Map Styling
Your map can be customized in a variety of different ways. From the panel at the top, you can modify the color scale, change the base map, apply a mask, or add layers to better visualize map boundaries.
Color Ramps
The app allows you to customize your map with modification of the color palette. You can view the options available by clicking on the words “Colors” located on the selection panel directly above the map. A dropdown will open as shown to the right.
Here you can modify the:
- Color Palette: Choose from a long list of color palettes (either sequential or divergent, as well as a few special color palettes like the US Drought Monitor -USDM- red-white-blue or blue-white-red palettes).
- Colormap Type: Choose from either a continuous mapping or a discrete mapping of values to colors.
- Number of Colors: Choose from 3 to 11 colors used in the color palette.
- Values: Choose values to set the minimum (Min) and maximum (Max) used in the linear scaling of the colorbar.
Note that for some options, instead of being able to edit the colormap type, number of colors and min/max, the user will be allowed to edit the colorbar ticks directly to allow for a non-linear colorbar as seen below.
Once your customization selections are made, you do need to click the green ‘UPDATE MAP LAYER’ button to get a new map.
Customize Base Map
Climate Engine allows you to customize your map with modification of the base map. The default base map is the ‘Hybrid’ background. There are a couple of other base maps to choose from. You can modify the base map by clicking on the name of the current basemap (i.e. Hybrid) located in the ‘Map’ drop down menu u the selection panel at the top of the page. A dropdown will open as shown below. Simply select a new base map and the map will update immediately.
Add Layers
Climate Engine allows you to customize your map by adding some boundary layers to aid in the location of features of your map. To add layers to your map, you should click on the ‘Layers’ button in the selection panel above the map. This will open a dropdown of possibilities.
If you currently have a map layer from your map request on the map, then ‘Map Layer’ will be checked. You can remove this layer from the map by unchecking it or put it back on by rechecking this checkbox.
To add additional boundary layers, you can check the boxes for some present boundaries provided by Climate Engine.
You can add up to two of your own boundary layers to the map if you have a .kml or .kmz file for your boundary and it is located on the internet with a valid URL. To add a shape from a kml to the Climate Engine map, you should check the box for ‘URL for .KML/.KMZ’ and then enter the URL for the kml in the text box. Once you finish entering the URL location or click the checkbox, your layer will be loaded on the map. Note that you may need to zoom into the location to actually see your boundary on the map.
Customize Masking
Masking is the ability to show only map values that meet some criteria. You can view the options available by clicking on the words ‘Apply Mask’ located on selection directly above the map. A dropdown will open as shown to the right.
For masking, you have the following options:
- No mask: Choose to show all values in the domain of the dataset.
- Show Values Below Max: Choose to only map values that are below the value in the ‘Mask Max’ text box on the map.
- Show Values Above Min: Choose to only map values that are above the value in the ‘Mask Min’ text box on the map.
- Show Values Exterior to a Min/Max: Choose to only map values that are below the ‘Mask Min’ and above the ‘Mask Max’ (i.e exterior to the range between Min and Max) on the map.
- Show Values Interior to a Min/Max: Choose to only map values that are above the ‘Mask Min’ and below the ‘Mask Max’ (i.e interior to the range between Min and Max) on the map.
For values that do not satisfy the above, the map will be transparent in that location.
Once your customization selections are made, you do need to click the green ‘UPDATE MAP LAYER’ button.
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