parts of Michigan each chemical in the data was most prevalent in.
Next, we wanted to make it simple and easy for the average Michigander, who lacks the expertise to use a terminal and run several python scripts, to easily view similar, but more interactive, heatmaps from the comfort of their browser. To accomplish this, we first used Node.js to convert our csv data files into JSON. While csv files are useful for data analysis, JSON is the "lingua-franca" of the web, a far superior file format for sending and storing data on the web.
Next, we built a website, which you can check out at https://esun780.github.io/chem_heatmap.github.io/. On our website, our team used HTML and CSS to create a simple user interface using drop-down menus, buttons, pop-up reports, and more. A user can select a chemical and a year, and JavaScript, through the Zingchart library, will be used to dynamically render an heatmap right in the user's browser. This heatmap is an interactive map of the state of Michigan, divided into regions by Zip Code. Each Zip Code is shaded in with a color representing the amount of the chosen chemical contaminant found in that Zip Code in the chosen year. This heatmap can be zoomed in on and interacted with by the user, similarly to Google Maps. The user can also hover over each region to show the respective Zip Code and, if the chosen contaminant was detected in that region, the reported value of the contaminant. Furthermore, the website also displays background information about the chosen contaminant, such as its potential effects on human health, its origin, and results of exposure to it. Finally, users can also enter their Zip Code and receive a formatted report of every chemical contaminant across every year in the dataset that was detected in the entered Zip Code.