Heat map

Last updated
Heat map generated from DNA microarray data reflecting gene expression values in several conditions Heatmap.png
Heat map generated from DNA microarray data reflecting gene expression values in several conditions
A heat map showing the RF coverage of a drone detection system A 3D triangulation coverage heatmap.jpg
A heat map showing the RF coverage of a drone detection system

A heat map (or heatmap) is a 2-dimensional data visualization technique that represents the magnitude of individual values within a dataset as a color. The variation in color may be by hue or intensity.

Contents

In some applications such as crime analytics or website click-tracking, color is used to represent the density of data points rather than a value associated with each point.

"Heat map" is a relatively new term, but the practice of shading matrices has existed for over a century. [1]

History

Heat maps originated in 2D displays of the values in a data matrix. Larger values were represented by small dark gray or black squares (pixels) and smaller values by lighter squares. Toussaint Loua (1873) used a shading matrix to visualize social statistics across the districts of Paris. [1] Sneath (1957) displayed the results of a cluster analysis by permuting the rows and the columns of a matrix to place similar values near each other according to the clustering. Jacques Bertin used a similar representation to display data that conformed to a Guttman scale. The idea for joining cluster trees to the rows and columns of the data matrix originated with Robert Ling in 1973. Ling used overstruck printer characters to represent different shades of gray, one character-width per pixel. Leland Wilkinson developed the first computer program in 1994 (SYSTAT) to produce cluster heat maps with high-resolution color graphics. The Eisen et al. display shown in the figure is a replication of the earlier SYSTAT design.[ citation needed ]

Software designer Cormac Kinney trademarked the term 'heat map' in 1991 to describe a 2D display depicting financial market information. [2] The company that acquired Kinney's invention in 2003 unintentionally allowed the trademark to lapse. [3]

Spatial Heat Map Example: Displays temperature across a world image with red being the highest and blue being the lowest degree in temperatures (5 April 2019). World heat map.png
Spatial Heat Map Example: Displays temperature across a world image with red being the highest and blue being the lowest degree in temperatures (5 April 2019).

Types

There are two main type of heat maps: spatial, and grid.

A spatial heat map displays the magnitude of a spatial phenomena as color, usually cast over a map. In the image labeled "Spatial Heat Map Example," temperature is displayed by color range across a map of the world. Color ranges from blue (cold) to red (hot).

A grid heat map displays magnitude as color in a two-dimensional matrix, with each dimension representing a category of trait and the color representing the magnitude of some measurement on the combined traits from each of the two categories. For example, one dimension might represent year, and the other dimension might represent month, and the value measured might be temperature. This heat map would show how temperature changed over the years in each month. Grid heat maps are further categorized into two different types of matrices: clustered, and correlogram. [4]

In a grid heat map, colors are presented in a grid of a fixed size, with every cell in the grid also being an equal size and shape. The goal is to detect clustering, or suggest the presence of clusters.

A spatial heat map is often used on maps or satellite imagery (see GIS), where there is no concept of cells, and instead the colours vary continuously.

Uses

Heat maps have a wide range of possibilities amongst applications due to their ability to simplify data and make for visually appealing to read data analysis. Many applications using different types of heat maps are listed below.

Business Analysis: Heat maps are used in business analytics to give a visual representation about a company's current functioning, performance, and the need for improvements. Heat maps are a way to analyze a company's existing data and update it to reflect growth and other specific efforts. Heat maps visually appeal to team members and clients of the business or company.

Websites: There are many different ways heat maps are used within websites to determine a visiting users actions. Typically, there are multiple heat maps used together to determine insight to a website on what are the best and worst performing elements on the page. Some specific heat maps used for website analysis are listed below.

Data Analysis Heat Map Example: Displays the normalized linkage disequilibrium of Genomic Windows within the Hist1 region of a mouse (Mus musculus). Normalized Linkage Heat Map.png
Data Analysis Heat Map Example: Displays the normalized linkage disequilibrium of Genomic Windows within the Hist1 region of a mouse (Mus musculus).
Data Analysis Heat Map Example: Subgraph of one of five hub nodes with a large degree of centrality in a genomic region in mice (Mus musculus) called the Hist1 region, where each cell in the graph represents one edge in the genomic network. Community Heatmap.png
Data Analysis Heat Map Example: Subgraph of one of five hub nodes with a large degree of centrality in a genomic region in mice (Mus musculus) called the Hist1 region, where each cell in the graph represents one edge in the genomic network.

Exploratory Data Analysis: Working with small and large data sets, data scientists and data analysts look at and determine essential relationships and characteristics amongst different points in a data set as well as features of those data points. Data scientists and analysts work with a team of others in different professions. The use of heat maps make for a visually easy way to summarize findings and main components. There are other ways to represent data, however heat maps can visualize these data points and their relationships in a high dimensional space without becoming too compact and visually unappealing. Heat maps in data analysis, allow for specific variables of rows and/or columns on the axes and even on the diagonal.

Financial Analysis: The values of different product and assets fluctuate both rapidly and/or gradually over time. The need to log changes to the daily markets is imperative. It allows for the ability to draw predictions from patterns while being able to revisit past numerical data. Heat maps are able to remove the tedious process and enable the user to visualize data points and compare amongst the different performers. [6]

Geographical Visualization: Heat maps are used to visualize and display a geographic distribution of data. Heat maps represent different densities of data points on a geographical map to help users see the intensities of certain phenomena and to show items of most or least importance. Heat maps used in geographical visualization are sometimes confused with Choropleth maps, but the difference comes with how certain data is presented which differentiate the two. [4] [7]

Sports: Heat maps can be used in many sports and can influence manager's and/or coaches decisions based on high and low densities of data displayed. Users can identify patterns within the game, the strategies of opponents and one's own team, make more informed decisions benefitting the player, team, and business, and can enhance performance in different areas by identifying enhancement is needed. Heat maps also visualize comparisons and relationships amongst different teams in the same sport or between different sports all together. [8]

Color schemes

Many different color schemes can be used to illustrate the heat map, with perceptual advantages and disadvantages for each. Choosing a good color scheme is integral to accurately and effectively displaying data, whereas a poor color scheme can lead viewers to inaccurate conclusions or exclude those with color deficiencies from proper analysis of said data.

Rainbow color maps are a common choice, as humans can perceive more shades of color than they can of gray, and this would purportedly increase the amount of detail perceivable in the image. However, this is heavily discouraged in the scientific community for a number of reasons. Possibly the largest reason is that when there is a large number of colors involved, the visualization may give off the impression that there exist gradients in the data that are not really present. The more colors used in a visualization the more values begin to bleed together and color lacks the natural perceptual ordering found in grayscale or blackbody spectrum colormaps. Additionally, values represented by different shades of the same color can imply that the values are related when they are not. [9] [10] [11]

An important consideration when choosing a color scheme is whether or not the data will be viewed by anyone with any form of color deficiency. If the audience contains individuals with any form of color blindness, it may be wise to avoid color schemes with prominent reds and greens or uneven color gradients. [11]

A heat map showing the average temperature in the Southern Rockies from 1950 to 2020 using the "Blues" color palette from the Color Brewer library Average Temperature In The Southern Rockies.png
A heat map showing the average temperature in the Southern Rockies from 1950 to 2020 using the "Blues" color palette from the Color Brewer library

In addition to audience considerations, it is also important to consider the form in which the data will be viewed. For example, if the data is to be printed in black and white or projected onto a large screen, it may be wise to adjust one's choice in color scheme. Common colormaps (like the "jet" colormap used as the default in many visualization software packages) have uncontrolled changes in luminance that prevent meaningful conversion to grayscale for display or printing. This also distracts from the actual data, arbitrarily making yellow and cyan regions appear more prominent than the regions of the data that are actually most important. [9] [11]

Software implementations

Several heat map software implementations are freely available:

This heat map shows the normalized linkage disequilibrium of Genomic Windows within the Hist1 region of a mouse (Mus musculus) Heat map - Normalized Linkage Disequilibrium of Genomic Windows.png
This heat map shows the normalized linkage disequilibrium of Genomic Windows within the Hist1 region of a mouse (Mus musculus)

Choropleth maps versus heat maps

A choropleth map visualizing United States population density by state. U.S. states and territories by population density.svg
A choropleth map visualizing United States population density by state.

Choropleth maps and heat maps are often used in place of one another incorrectly when referring to data visualized geographically.[ citation needed ] Both techniques show the proportion of a variable of interest, but the two differ in how the boundaries for the variable's data aggregations are constructed. If the data were collected and aggregated using irregular boundaries, such as administrative units, then a heat map displaying that data will be the same as a choropleth map, encouraging confusion about how the two differ.

Choropleth maps show data grouped by geographic boundaries like countries, states, provinces or even floodplains. Each region has a singular value, visualized by color intensity, shading or pattern. The figure on the right displaying a choropleth map showing the United States' population density by state may be used as an example. The figure illustrates a singular value (population) denoted by blue color intensity proportionate to the state's value relative to all other states' values, bounded by each state's border.

Similarly, heat maps may also visualize data over a geographic region. However, unlike choropleth maps, heat maps show the proportion of a variable over an arbitrary, but usually small grid size, independent of geographic boundaries. [24] [25] The figure on the right displaying a heat map of world population is an example. The figure illustrates a single value (population) bounded in an arbitrary grid (square kilometers) with each cell in the grid represented by a color intensity proportionate to the value of the cell relative to all other cells. Some heat maps that are created using approximated regional data may show familiar geographic borders in the visualization where none really exist. The illusion of geographic borders is due to the existence of patterns within the dataset rather than the visualization technique. The figure on the right displaying a heat map of world population also contains this occurrence. Areas in rural parts of the United States and South America may closely resemble familiar geographic borders in those regions.

A heat map visualizing population density per square kilometer around the world in 1994. Population density.png
A heat map visualizing population density per square kilometer around the world in 1994.

Examples

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chart</span> Graphical representation of data

A chart is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabular numeric data, functions or some kinds of quality structure and provides different info.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bar chart</span> Type of chart

A bar chart or bar graph is a chart or graph that presents categorical data with rectangular bars with heights or lengths proportional to the values that they represent. The bars can be plotted vertically or horizontally. A vertical bar chart is sometimes called a column chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">False color</span> Methods of visualizing information by translating to colors

False color refers to a group of color rendering methods used to display images in color which were recorded in the visible or non-visible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. A false-color image is an image that depicts an object in colors that differ from those a photograph would show. In this image, colors have been assigned to three different wavelengths that human eyes cannot normally see.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infographic</span> Graphic visual representation of information

Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly. They can improve cognition by using graphics to enhance the human visual system's ability to see patterns and trends. Similar pursuits are information visualization, data visualization, statistical graphics, information design, or information architecture. Infographics have evolved in recent years to be for mass communication, and thus are designed with fewer assumptions about the readers' knowledge base than other types of visualizations. Isotypes are an early example of infographics conveying information quickly and easily to the masses.

In computing, the X Window System is a network-transparent windowing system for bitmap displays. This article details the protocols and technical structure of X11.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choropleth map</span> Type of data visualization for geographic regions

A choropleth map is a type of statistical thematic map that uses pseudocolor, meaning color corresponding with an aggregate summary of a geographic characteristic within spatial enumeration units, such as population density or per-capita income.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Data and information visualization</span> Visual representation of data

Data and information visualization is the practice of designing and creating easy-to-communicate and easy-to-understand graphic or visual representations of a large amount of complex quantitative and qualitative data and information with the help of static, dynamic or interactive visual items. Typically based on data and information collected from a certain domain of expertise, these visualizations are intended for a broader audience to help them visually explore and discover, quickly understand, interpret and gain important insights into otherwise difficult-to-identify structures, relationships, correlations, local and global patterns, trends, variations, constancy, clusters, outliers and unusual groupings within data. When intended for the general public to convey a concise version of known, specific information in a clear and engaging manner, it is typically called information graphics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Map coloring</span>

In cartographic design, map coloring is the act of choosing colors as a form of map symbol to be used on a map.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thematic map</span> Type of map that visualizes data

A thematic map is a type of map that portrays the geographic pattern of a particular subject matter (theme) in a geographic area. This usually involves the use of map symbols to visualize selected properties of geographic features that are not naturally visible, such as temperature, language, or population. In this, they contrast with general reference maps, which focus on the location of a diverse set of physical features, such as rivers, roads, and buildings. Alternative names have been suggested for this class, such as special-subject or special-purpose maps, statistical maps, or distribution maps, but these have generally fallen out of common usage. Thematic mapping is closely allied with the field of Geovisualization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multivariate map</span> Thematic map visualizing multiple variables

A bivariate map or multivariate map is a type of thematic map that displays two or more variables on a single map by combining different sets of symbols. Each of the variables is represented using a standard thematic map technique, such as choropleth, cartogram, or proportional symbols. They may be the same type or different types, and they may be on separate layers of the map, or they may be combined into a single multivariate symbol.

MacChoro was a computer program for choropleth mapping developed for early versions of the Apple Macintosh computer. A choropleth map shades areas, such as states or counties, to represent values and is mainly used for the mapping of statistical data. Released in 1986, MacChoro was the first computer mapping program to implement Macintosh's point-and-click user interface for the analysis and production of thematic maps. MacChoro II, released in 1988, was the first program to incorporate interaction in animated mapping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plot (graphics)</span> Graphical technique for data sets

A plot is a graphical technique for representing a data set, usually as a graph showing the relationship between two or more variables. The plot can be drawn by hand or by a computer. In the past, sometimes mechanical or electronic plotters were used. Graphs are a visual representation of the relationship between variables, which are very useful for humans who can then quickly derive an understanding which may not have come from lists of values. Given a scale or ruler, graphs can also be used to read off the value of an unknown variable plotted as a function of a known one, but this can also be done with data presented in tabular form. Graphs of functions are used in mathematics, sciences, engineering, technology, finance, and other areas.

The Jenks optimization method, also called the Jenks natural breaks classification method, is a data clustering method designed to determine the best arrangement of values into different classes. This is done by seeking to minimize each class's average deviation from the class mean, while maximizing each class's deviation from the means of the other classes. In other words, the method seeks to reduce the variance within classes and maximize the variance between classes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dot distribution map</span> Thematic map using dots to visualize distribution

A dot distribution map is a type of thematic map that uses a point symbol to visualize the geographic distribution of a large number of related phenomena. Dot maps are a type of unit visualizations that rely on a visual scatter to show spatial patterns, especially variances in density. The dots may represent the actual locations of individual phenomena, or be randomly placed in aggregation districts to represent a number of individuals. Although these two procedures, and their underlying models, are very different, the general effect is the same.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Map symbol</span> Graphic depiction of a geographic phenomenon

A map symbol or cartographic symbol is a graphical device used to visually represent a real-world feature on a map, working in the same fashion as other forms of symbols. Map symbols may include point markers, lines, regions, continuous fields, or text; these can be designed visually in their shape, size, color, pattern, and other graphic variables to represent a variety of information about each phenomenon being represented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Security visualisation</span>

Security visualisation is a subject that broadly covers aspects of big data, visualisation, human perception and security. Each day, we are collecting more and more data in the form of log files and it is often meaningless if the data is not analyzed thoroughly. Big data mining techniques like Map Reduce help narrow down the search for meaning in vast data. Data visualisation is a data analytics technique, which is used to engage the human brain into finding patterns in data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genome architecture mapping</span>

In molecular biology, genome architecture mapping (GAM) is a cryosectioning method to map colocalized DNA regions in a ligation independent manner. It overcomes some limitations of Chromosome conformation capture (3C), as these methods have a reliance on digestion and ligation to capture interacting DNA segments. GAM is the first genome-wide method for capturing three-dimensional proximities between any number of genomic loci without ligation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chorochromatic map</span> Thematic map visualizing a discrete field

A Chorochromatic map, also known as an area-class, qualitative area, or mosaic map, is a type of thematic map that portray regions of categorical or nominal data using variations in color symbols. Chorochromatic maps are typically used to represent discrete fields, also known as categorical coverages. Chorochromatic maps differ from choropleth maps in that chorochromatic maps are mapped according to data-driven boundaries instead of trying to make the data fit within existing, sometimes arbitrary units such as political boundaries.

Looker Studio, formerly Google Data Studio, is an online tool for converting data into customizable, informative reports and dashboards. Looker Studio was announced by Google on March 15, 2016 as part of the enterprise Google Analytics 360 suite, and a free version was made available for individuals and small teams in May 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horizon chart</span>

A horizon chart or horizon graph is a 2-dimensional data visualisation displaying a quantitative data over a continuous interval, most commonly a time period. The horizon chart is valuable for enabling readers to identify trends and extreme values within large datasets. Similar to sparklines and ridgeline plot, horizon chart may not be the most suitable visualisation for precisely pinpointing specific values. Instead, its strength lies in providing an overview and highlighting patterns and outliers in the data.

References

  1. 1 2 Wilkinson L, Friendly M (May 2009). "The History of the Cluster Heat Map". The American Statistician. 63 (2): 179–184. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.165.7924 . doi:10.1198/tas.2009.0033. S2CID   122792460.
  2. "United States Patent and Trademark Office, registration #75263259". 1993-09-01.
  3. Silhavy R, Senkerik R, Oplatkova ZK, Silhavy P, Prokopova Z (2016-04-26). Software Engineering Perspectives and Application in Intelligent Systems. ISBN   978-3-319-33622-0.
  4. 1 2 "All About Heatmaps". 24 December 2020.
  5. "A Guide to Heatmaps: What is a Heatmap, the Use, and Types? | Attention Insight". 27 May 2021.
  6. "5 Real Heat Map Examples from Leading Industries [2022]| VWO". 20 January 2020.
  7. "Guide to Geographic Heat Maps [Types & Examples]". 20 December 2021.
  8. "5 Real Heat Map Examples from Leading Industries [2022]| VWO". 20 January 2020.
  9. 1 2 Borland D, Taylor MR (2007). "Rainbow color map (still) considered harmful". IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications. 27 (2): 14–7. doi:10.1109/MCG.2007.323435. PMID   17388198.
  10. Borkin MA, Gajos KZ, Peters A, Mitsouras D, Melchionna S, Rybicki FJ, et al. (December 2011). "Evaluation of artery visualizations for heart disease diagnosis". IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. 17 (12): 2479–88. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.309.590 . doi:10.1109/TVCG.2011.192. PMID   22034369. S2CID   2548700.
  11. 1 2 3 Crameri F, Shephard GE, Heron PJ (October 2020). "The misuse of colour in science communication". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5444. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.5444C. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19160-7. PMC   7595127 . PMID   33116149.
  12. "Using R to draw a heat map from Microarray Data". Molecular Organisation and Assembly in Cells. 26 Nov 2009.
  13. "Draw a Heat Map". R Manual.
  14. "Gnuplot demo script: Heatmaps.dem".
  15. "Fusion Tables Help - Create a heat map". Jan 2018. support.google.com
  16. "Dave Green's 'cubehelix' colour scheme".
  17. "ol/layer/Heatmap~Heatmap". OpenLayers. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  18. "Heatmap". D3.js Graph Gallery. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  19. "Most basic heatmap in d3.js". D3.js Graph Gallery. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  20. "Heat Map Chart". AnyChart Documentation. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  21. "Heat Map Charts - Gallery". AnyChart Gallery. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  22. "Heatmap - Highcharts docs". Highcharts. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  23. "Heat and tree maps - Highcharts demos". Highcharts. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  24. "Choropleth vs. Heat Map « Cartographer's Toolkit" . Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  25. "Heatmaps vs Choropleths". www.standardco.de. Retrieved 2022-04-15.

Further reading