UKHab & BNG #2: Working with baseline data using the map

5 minutes

In this user guide we’ll look at how to navigate the map in the baseline tab and how to make use of all the included features. We’ll assume you’ve already completed your pre-survey and collected your UKHab survey data in the field before reaching this stage.

Navigating the Map

Once you are logged back into the portal and have selected the project you are working on you will go back to the ‘Records’ page.

Ensure that the ‘UKHab Survey’ form is active within the ‘Form Selection’ dropdown list. Check and uncheck any other forms you wish to have active at the same time.

Just as on the pre-survey form, the spatial element of your data can be edited if corrections are required.

There are a number of useful tools and options you can use within the map to easily check your data. 

The map is interactive. You can:

  • Pan around the map by clicking and dragging.
  • Zoom in and out by using your mouse or by using the plus and minus button on the left hand side of the screen.
  • Rotate the map by clicking and holding the right mouse button.
  • Should you need to reorient the map you can use the two arrows icon to orient your map north.
  • Centre the map on your location by selecting the crosshair icon. (You will need to grant location permissions in your browser of choice).
  • View your map in fullscreen by clicking the full screen icon in the top left corner of the map.
  • Measure distances and areas using the ruler tool.

Hovering your cursor over a record with the ‘Record information’ tool active will show you a window containing headline information including UKHab habitat type, the date the record was submitted, condition score and the area of the parcel in hectares.

  • To select a record in the map simply click it.

The selected record will be highlighted on the map and highlighted in blue in the records table. You can also open the record detail view (we’ll cover this further in a separate user guide) by double clicking the record.

Map Layers

Options for changing the layers on the map are found by clicking the white ‘Map settings’ icon on the left-hand side of the map.

There are several options in this window, the first allows you to change the base layer of your map. Currently there are 3 options for you to choose from:

  • Streets: This is a vector map.
  • Satellite (default)
  • Sat/Streets: This is the satellite map with streets and location names overlayed
  • Bing: Our highest resolution map (exclusive to the professional+ tier)
  • Empty: No base map, instead a neutral grey background will be displayed

When checking and editing you may wish to switch between these layers for a number of reasons, you might use the empty layer to more clearly help with identifying gaps between your habitats, for example.

  • To switch between layers simply click the layer you wish to use.

By default your records will use the UKHab symbology on the map. You can however view you records using two different symbology options:

  • Distinctiveness – This will colour code your records based on their distinctiveness.
  • Condition – This will colour code your records based on their condition.

You can also change toggle your red line boundary on and off and zoom to it using the magnifying glass. Your boundary will be on by default.

Finally, there is a list of different reference layers which can be added to your map for reference.

  • Click one of the dropdowns to view the relevant list.
  • To add/remove a layer from your map simply click on the layer of your choice.

You can have multiple different reference layers active at once

Filtering

If you have a lot of records you may want to filter them as you work. You can filter your records by habitat or survey id using the ‘Filters’ button  above the map (there are several other tabs here some of which we’ll cover later in another document). There are different filters available for the different UKHab forms (including subforms), as well as universal filters which apply across forms (e.g filtering by creation date).

You can have multiple filters active at once.

To use filters.

  • Click the ‘Filters’ button.
  • Select the dropdown(s) of the form(s) (and/or universal filter) you wish to use.

In the UKhab survey there are two useful filter options, you can filter by geometry type and habitat type (down to level 5).

You can reset your filters by clicking the ‘Clear all’ button in the upper right of the filters tab.

Click the ‘Filters’ button to exit the filter. That’s it for the map basics. In our next user guide we will look at the Records Table.

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