What Is It?

A 3D Globe is a powerful way of examining geospatial data, or data with locations. This is great for visualizing global trends or country-level data. For smaller-scale, more local data, consider using a 2D Map.

Why Is This Important?

The 3D Globe is very useful for viewing things like shipping lane efficiency so that you can optimize your global shipping routes. You can also use the 3D Globe to investigate clinical trial or epidemiological data since overlaying these records on a globe can extract very useful geographic trends.

How?

Steps for creating a 3D Globe:

1. To create a 3D Globe, drag one feature from the Features list representing Longitude to the X dimension and one feature representing Latitude to the Y dimension.
2. Please note that these Longitude and Latitude features should be in Decimal Degrees (DD) format.
3. By clicking Apply, you will create a 3D Globe.
4. Adding a feature to the Z dimension provides each point with a height based on its value, helping to further differentiate points that are close to each other.
5. You can also add features to the Color, Size and Shape dimensions to pack a lot of information onto an easily digestible globe.
6. By default, each point will be visualized individually on the globe. We also offer a Heatmap to view areas of higher or lower concentrations of points.
7. To turn the Heatmap on or off, open the Plot Settings by clicking on the hamburger menu in the Mapping panel. You will see an option to turn the Heatmap on or off, as well as some visual settings for adjusting the radius and intensity of the Heatmap and the ability to create a new feature from the generated Heatmap.
8. The Plot Settings menu also contains options for showing or hiding longitude and latitude lines, country outlines, and country labels. The Region Selection tool allows you to quickly zoom down to a finer detail level.