Now that you know the basics, its time to personalize your map by adding geographic layers and custom points.
This tutorial assumes you have completed the Getting Started Tutorial.Step 1
To keep the display simple, turn off any active weather layers in the Map Layers window.
Step 2
Reposition your map so your Home icon is centered on screen. If you do not have a Home icon anywhere on the map, use the
Set Home tool from the
Map Tab toolbar to set it.
Tip
You may click Presets > Center Home on the toolbar to automatically center your home location on screen.
Step 3
Zoom the map to about
1:100 (does not have to be exact) as indicated in the lower-right of your status bar.
Note: The zoom scale identifies the number of pixels per degree. 1:100 means the current zoom displays 100 pixels for every latitudinal/longitudinal degree.
Step 4
Your map should now display a small regional view of your location. Its time to start adding layers.
Click
Add Layer from the toolbar and select
U.S. Cities from the drop-down list.
Note: Some geography layers, like U.S. Cities, will be downloaded to your computer the first time they are added to your map. You will not have to wait for the same layer to download if you add it again (or on other maps).
Step 5
In the Map Layers Dialog, drag the U.S. Cities button into the
'Foreground group. If the Foreground group is not expanded, click the Plus button to expand it.
Delete the
USACITIES.ZIP group because it is empty. Do this by clicking the X in the group's panel.
Step 6
Repeat Steps 4 & 5, but add
U.S. Counties.
Your map should now display county outlines:
Step 7
Next, we are going to add street maps. Click
Add Layers again, but this time select
Browse All Layers.
A new window will appear. This is the Layer Browser:
The Layer Browser gives you access to the full catalog of Weather and Geography layers in Weather Defender. It is organized by categories for easier reference and there is even a search engine if you don't want to browse.
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Note: The Layer Browser is continually being updated with new and better Weather and Geography layers, so be sure to check out the selection regularly.
Step 8
In the Layer Browser, click the category link titled
Roads, Rails, & Pathways.
On the next screen, find the
U.S. Highways listing and click
Add To Map.
Then
close the Layer Browser.
After the download completes, you should see major highways on your map:
Leave the
U.S. Highways layer in the default
Ungrouped layer group.
Step 9
Now would be a good time to save your changes. Click the
Save button on the toolbar.
Step 10
We are going to add some more detailed streets to your map. But before we do this, we want to store the current regional 'View' so we can return to it later.
On the toolbar
Navigation section, click
Presets, and
Save Current.
Enter
'Home Base' in the text field and press
Enter.
If you click
Presets again, you should see
Home Base listed as an option.
Step 11
Zoom in closer on your home location. The zoom scale should read about
1:2000.
You will notice that as you zoom in more detail is displayed on your map: there are more cities, county names are displayed, and the highways have wider lines. This is how the GIS engine works. When zoomed out, fewer details are shown so they don't overlap weather imagery. To view more detail in a particular region, simply zoom in closer.
Step 12
Open the
Layer Broser again and click
Roads, Rails & Pathways and find the
Local Roads layer:
Select the
State and
County for your home location. Then click
Add To Map.
Then
close the Layer Browser.
After the Local Roads layer finishes downloading, you should see detailed county-level streets on your map:
Step 13
Click the gearshaft icon in the upper-right of the
Ungrouped panel in the Map Layers window:
The Layer Group Settings window will appear:
Change the Name to
Streets and select
All/None as the group Behavior.
Click
OK.
You will see the new name in the Map Layers window. And if you turn off (or on) one of the two streets layers, both will turn off (or on).
Step 14
Click and drag the entire
Streets Group below/behind the
Foreground Layers group. Do this by
left-clicking on the group name and dragging, the same way you reposition individual layers.
Note: If you have trouble dragging to the correct spot, try collapsing the Foreground Layers group before dragging the Streets group.
Step 15
As a final task, we will add a custom point to your map.
Think of a location you would like to add to your map. It may be a job site, work facility, or relative's house. The location should be within the current map view. If you need to reposition, do so now.
Click the
Add Point button from the
Tools section of the toolbar
and
click a location on the map.
On the window that appears,
select an icon from the icon menu and
enter a label for your new point. Then press
Enter.
A new icon will display on the map where you clicked. When you move your mouse cursor over top of the icon, it will display the label.
Tip
To force the point's label to always display on screen, do not select an icon.
Finally,
Right-click to deactivate
Add Point mode.
Step 16
Click the
Presets > Home Base button to revert to the original view we started with.
Click
Save to save all your changes.
Congratulations!You have completed the Personalization tutorial. You now have a firm grasp on:
- Customizing your map with Geographic layers
- Navigating with Presets
- Addint custom points
Now get ready to start predicting the weather with the next tutorial:
Do you have custom data sets you would like to import?
See the
Importing Data Tutorial.