Heat Map A Heat map is a unique two-dimensional display of data in which values are dictated in the form of colours. Generally there are two aspects of heat map, fractal maps and tree maps, and both of them employ similar colour coding to represent individual variables. The more elaborate heat maps display complex data sets in perceivable and simplified terms. The simplest way to understand the exact meaning of heat map is to take an example of a table or spreadsheet containing colours instead of numerals. There are few default colours set in a spreadsheet. The dark set of colours is there to display the low activity whereas the brighter set of colours is set to indicate higher level of activity. On the other hand, the mid-range values are marked in light gray colour, with an equivalent gradient between these two extremes. Heat Map Heat Map
Importance of Heat maps and their need in Big Data Analytics
In order to display any given data distribution on map, heat map is the most comprehensive, used tool in Google spreadsheet. From such simplified displays, one can easily grasp the entire trend of data distribution. Here, deeper tones of colour are used to display larger value. These maps can be used to portray market shares, population distribution and other valuable information. With no visual charm added in maps, it can get tough at times to understand a few million rows of numerals. Here any interpreter can get stuck with question in mind like- What chance do I have of getting accurate information from this million of rows at one time? Or how do I get the exact value from all such kinds of data? However the unique colour coding used in heat maps makes such doubts vanish in the air. With eye catching visual display, it becomes easier to grasp the type of information you are looking for. Heat Map Heat Maps Tools and Software Implementations In the category of heat maps, there are twenty different tools, all of which can be used to create a clear, concise and visually attractive display charts. These include simple charts, complex designer graphs, maps, infographics and many more. All these tools and software are available online for free. These can be installed directly in your system. Some common tools are Excel, CSV/JSON. Online visualisations are Google Chart API, Flot, Raphal, D3 (Data-Driven Documents), Visually, Cross filter, Tangle, Modest Maps, Leaflet, Polymaps, OpenLayers, Kartograph, CartoDB, Processing, NodeBox, R, Weka, Gephi and so on. Heat Map Here is the lowdown of important heat map software implementations: NeoVision Hypersystems, Inc: Founded by Cormac Kinney this software firm is involved in producing innovative set of heat maps. These tools are mostly used for real time financial data and calculations. R Statistics: Made specifically for statistical purposes, this is free software which comprises a vast array of functions to trace heat maps. Gnuplot: It is a universal and free command-line plotting program that is used to trace 2D and 3D heat maps. Heat Map A Heat Map in Excel is a visual representation that quickly shows you a comparative view of a dataset. For example, in the dataset below, I can easily spot which are the months when the sales were low (highlighted in red) as compared with other months. In the above dataset, the colors are assigned based on the value in the cell. The color scale is Green to Yellow to Red with high values getting the green color and low values getting the red color.