A screenshot of the Texas UFO Sightings Map

Mapping with Datawrapper: Texas UFO Sightings Map

U T A with star in the center, used when staff photo is unavailable

by Isaac Williams

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This week, I decided to learn a new data visualization tool: Datawrapper. What better dataset to try it out with than the UFO sightings dataset I’ve used for Tableau workshops this year?

This dataset is part of a larger dataset maintained by the National UFO Reporting Center. The original dataset contains many, many UFO sightings from around the United States, and includes a lot of information about these experiences. To make the dataset more manageable for an introductory workshop, I cut out all sightings except those that occurred in Texas. 

Datawrapper is a different tool than Tableau or Carto, which I typically use when mapping (the Dallas Death Map was made in Carto). Datawrapper is entirely browser-based, meaning there is no desktop version to download. It’s also free to use, and users don’t need to make an account to use it. 

In Datawrapper, users can make three types of maps: choropleth, symbol, and locator. Each map type has its own data requirements. Putting your data into a spreadsheet with either address or latitude/longitude columns is a good place to start. There are many options of basemaps, colors, and more. Maps can be easily shared to social media, or embedded on a personal website.

Within a relatively short amount of time, I was able to upload my dataset (as a CSV), customize my map, attribute my data source, make the map shareable, and publish the map. You can visit the Texas UFO Sightings Map here.

Some tips for working with Datawrapper:

  1. Although you aren’t required to make an account to use the service, we recommend you do. This is because if you take time creating your visualization, you will likely receive a server error saving your changes and have to start over again. Creating an account means that drafts are saved, so you avoid this problem.
  2. Explore Datawrapper’s documentation. It provides helpful instructions for creating and editing tooltips, choosing a map style, and more.
  3. Attribute the source of your data, and provide a link to the dataset.
  4. Add your map to River, Datawrapper’s home for reusable visualizations, to promote open data.

Next steps:

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