Radial, Timeline and Heatmap Charts

RADIAL • TIMELINE • HEATMAP • SCADA • HPP • OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS

EOS LIVE DASH enables real-time and historical data obtained from SCADA systems to be visualized according to different analytical requirements. Radial, Timeline, and Heatmap charts help users quickly evaluate ratio and performance distributions, the flow of events over time, and data density.

These three chart types can be used as complementary visualization tools, particularly in hydroelectric power plants, for alarm analysis, unit operating status, maintenance activities, power generation, equipment behavior, and comparison of operating conditions.

Explore the Charts

EOS LIVE DASH Radial, Timeline and Heatmap charts

Overview

Radial, Timeline and Heatmap charts are complementary visualization tools that answer different analytical questions in SCADA and energy systems. Radial charts make ratios and threshold conditions visible, Timeline charts show the flow of events over time, while Heatmaps quickly reveal areas of intensity and recurrence.

RadialRatio, fill level, and performance

TimelineEvent, status, and duration relationships

HeatmapIntensity, recurrence, and anomalies

EOS LIVE DASH approach: Chart selection should not be based solely on visual preference, but on the operational question that needs to be answered.

Radial Charts

Center point: the starting reference of the display.
Angular axis: a scale of 0–180°, 0–270°, or 0–360° can be used.
Radial scale: represents the minimum–maximum value range.
Indicator: can be presented as a needle, filled area, or segment.
Color zones: threshold zones such as green–yellow–red can be used for rapid status assessment.
Current value: enables the operator to read the current status at a glance.

Insight: For example, if an alarm category occupies a large portion of the circle, this indicates that the problem area is dominant compared with the other categories. The percentages in the source are illustrative and should not be interpreted as actual field measurements.

Radial – SCADA and Hydroelectric Power Plant Applications

Key Application Areas

Power generation: instantaneous generation power, turbine load ratio, and generator efficiency.
Switchyards: bus loading, transformer loading ratio, and thermal stress.
Thermal and gas power plants: boiler pressure, fuel flow, and oxygen ratio.
Hydroelectric power plants: alarm distribution, unit-based alarm share, turbine operating modes, hydraulic oil condition, maintenance resource distribution, energy loss causes, and seasonal operating behavior.

Example Analytical Questions

Which alarm category dominates the total alarm load?
Which unit is generating a disproportionate number of alarms?
What proportion of turbine operating time is spent in normal generation, low load, load following, start–stop, or alarm conditions?
Which of the hydraulic oil indicators—temperature, pressure, cleanliness, or moisture—is critical from a maintenance perspective?
What proportion of generation losses is caused by unplanned downtime, low efficiency, alarm-related load restrictions, grid constraints, or maintenance duration?

Management Value: Radial visualization is particularly useful for quickly answering the question “where does the total come from?”

Timeline

X-axis: time represented by hours, days, shifts, or longer periods.
Y-axis: turbine, unit, line, alarm, maintenance, or another operational category.
Time blocks: represent states with defined start and end times.
Event points: indicate instantaneous events such as trips, resets, protection operations, or operator interventions.
Color coding: enables different states and event types to be distinguished.

Insight: Timeline combines the questions “What happened, when did it start, and how long did it last?” within the same view.

Timeline – SCADA and Hydroelectric Power Plant Applications

Timeline Types

State Timeline: equipment states such as running, partial load, shutdown, and maintenance.
Alarm Timeline: alarm start and end times.
Event Timeline: instantaneous events such as turbine trips, protection relay operations, and manual stops.
Maintenance / Operation Timeline: placement of planned and unplanned activities over time.

Powerful Scenarios for HPPs

Alarm–Downtime–Maintenance relationship: makes the alarm → operator intervention → unit shutdown → maintenance flow visible.
Unit-based daily operation: compares normal generation, low load, load following, operation under alarm conditions, and downtime periods.
Multi-unit synchronization: helps examine the load behavior of other units after one unit stops.
Gates and hydraulic actuators: shows the temporal consistency between gate movement, hydraulic pressure, and position.
Maintenance durations: reveals the duration of activities and maintenance work occurring at the same time.
Seasonal / long-term: makes it easier to identify recurring alarms, downtime, maintenance, and efficiency declines.

Example Sequence: 09:12 hydraulic oil temperature alarm → 09:18 vibration alarm → 09:25 unit shutdown → 10:00–13:30 cooler cleaning. This sequence makes the path from alarm to maintenance visible.

Key Advantage: event sequencing, temporal relationships, operator intervention, and root cause analysis are supported within a single view.

Heatmap

X–Y axes: time, equipment, alarm, region, or another two-dimensional category.
Cells: contain measurement, count, or duration values at the intersection of the two axes.
Color scale: enables rapid perception of value changes from low to high.
Legend: explains the relationship between color and numerical value.

Insight: The main strength of a Heatmap is its ability to answer the question “where is the concentration?” at a glance within large datasets.

Heatmap – SCADA and Hydroelectric Power Plant Applications

Heatmap Types

Time × Alarm: shows the times of day when alarms are most concentrated.
Equipment × Alarm: shows which equipment carries the largest alarm load.
Performance Heatmap: compares efficiency, load, and loss ratios.
Geographical Heatmap: can show GIS-based density of field assets such as transformers, lines, and substations.

Analytical Scenarios for HPPs

Alarm type × time: concentration of hydraulic oil temperature alarms at specific hours may trigger an investigation of cooling performance.
Subsystem × unit: for example, a dark cell for Unit-2 / Hydraulic subsystem can help determine maintenance priority.
Flow range × alarm intensity: if cavitation alarms increase at high flow, operating limits may need to be reassessed.
Season × problem type: concentration of oil temperature and cooling problems during summer may reveal recurring behavior.
Sensor health: a consistently high error/deviation intensity from the same sensor over several weeks may indicate a persistent instrumentation problem.
Before / after maintenance: a reduction in color intensity supports visual evaluation of maintenance effectiveness.
Downtime duration: makes failures that occur rarely but cause long downtime visible through their impact beyond frequency alone.

Technical Value: Heatmap answers not only “how many times did it happen?” but also where events intersect with time, equipment, and operating conditions.

Comparison of Radial, Timeline and Heatmap

Chart	Key question	Strongest use	SCADA example
Radial	What is the proportion of the total?	Ratio, fill level, threshold, performance	Alarm share / unit contribution
Timeline	When did it happen and how long did it last?	Event sequence and causal chain	Alarm–downtime–maintenance
Heatmap	Where and when does it become concentrated?	Intensity, recurrence, anomaly	Alarm × hour / unit × subsystem

Choosing the Right Chart: The same data can be displayed using different charts; however, the best choice is the chart that provides the most direct answer to the question that the operator or manager needs to answer.

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