Geographic Bubble Charts Overview

Using a map as a background, the geographic bubble chart plots your data as filled, colored circles, called bubbles, at locations on the map specified by longitude and latitude. You can use the size and color of the bubbles to indicate data values at these locations.

Suppose that you have data that describes the occurrences of tsunamis around the world. Plot the data in a geographic bubble chart where the bubbles mark each occurrence on a map, called a basemap. You can use bubble size to indicate the height of the wave and bubble color to indicate the cause. With the map as background, you can immediately see tsunami occurrences and their severity. Plotting the data on a map is an effective way to visualize your data.

A geographic bubble chart includes these components (shown in the following figure):

Geographic Bubble Chart Components

Component	Description
Basemap	The map over which the geographic bubble chart plots the data. For more information, see Access Basemaps for Geographic Axes and Charts.
Bubbles	Symbols that mark map locations and communicate other information through their size and color.
Data Tips	Small windows that pop open containing information about the bubble, such as latitude and longitude.
Decorations	Descriptive visual elements of the chart, such as latitude and longitude grids, and a scale bar, which shows how distances are represented on the map. The chart updates these elements as you zoom in and out on the map. Use geographic bubble chart properties to control the visibility of these elements, such as the ScalebarVisible property.
Legends	Displays of tabular information that explain the meaning of bubble size and bubble color. For more information, see Geographic Bubble Chart Legends.
Title	Text displays at the top of the chart, similar to any MATLAB® figure. You can specify this using the geographic bubble chart Title property or the title command.
Axes Toolbar	Set of controls that let you zoom in or out on the map, or return to the original view of the map. For more information, see Pan and Zoom Behavior in Geographic Axes and Charts.