Coastal and Marine Geology Program
Internet Map Server Introduction and Help

The Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP) Internet Map Server (IMS) provides users with online mapping capability and access to published data sets. The IMS offers tools for viewing, navigating, and limited querying of CMGP spatial and attribute data. The map sites and data have been organized within regional areas. Within these coastal regions, detailed and project specific areas can be found. Many of these sites include data catalogs listing the details of the available data along with metadata and links to download desired data sets. Additional links to project specific information may also be found.

Default mapview of the U.S. Atlantic East Coast mapview.

The image to the right illustrates a typical map view. The left most frame contains the available IMS tools. Links to the Tools Help and Map Server Intro (this page) are also available. For a close-up look at the Tools frame, click here.

The right most frame is the data "Table of Contents" (TOC) and contains a list of available data layers that the user may select for viewing. Once a layer has been selected for viewing, the map view must be refreshed by selecting the "Refresh Map" button located at the top and bottom of the TOC. Located at the very top of the TOC are links to "More Info" and "GIS Data Catalog". These links provide access to additional information regarding the project and direct links to the data available for online access and downloading. Selecting either of these links will open a new browser window.

The TOC frame also is used to provide a standard legend. The legend shows the layer name and the symbol(s) used to draw each layer. By default, the data layers list is displayed in the TOC frame. To display the standard legend the user must select the Toggle Legend tool () to flip between the "Table of Contents" views. For a close-up look at the Table of Contents click here.

The frame below the map view is utilized by the map server for posting information to the user. Information displayed here depends on the action of the user and may be, but is not limited to, one of the following operations: Identify (), Query (), Select by Rectangle () or Select by Line or Polygon (). The example map view shows the displayed tabular attributes information of selected points from the "eastcoast surfical samples" data layer.

The Internet Map Server utilizes the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) ArcIMS software and is a JAVA intensive application. It is designed for use with Netscape Communicator™ version 4.51 or higher and Microsoft Internet Explorer™ versions 4 or higher Web browsers. Macintosh users will need to utilize Netscape Communicator™ or Mozilla™.

PLEASE NOTE: The IMS is very data intensive. Initial connection with a map view will require large graphic, text files and JavaScript files to be downloaded. During this time it may appear that nothing is happening. The IMS is designed as an Image Server and requires significant communications between clients and the server computer. Please be patient! Eventhough your browser may not show internet access, the JavaScripts are working in the background.