HELCOM
Internet Map Services
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Users guide

Contents:

         Using the layer list
         Zooming and panning the map
         Hyperlinks
         Buffering
         Selecting features
         Getting layer information
         Measuring
         Printing maps
         Downloading data

Help for each tool:

Zoom in	Zoom out	Full extent	Pan	Identify	Query
Measure	Buffer	Select	Clear map	Snapshot	Download

Using the layer list on the left hand side:

Zooming and panning the map:

You can zoom in and out and move around on the map. Select the tool you want to use and the tool will be highlighted with a red square. The tools are used as follows:

	Select this tool to zoom in on the map. When selected, click and drag a square on the map over the area you are interested in.
	Select this tool to zoom out on the map. When selected, click and drag a square on the map. The smaller the square, the further out you will zoom.
	Click this to zoom to the whole map. NOTE: this is actually not a tool, so the tool you chose before clicking this is still active (indicated by the red square).
	Choose this tool to move around on the map. When selected, click and drag on the map to move it to the direction you want.

Hyperlinks:

Some of the features may have images or other additional information hyperlinked to them. In this case, the additional information for the feature can be viewed by choosing this tool and clicking the feature on the map. The feature needs to be both visible and active (see 'Using the layer list' above). Hyperlinks are not used in all HELCOM services.

Buffering:

Using buffers you can examine e.g. the proximity of features to one another or the spatial coverage of features. The buffer tool creates a buffer around the chosen features, with a buffering distance of your choice. You can simultaneously also use the buffer to choose features from another layer. For example, in a map with shops and houses, you could use a buffer around a certain shop to see which houses are within a certain distance from the shop. To use the buffer tool, you need to first select the features to be buffered (see 'Selecting features'  below). When you select the buffering tool, the window shown below will open up. In the window, you can set the buffering distance and also choose whether you want to highlight features within the buffer and see their attribute information.

Selecting features:

You can select features shown on the map to see their attribute information or to create buffers around them. To select features, the feature layer you are interested in needs to be active (see 'Using the layer list'  above).

	Use this tool to select features on the map. When selected, click and drag a square around the features you want to select. Selected features will be highlighted and a table of their attribute information will be shown.
	With this button you can clear all the selections as well as buffers and measurements.

Getting feature information:

There are three ways in which you can get more information about the features on the map. Firstly, when you select features using the select tool, a table is opened showing the attribute information of the chosen features (see 'Selecting features'  above). In addition, you can get feature information using the 'Identify' tool or the 'Query' tool:

Using this tool you can click individual features on the map to see their attribute information.

With this tool search for features based on their attributes. For example, in a map with shops, you could find all shops beginning with the letter M. When click the tool, the following query form will open: The query form is used by selecting the attribute field you want use for the query (the first selection list), then the operator used (e.g. larger than, selected in the second list) and finally the value used in the query (the text field above the 'Get Samples'-button). You then click the 'Add to Query String'-button and the condition is added to the query. You can use more than one condition by combining them using the operators 'And' and 'OR', which you can add using the buttons on the right hand side of the form. Obviously you can also write the query string by hand into the query field. When you have added all the conditions you want to use, click the 'Execute'-button. A table of features fulfilling your query conditions is shown and the features in question are also selected and highlighted on the map, so that you can do further work with them.

Measuring:

With this tool you can measure distances on the map. When the tool is selected, two text fields will appeas to the upper left corner of the map. The first one is showing the total length of the distance measured and the second one the length of the current segment. To measure distances on the map, simply click on the map. The measured segments will be drawn on the map. To stop measuring, choose another tool and clear the drawn segments from the map using the 'Clear map' -tool.

Printing maps:

	With this tool you can print the map view on a page with your selection of available elements: title, overview map, legend, north arrow and scalebar.
	Using this tool you can "cut out" an image of the map suitable for your purposes. After you select the tool, click and drag on the map to define the extent of the image to be produced. You will then be asked for the resolution of the image, the maximum extent of the longer side of the image is 1500 pixels.

Downloading data:

In some of the services it may be possible to download the actual spatial data to your own computer. If this is the case, it can be done using this tool. For vector type data (points, lines and polygons) you can even clip the dataset to your area of interest. Simply zoom to the area for which you want data and click this download tool. In the opening window choose the option 'Only the data in map view', select the datasets you are interested in and click the 'Request data' -button. Raster datasets (images) can only be downloaded as whole datasets and one dataset at a time. Just click this download tool and in the opening window switch to the 'Raster datasets' tab to see the available rasters for download.