What is a heat map in GIS used to display?

• A. Predicts weather changes across regions.
• B. Maps political boundaries and zoning lines.
• C. Visualizes spatial density/ intensity of a variable to identify hotspots for intervention, monitoring, and resource allocation.
• D. Calculates population growth rates.

Answer: (C)

A heat map in GIS visualizes how a variable is distributed across space by using color intensity to show where values are high or low. This makes it easy to spot hotspots—areas with concentrated activity or risk—so you can prioritize intervention, monitoring, and where to allocate resources. For example, mapping crime incidents or disease cases with a heat map reveals clusters that may need targeted action or investigation. The other options describe different kinds of maps or metrics: weather predictions rely on forecast models rather than density-based coloring; political boundaries and zoning lines show jurisdiction rather than data concentration; population growth rates describe change over time, not the geographic intensity pattern across space.