gghourglass

Splits observations with datetime stamps into date and time of day components, then displays them in a scatter plot using grammar of graphics (ggplot2). Plots can also be decorated with coloured ribbons indicating night time. This is helpful for visualising data that are associated with the solar cycle, such as bat activity.

Installation

Install CRAN release:

install.packages("gghourglass")

Install latest developmental version from R-Universe:

install.packages("gghourglass", repos = c('https://pepijn-devries.r-universe.dev', 'https://cloud.r-project.org'))

Example

## load required namespaces
library(ggplot2)
library(gghourglass)

## get example data
data(bats)

## subset example date to the year 2018
bats_sub <- subset(bats, format(RECDATETIME, "%Y") == "2018")

## retrieve monitoring location
lon <- attr(bats, "monitoring")$longitude[1]
lat <- attr(bats, "monitoring")$latitude[1]

## plot the data
ggplot(bats_sub, aes(x = RECDATETIME, col = SPECDESCSCI)) +
  
  ## annotate sunset until sunrise
  annotate_daylight(lon, lat, c("sunset", "sunrise")) +
  
  ## annotate dusk until dawn
  annotate_daylight(lon, lat, c("dusk", "dawn")) +
  
  ## add hourglass geometry to plot
  geom_hourglass() +
  
  ## add informative labels
  labs(x = "Date", y = "Time of day", col = "Species")