Area charts

An area chart is a line chart with the area below the line shaded with a color. You can stack multiple buckets to show relative proportions of a running absolute value of the variable, or superimpose buckets or different variables to compare within x-axis buckets or time values.

When to use area charts

Use area charts to show both trend patterns and proportional relationships simultaneously. They reveal contribution patterns, showing which components drive overall totals and when those patterns change.

Creating an area chart

The examples on this page use the Sample flight data dataset and build on each other. Before you begin, complete the prerequisites.

To create an area chart that shows flight count over time, follow these steps:

1. In the New Visualization dialog, select Area, then select your index pattern (for example, opensearch_dashboards_sample_data_flights).

2. Under Metrics, expand Y-axis Count and set Aggregation to Count.

   For the Count metric there is no Field selection because Count denotes the number of documents, not a field value.

3. Under Buckets, select Add > X-axis.

4. Set Aggregation to Date Histogram and Field to timestamp.

   The timestamp field is the only date-time field available in the sample flight data.

5. Select Update.

   The chart generates a jagged time-series plot of the document count for an automatically determined bucket size (for example, one day).

6. Drag-select the portion of the chart containing the data. Leave a margin on either side of the data so as not to cut any data off.

   The data expands to fill the entire width of the graph. Since there’s more room, the auto-calculated bucket size decreases to 12 hours.

7. Under Buckets, select Add > Split series.
8. Set Sub aggregation to Terms and Field to Cancelled.

9. Select Update.

   The chart shows the counts of cancelled and uncancelled flights superimposed on the timeline, as shown in the following image.

   

   Note the following:

   • The count of cancelled (Cancelled = true) and uncancelled flights are superimposed on the graph. The cancelled flight count seems to average about 10% of the uncancelled flights.
   • The flight count is cyclic over time, with a one-day dip every week.

Stacked area chart

By default, split series are overlaid (Normal mode). To stack the areas on top of each other so they show the total volume:

1. Select the Metrics & axes tab.
2. Under Metrics, expand the Count series.
3. Change Mode from Normal to Stacked.
4. Select Update.

The areas are now stacked, showing both individual category volumes and the combined total, as shown in the following image.

Multiple metrics

Add a second Y-axis metric to compare different measurements on the same chart:

1. Under Metrics, select Add.
2. Set Aggregation to Average and Field to AvgTicketPrice.
3. Select Update.

The chart now overlays the average ticket price on top of the count. To give the second metric its own scale, go to the Metrics & axes tab, expand the new metric, and assign it to a new value axis.

Configuring an area chart

The area chart editor has three configuration tabs.

Data tab

The Data tab defines what data is displayed.

Metrics

Metrics define the Y-axis values. Each metric computes an aggregation over the documents in each bucket.

Select Add to plot multiple metrics on the same chart.

Buckets

Buckets define how data is grouped.

Metrics & axes tab

The Metrics & axes tab controls how each metric is rendered and how the axes are configured.

Series settings

Each metric series has the following options.

Y-axes

Each Y-axis has the following options.

X-axis

Panel settings tab

The Panel settings tab controls the overall chart appearance.

Settings

Grid

Threshold line

Next steps

• To choose a different visualization type, see Visualization types.
• To add this visualization to a dashboard, see Creating dashboards.