Quick-Guide to using the OneGeology Portal: Getting started
Open http://portal.onegeology.org/
- Click on the [view layers] tool to view layers of map data
- Click on the + buttons to expand the levels. Select a map by clicking on the box to the left of the map you wish to view. A tick will appear.
- Select all the maps you wish to view before closing. The selected maps should be visible.
- zoom in – click on this image and then click on the world background map to zoom in centred on the clicked location. Click and drag a rectangle to zoom to a specific area
- zoom out – click on this image and then click on the world background map to zoom out centred on the clicked location. Click and drag a rectangle to zoom out from a specific area
- view full global extent – click this image to start again with a view of the full world background map
- Pan by clicking and dragging the map to move – click this image and then click and drag on the map to move to a different area (north, west, etc)
- go back to previous view
- go forward a view
- refresh the map view
- get map feature information
- Click on ‘Active layers properties’
- The active layers properties button will bring up a list of all the map layers that you have selected.
- show or hide the layer
- move the layer up
- move the layer down
- zoom to the extent of the layer to make that particular web map fill the centre of the map browser
- delete layer from view
- Opacity (use the slider rule to change the % to make underlying maps visible) so that it is possible to see through a layer to underlying layers where they overlap
- Click on this arrow to get more information about a layer, for example:-
Use the zoom tools, as needed and other GIS type tools as identified below.
Use this tool to get more information about map features. Select the tool and click on a map polygon to open up a new view with detailed information. This varies from map to map and layer to layer dependant upon how much information the provider organisation wishes to display.
Manage your selected layers
Within this section, you can manage the individual layers in the following ways:-
Layer viewed with 30% opacity
Layer viewed with 100% opacity
This list provides information about
- the data owner,
- the service title,
and gives access to
- the map legend,
- the website of the data provider to get more information,
- the metadata related to the layer,
- the service URL
(if you want to copy and paste this URL to use the WMS service in another web tool such as Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/) or Dapple (http://dapple.geosoft.com/) or Nasa World Wind http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/ or to add to ESRI ArcMap desktop), perhaps to combine that service with non-geological data services)
External use of the data
- Map data visible in the OneGeology Portal is called WMS (Web Map Service)
- They are designed in a format that can be used in a wide variety of desktop programs such as ArcMap, Gaia from carbontools, and NASA World Wind.
- It is intended to use Open Source (free to download) software wherever possible.
- Google Earth can simply overlay a WMS. (however, it doesn’t show legends so Dapple, which is based on NASA World Wind, is recommended instead)
- OneGeology data can be used in NASA World Wind
» See the Portal data uses document for further information.
How to view data from the OneGeology Portal in Google Earth
- Click the
button to create a KML file that can be read by Google Earth - Enter a filename of your choice that you will save the KML as, and click OK.
- This will create a KML file containing all the geology maps you currently have added to the OneGeology Portal
- Once the KML file has been created you can save it or choose to immediately open the data in Google Earth
How to view data from the OneGeology Portal in web map clients that support the OGC WMC (Web Map Context) format
- Open all the layers that you wish to export
- Click the
button to create a WMC file that can be read by a variety of web map clients - Enter a filename of your choice that you will save the WMC as, and click OK.
- This will create a WMC file containing all the geology maps you currently have added to the OneGeology Portal
- Once the WMC file has been created you can save it or choose to immediately open the data in your client
Saving your current Portal view as a WMC context is an easy way to save your personal data view and allows you to open the same view again at a later date. This avoids the need to keep adding layers to the view each time you enter the Portal. This is most useful if viewing a large number of layers at any one time.
Importing the URLs
Alternatively, if you are only working with a single or limited number of layers, you can directly add the service URL to your client;
- In the ‘active layers properties’, select ‘Display the service URL’
- Copy this URL
- Open your chosen map client e.g. ArcGIS
- Add WMS servers
- Paste URL and click on ‘get layers’
- Click ‘OK’ and ‘Add’
- Zoom to layer you wish to view
