Map Browser Help
The Map browser page has three main elements:
- The Map Panel
- This is the square panel containing a map of Antarctica or a part of Antarctica. The display in this panel will change as you zoom and pan using mouse clicks on the map and the buttons on the right.
- The Button bar
- This is the vertical row of buttons marked with icons on the right hand side of the map. These buttons either change the action of the cursor on the map or carry out other actions described below.
- The Scale Bar
- This is below the map, and gives a visible indication of the current scale of the map
In addition, some actions will cause a pop-up window to appear. To obtain full functionality, pop-up blockers must be disabled for this page
Map Panel
This panel displays a map of the selected area, and accepts mouse-clicks to change the area displayed. The action of the mouse-click is controlled by the button bar (see below)
The content of the map is controlled by two factors:
- Scale of display
- The ADD contains data optimized for use at different scales. Data are provided at the scale of data acquisition (Scale 0), generalized to 1:1,000,000 (Scale 1, equivalent to a horizontal resolution of approximately 300 m) and generalized to a scale of 1:10,000,000 (Scale 10, equivalent to a horizontal resolution of approximately 3,000 m). The map browser automatically switches between data at different levels of generalization according to the scale of the current map display.
- Layers selected
- The ADD contains many data layers. On entry, all the layers appropriate to the scale of display are switched on. Layers may be switched off or on using the Layers button (see below)
Button Bar
Buttons may have one of two types of action. The top five buttons change the action of clicking on the map panel. These buttons give a visual indication (a blue "indented" border) when clicked, and their action remains in force until another button is clicked. The bottom four buttons have an immediate effect, either redrawing the map or opening a pop-up window.
Zoom by Clicking twice- This button changes the action of the cursor on the map, so that clicking on two opposite corners of a rectangle on the map will zoom the map to that rectangle. After the first click on the map, the cursor changes to a cross until clicked again.
Fixed Zoom In- This button changes the action of the cursor on the map, so that clicking on the map will zoom the map to a rectangle centred on the point clicked but zoomed in to double the scale.
Zoom Out- This button changes the action of the cursor on the map, so that clicking on the map will zoom the map to a rectangle centred on the point clicked but zoomed out to half the scale.
Pan to cursor- This button changes the action of the cursor on the map, so that clicking on the map will pan the map so it is centred on the point clicked.
Get Information- This button changes the action of the cursor on the map, so that clicking on the map will result in a pop-up window opening with information about the data layer selected using the "Layers" button below. N.B. This will not work unless pop-ups are allowed for this page.
Zoom to name- Clicking this button opens a popup window with an input box. Entering the first few characters of a placename in the input box and pressing carriage return will populate the drop-down selection box with names starting with the characters entered. Select one of the names than click on the icon at the bottom, and the main map will zoom so it is centred on the location in the Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica for the name selected, with a "best guess" of the extent of the name.
Previous Extent- Clicking this button returns to the previous extent of the map. There is only one level for this.
Refresh- Clicking this button refreshes the map panel.
Original Extent- Clicking this button returns the extent of the map to the whole continent.
Open Layer menu- Clicking this button opens a pop-up window with the layers available at the present zoom level shown. There is a check-box next to each layer controlling whether the layer is visible or not (checked is visible, and is the default state on entry). right of that is a radio-button which controls which data layer returns information using the Get Information tool (see above). N.B. This will not work unless pop-ups are allowed for this page.
The Antarctic Digital Database is copyright © the Scientific Committtee on Antarctic Research 1993 - 2006.