Kepler.gl

Kepler.gl is an open-source geospatial analysis tool designed for visualizing and exploring large-scale location datasets directly in the browser. Built by Uber's visualization team and now maintained as an open-source project, it enables data analysts, urban planners, researchers, and developers to create interactive maps from CSV, JSON, or GeoJSON files without requiring specialized GIS software. The tool supports multiple layer types including points, arcs, polygons, and heatmaps, allowing users to overlay different data dimensions and apply filters to uncover spatial patterns in their data.

The platform is available completely free as both a web application and an embeddable JavaScript library for custom applications. A transportation analyst could use Kepler.gl to visualize ride-sharing trip data across a city, layering pickup and dropoff locations as a heatmap to identify high-demand zones during different times of day, then filtering by time ranges to observe how demand patterns shift between morning and evening rush hours. This makes it particularly valuable for exploratory spatial analysis where quick iteration and visual feedback are more important than complex GIS operations.