Interactive data visualization of the Norwegian phosphorus cycle, coupling phosphorus with dry matter and energy in a multi-layered material flow analysis model

The utilization of data visualization to explore complex systems is arguably an indispensable method for increasing understanding of a specific problem domain. It is argued that visualization techniques for presenting material flow analysis results should be further developed. This thesis explores the effectiveness of combining material flow analysis with data visualization techniques to communicate the impacts of targeted policies for managing food waste for the Norwegian food production, consumption and waste system. By employing data from ongoing research that examines the use of dry matter, phosphorus and energy in a Norwegian context, the aim of this study was to develop a web application that uses a combination of visualization techniques to communicate the multifaceted issues related to food waste. A selection of different visualization techniques were applied and evaluated in relation to their ability to communicate the research utilized in this thesis. A combination of both commonly used visualization techniques from material flow analysis with more novel visualization techniques, were applied showing promising results. In the end, a user test was conducted to assess the learnability and usability of the application. The results of the user test indicates that there is a potential to develop a tool for effective resource management of biomass, including phosphorous and energy, by communicating material flow analysis results more efficiently using modern data visualization methods.