Is it possible to have the representation like the one the heat-map like the figure below using QGIS?
The way seems to use buffer options, but I do not know how.
Does exist any plugin that helps?
I am using QGIS1.8 on windows 7
[GIS] QGIS – Continuous buffer image [Heat Map]
heat mapqgis
Related Solutions
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There are at least two different kinds of heat maps:
- Heatmaps representing concentration of points, and
- Heatmaps representing distributions of attribute values
Every method has advantages and problems, I'm afraid going into detail is far beyond this Q&A.
I'll try to list some methods and functions for QGIS and GRASS.
Concentration of points
If you are tracking movement of wildlife, vehicles, etc. it can be useful to assess regions with high concentration of location messages.
Tools: e.g. QGIS Heatmap plugin (available in versions > 1.7.x) or GRASS v.neighbors or v.kernel
Distributions of attribute values
Here, we're basically talking more or less about interpolation methods. Methods include:
IDW
Depending on the implementation this can be global (using all available points in the set) or local (limited by number of points or maximum distance between points and interpolated position).
Tools: QGIS interpolation plugin (global), GRASS v.surf.idw or r.surf.idw (local)
Splines
Again, huge number of possible implementations. B-Splines are popular.
Tools: GRASS v.surf.bspline
Kriging
Statistical method with various sub-types.
Tools: GRASS v.krige (thanks to om_henners for the tip) or using R.
From what I can see in the pictures you posted, there is not much variation in the heatmap raster. Try decreasing the radius value to better preserve local variations.
Update:
Without seeing your settings, I can only guess that you set the radius to a value smaller than the cell size. That will obviously cause problems. Decrease the cell size but note that the raster can go very big very fast. Maybe focus on a smaller area of interest to start with.
Best Answer
Since Qgis 2.8 heatmap can be rendered on live without any plugin. See the doc http://www.qgis.org/en/site/forusers/visualchangelog28/index.html?highlight=heatmap#feature-live-heatmap-renderer