Browser Recommendations and System Requirements
Be aware of the following requirements/recommendations for this application.
We strongly recommend using one of the following browsers to view this application on Windows-based computers:
- MS Internet Explorer® 5.5 or higher
- Mozilla 1.3 or higher
- Netscape® 4.7, 6.1 or higher
For Macintosh users, we recommend using the following browsers:
- Netscape 7.1 for Macintosh (requires Mac OS X 10.1.x or
Mac OS X 10.2.x and later)
- Safari 1.2.x (supported with only a few exceptions;
Safari 1.2 requires Mac OS X 10.3)
- Mozilla 1.7 for Macintosh (supported with only a few exceptions;
requires Mac OS X 10.1.x or Mac OS X 10.2.x and later)
To download a free upgrade or compatible version of the recommended browsers visit the MS Internet Explorer®, Mozilla, Netscape® or Safari Web sites. This application requires a minimum screen resolution of 800 by 600 pixels to display properly. Higher screen resolutions are recommended. The application is best viewed at a screen resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels.
The Viewer
The map viewer window is divided into three active areas. The map is in the
center of the window. The Scale, Layers/Legend,
and Refresh Map functions display to the right of the map, and
the Tool Bar displays to the left of the map.
Click an area of the viewer screenshot below to find out more.
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Map
The main map displays in the center area. An optional overview map shows in the
upper left corner of the main map. The red box or crosshair on the overview map shows the approximate
extent of the main map. When the arrow (cursor) scrolls over the main map, the latitude and longitude
and U.S. National Grid (USNG) coordinates show under the map window.
A spinning logo for The National Map will appear over the map when the viewer is retrieving
a map image. Clicking on the map while the viewer is loading new maps or data may cause errors.
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Map Information
Click the Map Information link near the upper right corner of the
window to bring up the Map Information popup window.
This window shows map layers that
are available for viewing, grouped by The National Map.
partner. The page provides information about the current map
extent (in geographic coordinates), gives links to partner Web
sites, and provides a description of data layers. The page also
shows if you can download or query a given layer. Links to a
metadata page and an Open-GIS Consortium (OGC) Capabilities
Document are provided for each map layer.
Individual map servers may use different document encodings
to deliver the OGC Capabilities Document to your browser. If
your browser does not recognize the document encoding, you may
be prompted to select a program to open the document. If your
browser is not able to display the Capabilities Document, use
the appropriate method to save a Web document for your browser
(for example, right-click and Save on most browsers), and view
the document with another program.
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Help
Click to bring up the Help menu in a separate window.
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Scale
To the right of the map is a zoom-to-scale tool, which also indicates relative scale. Each bar represents a range of scales. The bar on the left is the least detailed scale range. The bar on the right is the most detailed scale range. The bar indicating the current scale range is darkened. Clicking any bar to the right of the current scale range causes the map to zoom in to the mid-point of the new scale range and redraw. Clicking any bar to the left of the current scale range causes the map to zoom out to the mid-point of the new scale range and redraw.
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Layers/Legend
A Layers/Legend selector shows below the
Scale tool.
Clicking on the Layers option causes the layer list to
display in the pane below the selector.
Clicking on the Legend option causes a legend to display.
The currently selected option is highlighted.
If either the Layers list or the Legend is
longer or wider than the available space, a scroll bar will appear to the
right or bottom as needed.
Layers—The list of available layers is organized by the main data themes and then
by classes within each data theme (for example, the Orthoimagery data
theme
contains the DOQ, Other Imagery, and Satellite classes).
The data themes are shown in bold, and the classes are shown in white.
Click on the triangle to the left of the data theme to see the possible
classes and layers available at that scale.
When the list is closed, the triangle will point to the right;
when a data theme list is open, the triangle will point downward and a list
of classes and layers will be shown.
Checking the Visible box to the left of class name will
select/deselect all of the layers available for that class at that scale.
If no layers are available for a class at that scale, a
"No layers available" message will show.
Check the Visible box next to the desired layer to select specific
layers for a given class.
Note that when a layer is selected, a check mark will also appear in the
box next to the class name.
Simply deselect the class check mark to quickly deselect all the layers in
a class.
Clicking the Refresh Map button below the
Layers/Legend or clicking on the map will cause the map to
redraw, incorporating the most recent selection or deselection.
To control what layers are recommended for display in a class, see the
Layer-Ranking Mode in Classes option discussed
in the Option tool below.
Note: For the opening view, layers are only from the State/Territory class (Boundaries theme),
Shaded Relief class (Elevation theme), Index/Status (Imagery) class (Orthoimagery theme), and
Roads class (Transportation theme). The intent is to provide a clear but relatively minimal
default base map. The user can select other classes and get recommended layers
for display. Recommended layers are shown by a black dot to the lefet of the Visible checkbox.
The Viewer remembers the most recent selection/deselection made on
each layer. To clear the history of such actions, open the Options tool,
select the Clear User Layer Selections checkbox, and click the Apply
Changes button.
Legend—When Legend is selected, the legend pane
shows a list of all visible layers and
their corresponding symbols on the map. The layers are organized according to the main
data themes and their classes. A "No legend available" message will display if no legend
is available for a layer. The layer name will act as a link to the metadata if metadata
are available. Note: Legends are created by the data provider.
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Refresh Map
Click the Refresh Map button to redraw or "refresh" the map. The button text will change to
"Refresh Required" and the button color will change to a lighter gray/green after changing the visibility of
any layer. This indicates that a Refresh operation is required for the map display to match with the
currently selected layers. The extent of the existing map will remain the same. The Refresh Map
button is located below the button Layers/Legend area. Depending on the Refresh Map option
selected in Options, this button may not be visible.
Tools in the Tool Bar
Overview | Zoom In | Zoom Out | Zoom Back | Find Place | Full Extent | Re-center | Identify | Elevation | Measure | Clear | Bookmark | Print | Download | Options
The tools in the Tool Bar are displayed to the left of the map. Use the scroll bar to access tools that are not visible in the currently available space.
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Overview
Click the Overview tool to show or hide the overview map in the upper
left corner of the map display. The red box on the Overview map shows the approximate
extent of the main map. As you zoom in, notice that the red box gets smaller. Beyond
a certain zoom-in threshold, the extent of the main map in the Overview is shown as
a red crosshair location point.
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Zoom In
Click the Zoom In tool and then click on a spot on the map to zoom in
to that selected spot. You can also zoom in to a selected area by clicking and dragging
the cursor to create a selection box over the area of interest. The displayed layers will
update if any have been selected or deselected in the Layers list. Note
that some layers may appear or disappear depending upon the current scale.
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Zoom Out
Click the Zoom Out tool and then click on the map to zoom out. The
displayed layers will update if any have been selected or deselected in the Layers
list. Note that some layers may appear or disappear depending upon the current scale.
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Zoom Back
Click the Zoom Back tool to return to the previously viewed map extent.
Note, however, that if changes have been made to the layer selections, the previous layer
selections will not be preserved. The last layer selection and the current map scale will
determine what layers are displayed. You can zoom back to previously viewed map extents as
many as five times.
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Find Place
Click the Find Place tool and a popup window will open that allows
the user to select from the following options:
Zoom to a State or County—Included in the State dropdown menu are the 50 States
and the District of Columbia.
After a state is selected, the County dropdown menu will list the county names
for the selected state as well as the default value: "Show all counties in the state."
Click on the Zoom button to initiate the Viewer zoom action.
If a county name has been selected, a zoom to county will be initiated.
If the county dropdown menu is unchanged or the default value
(Show all counties in the state) is selected, a zoom to state is initiated.
Click on the Return to Menu button to return to the Find Place menu window.
Zoom to a Partner Dataset—Entries in the dropdown menu take you
to our current Partner datasets that contain high-resolution and larger scale data.
For certain partners, you may need to zoom in to see available data.
Address—Click the Zoom to an Address link and an entry
form will appear in a popup window. Enter the Street Address, City, State, and Zip Code
of a valid address within the United States. For street addresses, street intersections may
be entered too (for example, Main and Elm). Partial entries of Street Address, City,
and State or City and State only will zoom to the general area but may not include the
street location. Street Address and Zip Code entries will center on the generalized street
location within the Zip Code area. Zip Code only entries will zoom to the approximate
center of the Zip Code area. Zip Codes may be entered as 5 digits or as ZIP+4
(for example, 12345-6789). Click on the Zoom to Address button to initiate the Viewer
zoom action. Click on the Return to Menu button to return to the Find Place
menu window. Click on the Close Window button to cancel and return to the Viewer main window.
Named Feature—Click the Geographic Name/Feature Lookup (GNIS)
link to query the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). A form will appear in a popup
window. Enter at least two parameters into the form. Feature names can be searched as an
"Exact Match," "Starts With," or "Contains." "Exact Match" will match only those records
where the feature name is identical to the words entered. "Starts With" will match records
starting with the words entered. "Contains" will match records with feature names containing
the word or words entered. Click on the Submit Query button. A number of records will be
displayed with basic feature information and several links for viewing the feature and
accessing further information. There are two links to show the feature in the Viewer.
Click on the "Zoom" link to zoom to the feature in the Viewer. Click on the "Re-center"
link to re-center the Viewer on the feature, at the current scale. Click on the GNIS "Details"
link to go to more detailed feature information on the GNIS Web site. The ID number is the GNIS
identification number for the named feature. Click on the QuickView "DRG," "DOQ," or "Composite"
links to show simple images centered on the feature. There are also links to additional
instructions, to send an email to a GNIS manager, and to view GNIS Frequently Asked Questions
Point (Longitude-Latitude, UTM, USNG)—From the dropdown box, select a point coordinate format.
There are options for Longitude-Latitude, U.S. National Grid (USNG) Coordinates, or
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Coordinates. A corresponding entry form will appear
in the lower half of the popup window for the selected format. For Longitude-Latitude,
the entry form options are for Decimal Degrees or Degrees-Minutes-Seconds format.
For U.S. National Grid (USNG) Coordinates, the entry form options are for Guided Entry
or Quick Entry (single input) format. For all Zoom to a Point options, enter point coordinates
and select an option from the Zoom Level dropdown box. The Re-center option will display the
map centered on the entered coordinates at the current scale. Local, City, Region, State,
and Multi-State options will set the scale at appropriate values for these features.
Click on the Zoom to Point button to initiate the Viewer zoom action. Click on the Return
to Menu button to return to the Find Place menu window. Click on the Close Window button
to cancel and return to the Viewer main window. For all three options, a green triangle
marks the coordinate spot that you zoom to. The green marker will remain visible even if
you move or pan your view. To clear the marker, use the Clear tool.
Extent—Click one of the options listed next to the subheading
Zoom to Bounding Box and an entry form will appear in a popup window.
The bounding box entry form options are for Decimal Degrees and
Degrees-Minutes-Seconds format.
Click on the Zoom to Extent button to initiate the Viewer zoom action. The
Viewer may adjust the boundaries to fill out the display window. Click on the Return
to Menu button to return to the Find Place menu window. Click on the
Close Window button to cancel and return to the Viewer main window.
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Full Extent
Click the Full Extent tool to zoom to the full extent of the main map.
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Re-center
Click the Re-center tool and then click on a point anywhere in the
map display to re-center the map to the clicked point. When you re-center, the displayed
layers will update if any have been selected or deselected in the Layers
list. Alternatively, click on the small black arrows in the border surrounding the map
display to pan in the direction of the arrows.
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Identify
Click the Identify tool and then click on the map to display information for available
features at the point selected. The information will be displayed in a separate popup window.
At the top of the window is a table that contains map coordinates for the point selected.
Below the table is a list of layers that you can query. Click on the "Layer" link to perform a
query against a layer. Query results will display in the bottom part of the screen. Note
that there may not be any features available in a particular layer for the point selected,
which will result in a "No features found at specified location" message or a blank page,
depending on the host service being queried. The response format of the query results is
service-dependent and displayed results may vary.
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Elevation
Click the Elevation tool and then click on the point of interest on the map.
A popup window will show the results of your elevation query, including the surface elevation of
the point clicked, the coordinates of the point clicked, and the source of the information.
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Measure
Click the Measure tool and then on your starting point on the map. A green
dot will appear where you click. Then click on the next point where another green dot will
appear. Both the total length and the segment length will be shown in a results box at the
top of the map display. Continue to click on points to create as many segments as needed.
Note that only the last five green dots will show on the map, but the total length displayed
is for all segments. Use the Clear tool to close the Measure
tool.
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Clear
Click the Clear tool to close the Measure tool or to
remove the coordinate marker in the Zoom to a Point option in the
Find Place tool.
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Bookmark
Click the Bookmark tool and a popup window will open that shows the
URL (also known as the address) for the map currently displayed in the Viewer. The
information displayed includes the primary Viewer URL along with the properties for
the current display's bounding box, classes, layers-on, and layers-off parameters.
There are two ways of saving this information to come back to later or to share with
someone else:
1. The current URL properties can be copied and pasted into a document as text or
as a link and saved or copied and pasted into an email message for sending to a friend.
To recreate the map, open a Web browser and paste the text into the address box at the
top of the browser page. Or, if you have saved the information in a document, you can
simply click on the link and your default browser wil open to the bookmarked map.
2. The URL can be saved as a browser "Bookmark" or "Favorites"
- If the browser you use supports automatic bookmark creation (as in Internet Explorer),
then you will see an Add to Favorites button at the bottom of the Bookmark
popup window. Click the button and follow the instructions contained in the browser popup
window to complete the process. Be sure to give a name to your map for easy reference.
- If the browser you use does not support automatic bookmark creation (as in Netscape
or Safari), then you will see a Reload button at the bottom of the Bookmark
popup window. Click on this button to reload the URL into the address box to capture all the
necessary information about the map currently displayed. When the reload has completed,
go to the browser's Bookmarks menu to create a bookmark. Be sure to give a name to your
map for easy reference.
Note: Browser windows can vary in size and extent, which can affect how a bookmarked map is re-displayed. For example, if the saved map is viewed at a different browser window size than when bookmarked, some scale-dependent data layers may appear or disappear.
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Print
Click the Print tool to print the current map view. A popup window
will appear with a Create Printable Map link. To show latitude and longitude
tick marks and (or) the legend on the map, select the appropriate option. It will take from 5 to 30
seconds for the map to be generated depending upon the number of layers included
and the retrieval time to get these individual layers. Once the map is generated,
a View Printable Map link will allow you to view the map in Adobe® Portable
Document Format (PDF) format.
Note that the PDF output may, in some cases, include a
slightly larger map area that what is shown in the Viewer due to current
formatting limitations. To print the map, either select Print from the File menu or
select the printer icon at the top of the Adobe® Acrobat® window.
The map will print as an Abode® PDF file on 8 ½- by 11-inch paper in
landscape view. You will need to have Adobe® Acrobat® to print the map.
If you do not already have a copy of this free application, click on the link provided
to download a copy.
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Download
Click the Download tool to open a popup window displaying a list of
extractable layers. Extractable layers are available for download and will be clipped
to the current Viewer map extent. Layers that are currently visible in the Viewer are
underlined. The initial page will have no checkboxes selected. Click the checkbox next
to layers that you want to download. Currently, vector (line-based) layers backed by
ESRI® ArcIMS map servers and certain raster (image-based) layers are extractable.
Links to raster layers available for download from The National Map
Seamless Data Distribution System will be
provided on the results page, as appropriate. Due to the distributed nature of
The National Map application, map layers will be downloaded from one or
more servers. The results page will contain a link to a ZIP-archived data bundle
of shapefiles, one ZIP-file for each extract server. Processing time should take
from 5-30 seconds. There is a server timeout period of 30 seconds. If an extract
server does not respond within the timeout period no results will be listed on the
results page for that server.
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Options
Click the Options tool to open a popup window to change Viewer options.
The Refresh Map option affects when the map is redrawn or
"refreshed" as layers are clicked on or off in the list.
With the delayed option, the map is not refreshed until the user clicks the
Refresh Map button below the layer list to the right of the main map.
This allows the user to show or hide several layers or classes at once.
This option is recommended for users with slower network connections.
With the automatic option, the map is redrawn or refreshed as each layer
or class is clicked on or off. This can be helpful for toggling several layers in a
map of the same location. It requires, however, more data to be downloaded to render
a map and is only recommended for users with fast network connections. While in this
automatic mode, the Refresh Map button will not be visible.
The Measurement Units option is used to select the type of units displayed
for distances and elevations. Choices are the Miles/Feet (U.S. Customary units) or
Kilometers/Meters (Metric Units).
The Measure Tool Units option enhances the Measure
tool functionality by switching from miles or kilometers to smaller units (feet or meters)
when you are zoomed in. previously, the units were displayed as a percentage of the larger
units.
The Mouseover Coordinate Format allows you to choose how coordinates will
be displayed, based on cursor location. The coordinates are displayed under the map window.
You can now specify Decimal Degree format or a Degrees-Minutes-Seconds format or a Decimal Degree format.
The Layer-Ranking Mode in Classes allows the application to recommend what layers
are displayed for a class. Recommended layers are shown by a black dot to the left of the
Visible checkbox. With any of these modes, the user can also manually
turn on or off any additional layers as desired. There are four options available:
Application: This mode displays only a small set of preselected layers
in the map view. This mode is the default mode for the Viewer and gives the simplest
set of layers for display. At different scales, layers may appear or disappear.
Scaleclass: This mode displays the recommended, most detailed base layers needed
to fill the map view for a selected class.
Scaleclass application: This mode displays the default set of preselected layers
(see ‘Application’ above), plus the recommended, most detailed base layers (see ‘Scaleclass’ above)
needed to fill the map view for a selected class.
None: This mode displays all layers available in the map view for a selected class.
The Clear User Layer Selections
option clears all selections/deselections of layers that have been made by the user.
The Viewer remembers the most recent selection/deselection made on each layer.
This option causes the Viewer to clear its history of such actions and display
the default preselected layers.
Help with The National Map Viewer
