1. User’s Guide for Oracle Analytics Desktop
  2. Apply Map Backgrounds and Map Layers to Enhance Visualizations
  3. Create Heatmap Layers on a Map Visualization

Create Heatmap Layers on a Map Visualization

You can use a heatmap as a data layer type on a map visualization to identify the density or high concentration of point values or metric values associated with the points. For example, you can use a heatmap to identify the high profit stores in a geographic region or country.

You can create two types of heatmap layers:

  • Density heatmap - Uses only map-related column data (such as latitude and longitude columns). Density heatmap layers show the cumulative sum of a point, where each point carries a specific weight. A point has a radius of influence around it, such that other points that fall in the same area also contribute to the total cumulative result of a point.
  • Metric heatmap - Uses measure column data in the same layer. For example, if you add a measure column to the Color section on the Grammar Panel the heatmap is updated to show interpolated metric values.
  1. On the Home page, hover over a workbook, click Actions Actions icon, then select Open.
  2. Create an empty map visualization.
  3. Drag and drop attribute columns containing map-related data from the Data Panel to the Category (Geography) section on the Grammar Panel.
    • If you’re creating a workbook with a map visualization, in the Data Panel, right-click an attribute column and click Pick Visualization then select Map.
  4. Go to the Data Layers tab of the properties pane.
    • Alternatively, click Layer options in the Category (Geography) section and click Manage Layers.
  5. To create a density heatmap, click Layer Type value and select Heatmap.
    • Alternatively, you can add a new map layer, change the layer type to Heatmap and then add attribute columns to the Category (Geography) section.
  6. To create a metric heatmap, drag and drop a metric column from the Data Panel to the Color section. The heatmap visualization changes from density to metric.
  7. In the Data Layers tab of the properties pane, specify the options for the heatmap layer such as Radius, Interpolation, Transparency, and Color.
    • The default interpolation method is automatically selected based on the aggregation rule of the metric column or value that you’ve selected for the layer.
    • You can select the radius value in pixels (px). The radius value is the extent of influence of a measure around a point value on a map.
The heatmap is automatically updated based on the options selected in the Data Layers tab.