Cognitive Efficiency in Environmental Dashboards: Bridging Visual Perception Theory and Spatiotemporal Sustainability Monitoring

Abstract

The exponential growth of environmental data, driven by IoT sensors and satellite monitoring, presents a critical challenge in sustainability science: the "insight gap" between data availability and cognitive comprehension. While Digital Twins and GIS-enabled systems offer granular details on carbon emissions and air quality, the efficacy of these tools is often compromised by suboptimal visual design that ignores human cognitive limitations. This article synthesizes recent findings in visual perception psychology with advanced environmental monitoring frameworks to propose a model of "Cognitive Efficiency" for sustainability dashboards. By integrating literature on spatiotemporal aggregation, decluttering protocols, and interactive animation, this study examines how design choices influence decision-making in carbon capture and household low-carbon practices. The analysis suggests that while high-fidelity Digital Twins are essential for technical precision, simpler, decluttered visualizations utilizing strategic aggregation are more effective for rapid risk assessment and behavioral modification. We identify a dichotomy between "exploratory" and "explanatory" environmental visualizations and argue that the failure to distinguish between them leads to cognitive overload. The paper concludes by outlining design principles that align information visualization (InfoVis) with geovisualization (GeoVis) to maximize the communicative impact of sustainability data.