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Heat Map

Dr. Sanjeev Kumar


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.

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