Analyzing Geographical Data

Using SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP HANA Spatial technology, you can overlay business data on geo maps with detailed geographic information such as topography, satellite imagery, and streets and highways.

Note
Before you perform geospatial analysis in stories, you must first import coordinate data or area data, and enrich it in the Modeler.

Geo maps can have multiple layers of different types of data that allow you to visualize measures and dimensions from a model, or mark important locations, areas, and routes on the map.

Using a combination of these layers, as well as tools for filtering spatial data, you can perform a variety of geographical analyses. For example:
  • Giving a quick visual overview of the performance of sales regions against KPIs that you set.
  • Finding retail store locations that have a type of public attraction or service nearby, such as pharmacies that are close to hospitals.
  • Overlaying a map with custom defined regions, such as sales territories or electoral districts.
  • Display data distributions as either choropleth or heat maps.
Note
You can only consume geo-enriched dimensions on the new model type in the using the Optimized Story Experience.

Geographical hierarchies

You can customize the navigation path by skipping levels and setting your own label for each layer in a geo map. Geographical hierarchies defined by general administration boundaries are not universal. The table below lists the default labels for hierarchies and provides proximate equivalents.

Default label

Proximate equivalents

Country

Country

Region

State or Province

Sub-Region 1

District, County, or Department

Sub-Region 2

City, Town, Commune, or Municipality
Note
Models with multiple account hierarchies are not supported; and only the default account hierarchy will be consumed.
When working with data from a live HANA system, you can load custom shapes and define custom geographical hierarchies. For example, you can define custom shapes to represent particular sales regions, or sections of a specific facility. You can then use the choropleth/drill layer to navigate through your custom hierarchy. For more information on creating custom shapes and hierarchies, see https://help.sap.com/doc/ae871ef7a4cc469494ef6ef09d4d9df1/release/en-US/HANA%20Live%20Custom%20Regions.pdf.

Points of Interest

Points of interest can show the following:

  • Locations, such as store locations or event sites.
  • Lines, such as rivers, highways, or pipelines.
  • Shapes, such as sales regions or electoral districts.

You can use this data in a geo map by adding it as a point of interest layer in the map, or by creating a Map Filter to filter locations within a certain distance of one of the points of interest.

Measures in Geo Maps

When specifying measures in the Bubble, Choropleth, Heat, and Flow map layers in the Classic Design Experience, the following options are available:
When working in the Optimized Design Experience, in addition to all the options described above, you can set up account/measure pairings for your location data. Currently this feature is only available for Bubble Size and Bubble Color in the Bubble layer, and Heatmap Color in the Heatmap layer.
Note
As a prerequisite for both private and public generic as well as organization dimensions, you need to first enrich dimensions using coordinate data within the modeller by following the steps described in Creating a Geo-Enriched Dimension Property Structure for a Model With Coordinate Data.

Thresholds for measures

Two types of thresholds can be displayed in a geo map:
  • Thresholds defined in a model for a given measure. These thresholds are specified in the Modeler.
  • Thresholds defined for a story.
    Note
    In a geo map, thresholds defined in a story will override those defined for a model.
Related Information