Lesson 3c The National Map Viewer - Adding Data
The National Map viewer is a primary access point for the 'visualization' of geospatial
data that composes The National Map and functions as a tool to enable use of the data in a web
environment.
This short lessons that provides the user with an overview and demonstration of adding
various data formats to the viewer.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to add data to the map view from URLs or files
The National Map viewer serves as a window into freely available base map data that is
consistent on a national level, and provides resources to access the data through a variety
of products and services.
To access the viewer, launch a web browser and navigate to the link shown.
For help at any time, click the "Link to Help" icon.
First we will look at how to add a GIS data file to the map.
Data is added by clicking the "Add Data" button on the toolbar at the top right of the map
display.
This opens a window that allows you to search for data, upload a file, or use a Web service.
To open a GIS data file, after clicking on "Add Data", click on "File" at the top right
of the new window.
You can drag and drop or browse and open any of the supported formats: Shapefile, CSV,
GPX, or GeoJSON.
Let's add a stream gage shapefile that has been previously downloaded.
Note that the viewer can add compressed files.
The stream gages appear in the viewer.
Clicking on a gage displays the attribute file.
If you wish to remove a file displayed in the viewer, click on "Layers" in the lower
right corner of the "Add Data" window, and then click on the "Trash Can Symbol" to the
right of the file name in the displayed layers.
Click "Back" in the lower right to close the layers view and return to the add data option.
To open a map service or map service related files, click on "URL" at the top center of
the "Add Data" window.
Select the type of service you want to open by clicking the down arrow next to "Type"
near the top left.
Supported formats include ArcGIS Web services, WMS OGC services, KML files, GeoRSS files
or CSV files.
Type in or paste the URL of the map service or file name you want to add into the box
provided.
Click "Add" and the service will open in the viewer.
Let's add the 2013 NAIP imagery for Montana.
The Montana imagery appears in the viewer.
Finally, let's explore the "Search" function.
You can choose "Featured Data" or search "ArcGIS Online".
Select the "type" of data you are looking for.
Then, search for data within the map extent or for search for all datasets.
Now select" ArcGIS Online".
Use the search box to search for a theme or to go to an area of interest and explore data.
Let's search for the Grand Tetons.
Once displayed, zoom to the trail layer by opening the "layer list" and clicking on the
ellipses.
You can also control the transparency.
The "layer list" shows the added layers and services with the operational layers.
You can click on the "legend" icon to see the legend for just the added layers and services.
In this lesson, we discussed how to add GIS data and data services to The National Map
viewer.
Additional lessons demonstrate other advanced tools available within The National Map viewer.