Iuliana Mars Tutorial

8/8/2019 Iuliana Mars Tutorial

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MARS Project web-GIS Tutorial

The tutorial is comprised of 3 different sections. The first section is a brief overview of what

topographic maps are and how GIS and WebGIS work. The second section walks you throughhow to use the different functions of the MARS website. The third section is a practice section

that allows you to practice using the tools of the website.

What is a topographic map?

- A topographic map is a map that shows the differences in the elevations of the earth's surface

using contour lines and spot elevations. The map represents the horizontal and vertical

positions of the features represented. A topographic map is a graphic representation thatshows the difference between natural and man-made features of an area or region in a way

that shows their position and elevations.

Image courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

What is GIS and WebGIS technology?

- The Mars project that you will be working on has been put together using GeographicInformation System technology. A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a system of

hardware and software used for storage, retrieval, mapping, and analysis of geographic

data. Spatial features (ex. a building) are stored in a coordinate system (latitude/longitude,state plane, UTM, etc.), which describes a particular place on the earth or in this case,

Mars. These spatial features are described by attribute data (ex. the name of the building)

which is kept in a database (storage area for data). A GIS can be used for scientificinvestigations, resource management, and development planning.



Image Courtesy of Advanced Geospatial Lab, Northern Illinois University

- The Mars modules that you will be working on for this project are put on the Internet for youusing WebGIS. WebGIS is a technology that allows spatial information to be presented in a user

friendly format on the Internet. As you will find out, WebGIS is much more than just a static

map found on the web. It allows for data creation, easy data editing, data analysis, and

query building.

- Two other good examples of other WebGIS applications include NIU’s webmap

(http://www.niu.edu/webmap.shtml) and Halifax County, Virginia’s web maphttp://arcims2.webgis.net/halifax/default.asp. Playing around with these sites in addition toworking on this tutorial will get you more comfortable with using WebGIS.

Mars Website Overview



1 – Map Window

Map Window – The Map window shows the section that you are currently working in. The

map window will include the data that you will be working with, such as the valley network

lines, and the Mars landscape as a background. This is where you will use the tools of the

toolbox and modules. Also, this is where any creating or editing of data will be done.



2 - Locator map

Locator Map - The locator map shows your relative location on the planet Mars. As you zoom

in, you can still identify your relative location on the planet as a whole by looking at the locator

map. Your location is signified by the point where the two white lines intersect. In this case itshows we are located on the far eastern side of Mars. Besides showing your location on the

planet Mars, this feature also can be used to quickly pan to another region on Mars. This is done

by clicking with the cursor, on the region that you would like to zoom to. Doing this in the mapview, especially if the region you are moving to is far away can be a long and tedious process.

Using the locator map for this process eliminates that problem.



3 - Toolbox, zoom buttons, navigational controls, and right click

functions

Tool Box

Fit view - The fit view command is used to return to the original view that you see when you

first click to start the module. In other words, if you are zoomed in on a certain area of your section and want to go back to the original zoom to check out how the whole section looks; the

fit view command will take you to the original zoom of the whole section.

Refresh – The refresh command is used to redraw the map. Sometimes when a screen loads,

there may be data that doesn’t load up correctly (missing) or data that is there but deformed due

to errors in the screen loading. The refresh command redraws the map correctly if these loading

errors occur.

Zoom Box – The zoom box command is used to magnify a certain region. The smaller the box

is made, the more magnification there will be. To use this tool, click once to start the box, pullthe box to the size that you desire, and then click a second time to start the zoom. As opposed to

the zoom button, which will be discussed later, the zoom box can be used to magnify any part of

the screen.

Pan – The pan command is used to navigate through the map window. With this feature, you

click once to begin the pan function, drag the mouse in the direction you want to pan the screen,

and then click a second time to complete the pan. This can be a bit confusing, but when panning,think of it as dragging the screen in a certain direction. If you want to move to a region to the

left of the current map window, you would drag the current screen to the right. This is shown in

the screen captures below.



Before panning, the crater is in the middle of the screen. The blue ellipse shows my first point

and the red ellipse shows my second point. Notice the mouse was dragged from left to right. Iwanted to move the map to a region left of the crater so I dragged the screen (crater) to the right.

In the next picture, we can see that the crater is now on the right side of the screen, so the center

of the map has moved to the left. Additionally, the status window will give you directions onhow to use the pan tool if you ever have trouble using it.

Historical Data - The Historical Data command will highlight all of the original data in red.

All of the editing or adding of data you do will not be highlighted so that your work can be kepttrack of very easily.

The picture on the left shows the highlighted historical data lines which show the data in its

original form. The picture on the right shows the part of the line which has been moved. That part of the line is now no longer highlighted.

Themis - Clicking on the Themis button will change the map window default background to a background made up of high resolution (more detail) images from the Thermal Emission

Imaging System (Themis) found on the Arizona State University website. This feature allows

you to study the Martian landscape in more detail.



The picture on the left shows the default background. The image on the right shows the highresolution Themis background.

Zoom buttons and Navigational Controls

Zoom Buttons – The + or – buttons magnify or de-magnify the screen a set amount every time.This differs from the zoom box in which you choose the amount to magnify your map. Also, this

feature only zooms in or out at the center of the screen. You cannot re-center the map as you canwith the zoom box. This tool is for quick zooming.

Navigational Controls – The navigational controls act similarly to the pan tool. By clicking on

one of the arrows, this tool pans the direction you chose a predetermined amount every time.This is different from the pan tool in which you can choose the amount that you want to move

the screen. Like the zoom buttons, this tool is for convenience and not precision.



Right click functions

When the cursor is in the map window, if you right click on your mouse, a box will come up that

will give you different options to choose from.

Refresh - The Refresh command shown here functions in the same way as the refresh

command in the tool box.

Fit All - The Fit All command shown here functions the same way as the fit view command in

the tool box.

Zoom Rectangle - The Zoom Rectangle command functions the same as the Zoom Box

command in the toolbox.

Zoom In and Zoom Out - The Zoom In and Zoom Out commands function the same way asthe Zoom buttons.

Center - The Center command allows you to click anywhere on the screen to make the screenshift so that the point clicked on is the new center of the screen.

Shift - The Shift command functions the same way as the Pan command in the toolbox.

About - The About command gives copyright information for JMapView. This is not a tool.



4 – Status Window

Status Window – The status window has multiple functions. First of all, it tells you what thestatus of the system is, whether it is processing a new map or whether the map is completed. It

can also prompt you to execute a command. For example, when using the zoom box, the status

window will tell you to click twice to create our rectangle. Also, the status window gives yououtput from calculations you run such as finding stream lengths.

5 - Modules

Modules - This diagram shows the different modules that you will be asked to complete. Toactivate a module, you will click on the module button and then commence work on it. In the

practice section, the tools of the modules will be covered in more detail.



How to Start a Module:

To begin a module, you will click on the module button you desire to work on. When you click

on the module, two things should happen: a drop down box should appear below the module

button, and the map window should redraw your section with a new map fresh with the data

needed to complete the module. An example is shown below of what you should see when youclick on the “Digitize Valley Networks” button.

Module button

Map Window

Notice there is a drop down box that is shown now. This gives you the options of moving a point on a valley network line, deleting a point on a line, adding a new line, and deleting a line.

To do any of these processes, you would click on the command and then you will be prompted

by the status window to perform a function in the map window. Also, shown above is the map

window output from opening this module. In this case the map window shows the valley

network lines and watershed basins.



Practice Section

Becoming comfortable with the tools of the website on a practice section

Now you will be asked to practice using the tools of the website to become more comfortable

with their use. Now you will want to log on to the website and open the practice section byclicking on the demo button. Before you begin practicing the tools of the modules, play around

with all of the features (zoom, pan, etc...) so that you are able to navigate around the site

comfortably. Taking the time to familiarize yourself with these tools now will save you timelater. Play around with each of the tools now to familiarize yourself with them.

Now that you have familiarized yourself with the tool box, we will look at some of the differenttools that you will be asked to use in doing the modules. Each module will be made up of two

parts. The first part will be hands on in which you will be using paper and pencil to do exercises

related to each module topic. For the second part, you will complete the module exercises setupon the computer. For this section of the tutorial, you will be taken through the some of the

different tools that you will be using in the map window to complete your modules on thecomputer. As you are being taken through these steps here in the tutorial, execute them yourself on the computer. This is a practice section so don't be afraid to make mistakes.

Digitize Valley Networks

1) Move Point – In this module, you will be asked to edit the stream lines. Some of the lines

will need to have points moved to line it up with the background image. To do this, we use the

Move Point tool.

A) Click on the Digitize Valley Networks module button.

B) Click on the move point button. Find a line that you want to

modify and move your cursor over it and click.

C) When you choose a line to modify, all of the points on that line will be

highlighted. Click on a point to move it.

D) Click on the screen again to lay the point down in a new location. Once youclick on the location on the Mars image a box will come up asking for

confirmation that you have the right spot. If you do, then click o.k. and the

line will be redrawn with the point in its new location.



E) For a line that needs multiple points moved to line it up with the image, you

would repeat the first three steps until the whole line is moved.

2) Delete Point – When editing the stream lines there will also be times when you will have to

get rid of extra points in lines. To do this, you will use the Delete Point tool.

A) Click on the delete point button.

B) Choose a line to modify. After choosing the line to modify, all the pointsof the line will appear highlighted in red.

C) Click on a point to remove. After clicking on the point which you want to beremoved, a box will appear asking you to confirm that the point you chose

was the right one. If it was click o.k. and the line will be redrawn with the

point omitted.

D) For a line that needs multiple points deleted, you would repeat the first three

steps until the whole line is moved.

3) Add New Line – You also will need to draw lines where none exist in the original data. For

example there may be stream lines that you can see on the background image, but are not there in

the data. For this you would use the Add New Line tool.

A) click on the add new line button. Click once to start the line, then click to

add new points, and then double click to add the last point and finish the line.

B) Once you have double clicked to finish the line, a box will pop up asking youto confirm that you would like to draw this line. If you do, click o.k.



4) Delete Line - There will be times when you will have to delete lines that done belong in thedata. For this, you will use the delete line tool.

A) Click on the delete line button.

B) Click on a line to delete, a box will pop up asking you to confirm thatyou choose the correct line. If you did, click o.k.

C) The map will then be redrawn taking out the deleted line.

Identifying Amphitheater Heads

1) Display Latitude and Longitude - When you are asked to find the amphitheater heads, youwill locate them in the map window and then find their latitude and longitude. This tool is very

simple to use.

A) Click on the Amphitheater Heads module button.

B) Click on the display latitude and longitude button.

C) Click on an amphitheater head. When you do the module, you will then record the

latitude and longitude output that appears in the status window.

Drainage Density

1) Sum Stream Length - Next you will be asked to find the length of the stream network in thewatershed basins.

A) Click on the Drainage Density module button

B) Click the Get Drainage Density button.

C) Click on the watershed for which you want the density. The sum of the lengths of the

streams and the area will appear in the status window.

D) Divide the length by the area.

Hypsometric Curves



1) Get Hypsometric Data - Next you will be asked to get hypsometric function data for eachwatershed basin.

A) Click the Hypsometric Curves module button

B) Click the Get Hypsometric Data button.

C) Click on the watershed basin that you would like to obtain hypsometric data for.

C) The hypsometric data for the selected watershed basin will appear in the statuswindow for you to record.

Circularity Function

1) Get Circularity Data - Lastly, you will be asked to get the circularity function data for each

watershed basin.

A) Click the Circularity Function module button

B) Click the Get Circularity Data button

C) Click on the watershed basin for which you want the circularity function data.

D) The circularity function data for the selected watershed basin will appear in thestatus window for you to record.

Documents

Iuliana Mars Tutorial