A team of researchers led by scientists at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency published a new map that characterizes the Earth’s radioactivity and offers new and potential future applications for basic science research and nonproliferation efforts.

The Antineutrino Global Map 2015, or AGM2015, is an unprecedented experimentally-informed model of the Earth’s natural and manmade antineutrino flux.

The map uses open-source geophysical data sets and publicly available international antineutrino detection observational data to depict varying levels of radioactivity on Earth.

The initial map was released in 2015 with follow-on infographics and educational materials for print and web released later on. NGA also made available KMZ and GEO TIFF files for others to research.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Antineutrino Global Map 2015 – or AGM2015 – and accompanying graphic products were created to support research and development in geophysics.

  

The products characterize the Earth’s radioactivity and depict the planet’s natural and anthropogenic emissions of antineutrinos. These subatomic particles are key to better understanding nuclear reactor detection, the natural radiation of the Earth, and even indications of how planets form.

The infographic/map and coordinating web and social media graphics helped educate students, particle physicists, geophysicists, nuclear policy experts, and the general public.

AGM2015 received considerable scientific media attention from various news outlets including Science News, Gizmodo and the MIT Technology Review. Findings were published in a 2015 issue of Nature’s Scientific Reports, an open source peer-reviewed journal.

The graphics helped tell the story of a significant contribution to the scientific community. The accompanying fact sheet and social media campaign assisted in helping the general public understand the complex research and data that went into the product's development.

When creating the infographics, designers felt it was important that the graphics keep the focus on the data being displayed while keeping NGA’s parent branding. It was important that the graphics stay timeless for classroom and research settings while still appealing to the social media audiences.

The result is a design where the data became a bright feature offset with clean text and ample white space. Products for web and print were primarily developed in Adobe Illustrator. The promotional video was created using Animoto.