Back to Documentation

Heatmap Tool

Visualize data density and identify patterns in your geospatial data with interactive heatmaps.

Overview

The Heatmap tool creates visual representations of data density across geographic areas. It uses color gradients to show where data points are concentrated, helping you identify hotspots, patterns, and trends in your spatial data. This is particularly useful for analyzing customer distribution, sales density, or any other location-based metrics.

How to Access

  1. Navigate to your project's map view
  2. Click on the "Tools" tab in the right-side toolbar
  3. Select "Heatmap" from the available tools
  4. The Heatmap configuration panel will appear

Tool Selection

The Tools tab showing available map analysis tools

Configuration Options

Dataset Selection

Choose the dataset you want to visualize as a heatmap:

  • Select any dataset with geographic coordinates
  • Common datasets include customer locations, sales data, or delivery points
  • The heatmap will show density based on the number of points in each area

Dataset Selection

Dropdown for selecting the dataset to visualize as a heatmap

Heatmap Radius

Control the size of the heatmap influence radius:

  • Larger radius creates smoother, more generalized heatmaps
  • Smaller radius shows more detailed, localized patterns
  • Adjust based on your data density and analysis needs

Heatmap Radius Configuration

Heatmap Radius: 25

The radius slider for adjusting heatmap influence area

Running the Analysis

  1. Ensure you have a dataset selected in the main map settings
  2. Configure the weighting field if desired
  3. Adjust the heatmap radius to your preference
  4. Click the "Calculate Heat Map" button
  5. The heatmap will be overlaid on your map

Calculate Button

The calculate button to create the heatmap visualization

Understanding Results

Heatmap Visualization

The heatmap appears as a colored overlay on your map:

  • Areas with high data density appear in warm colors (red, orange)
  • Areas with low data density appear in cool colors (blue, green)
  • The intensity of color indicates the relative density
  • Transparent areas have no or minimal data points

Legend and Scale

A legend appears on the map showing the density scale:

Interactive Features

  • Click on heatmap areas to view density statistics
  • Zoom in and out to see different levels of detail
  • Toggle the heatmap on/off to compare with underlying data
  • Adjust opacity to blend with other map layers

Heatmap Visualization Example

This interactive example shows how the Heatmap tool creates density visualizations. You can see how data points are transformed into smooth gradient overlays, with warm colors (red/orange) indicating high density areas and cool colors (blue/green) showing low density areas.

Loading map...

Advanced Features

Weighted Heatmaps

Use weighting fields to create more meaningful heatmaps:

  • Weight by sales volume, customer value, or frequency
  • Creates heatmaps that reflect business importance, not just count
  • Helps identify high-value areas vs. high-volume areas
  • Useful for strategic planning and resource allocation

Temporal Analysis

Analyze how patterns change over time:

  • Filter data by date ranges to see temporal patterns
  • Compare heatmaps from different time periods
  • Identify seasonal trends and growth patterns
  • Track the evolution of customer or demand distribution

Best Practices

Data Preparation

  • Ensure your dataset has accurate geographic coordinates
  • Clean data to remove outliers that might skew results
  • Consider the appropriate level of geographic detail for your analysis
  • Use consistent coordinate systems across all data points

Radius Selection

  • Start with a medium radius and adjust based on your data density
  • Use smaller radius for detailed, local analysis
  • Use larger radius for broader, regional patterns
  • Consider the scale of your business operations when setting radius
💡 Pro Tip

Combine heatmaps with other analysis tools for comprehensive insights. For example, use heatmaps to identify high-density areas, then use the Center of Gravity tool to find optimal facility locations within those areas.

Use Cases

  • Customer Analysis: Visualize customer distribution and identify market hotspots
  • Sales Performance: Map sales density to identify high-performing regions
  • Delivery Optimization: Understand delivery point density for route planning
  • Market Research: Analyze competitor locations and market penetration
  • Risk Assessment: Identify areas with high incident or claim density
  • Resource Planning: Visualize demand patterns for staffing and inventory decisions
  • Site Selection: Use density patterns to inform new location decisions
  • Territory Planning: Balance sales territories based on customer density