Heatmaps
Heatmaps are currently in beta.
A heatmap visualizes point data as a smooth, color-graded surface. Use it to show either where points are concentrated or where higher measured values occur.
Creating a heatmap
- Import a GeoJSON or Shapefile layer that contains point geometry.
- Open the Style Editor for that layer.
- Set Layer type to Heatmap.
Style options
Mode
Choose how points contribute to the heatmap.
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Density | Each point contributes equally. Use this for incidents, addresses, observations, or any dataset where the number of points is the signal |
| Value | Each point is weighted by a numeric attribute. Use this for measurements such as population, noise, pollution, traffic counts, or risk scores |
When Value mode is selected, choose a Weight field. If no field is selected, the heatmap behaves like a uniform point heatmap.
Color scale
The color scale maps heatmap values to colors. Lower values use colors at the start of the scale; higher values use colors at the end.
Available presets:
| Preset | Description |
|---|---|
| Viridis | Blue to green to yellow, colorblind-safe |
| Plasma | Purple to orange to yellow, high contrast |
| Cool | Cyan to violet to magenta |
| Warm | Yellow to orange to red |
| Greys | Light grey to dark grey |
| Reds | Light red to dark red |
| Blues | Light blue to dark blue |
| Greens | Light green to dark green |
| Red-Yellow-Green | Red to yellow to green |
Density radius
Controls how far each point spreads its influence. A larger radius produces a smoother, more blended surface. A smaller radius reveals individual clusters more clearly.
The radius is measured in screen pixels, so the visual spread stays consistent as you zoom.
Blur
Softens the edge of each point's influence. Increase blur for a smoother surface. Decrease it when you need sharper local clusters.
Intensity
Controls how quickly the heatmap saturates in busy areas. Higher values reduce saturation, which can make differences inside dense clusters easier to read.
In Value mode, intensity is measured in the weight field's own units — a point at or above the intensity renders at full color. Because those units differ from field to field (a normalized index runs 0–1, a population count runs into the thousands), intensity is set to Auto by default and scaled to the values actually present in the field. Leave it on Auto unless you are comparing two layers and need them pinned to the same scale; unchecking Auto lets you type an exact value.
In Density mode intensity is a point count, so it is always set by hand.
Opacity
Overall transparency of the heatmap layer, from 0 (invisible) to 1 (fully opaque). Useful when layering a heatmap on top of other data.
Animating density over time
If your point data has multiple time-stamped samples per location (such as repeated sensor readings), the heatmap can reflect only the currently-active points as the timeline plays, instead of all points at once. See Temporal Series.
Performance notes
Heatmaps with more than ~100 000 points may render slowly on lower-end hardware. Consider simplifying your dataset or increasing the density radius to reduce the number of distinct influence zones.