MAPPING HELP - Get answers to questions about using the Vital Signs map

1. How do I see the data for my community on the map?
2. What if I want to see a single community's data in a table?
3. How do I compare an observation between all communities?
4. How do I see the Our Town features for my community?
5. How do I see the USGS Maps for my community?
6. How do I see the water resources for my community?
7. What do all the buttons on the map page mean?

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1. How do I see the data for my community on the map?
   You can view all the data points on the map using the View Data tab. To do this:
    
   
   1. Select the View Data tab.
   2. Use the drop-down list to select a community.
   3. Choose the handheld that gathered the data you want to see.
   4. Choose the date range. By default, the program will show all available data.
   5. Select a data set - either all Vital Signs data or just the benchmark data. Benchmark measurements are taken in the same place over time. Benchmarks are used to compare data between communities.
   6. Click "View Data on Map." The map will redraw with the selected data points displayed.
    
    
   
2. What if I want to see a single community's data in a table?
   Follow the same steps as above, except click "Show Tabular Data" instead of "View Data on Map at step #6 above." A new browser window will open with the data displayed in a table.
    
    
   
3. How do I compare an observation between all communities?
   When you compare observations, the map will zoom out to show all the communities.
    
   
   1. First, choose a community to highlight. Use the drop-down list of communities.
   2. Click the "Compare Data" tab.
   3. Choose either "Benchmark Data" or "Phenology data."
   4. Select a specific data element and time frame.
   5. Click the "Compare Data" button.
    
    
   
4. How do I see the Our Town features for my community?
   The Our Town features are points of interest gathered by students in their own communities.
    
   
   1. Click the "Our Town" tab.
   2. Choose a community to highlight. Use the drop-down list of communities.
   3. To see a feature on the map, click the title. (i.e., "Town Water Source")
   4. To see a report about a feature, click the question mark icon next to the title.
    
    
   
5. How do I see the USGS Maps for my community?
   The USGS quadrangle maps are backgrounds you can add to the map. When selected, they will only show up when you are zoomed in closely to an area.
    
   
   1. Click the "Layers" button.
   2. Check the box next to USGS Quadrangles.
   3. Click "View Data on Map."
    
    
   
6. How do I see the water resources for my community?
   The available water resources are: watershed boundaries and protection areas and public drinking wells and intakes. To find out how these water resources are shown on the map, turn on the map legend.
    
   
   1. Click the Layers button.
   2. Check the box next to Water Resources.
   3. Click View Data on Map.
    
    
   
7. What do all the buttons on the map page mean?
   The buttons help you maneuver around the map, zoom in closer and out farther, measure distances, identify particular features, and turn on the legend.
    
   

   	ZOOM TOOL: When you choose a community, you'll automatically go to the middle bar of the zoom tool. If you'd like to look more closely at the area, choose one of the two bars towards the "Zoom In" end. If you'd like a wider view of a area, choose one of the two bars towards the "Zoom Out" end. To center the map in a new place, use the Pan button.
   	MAGNIFY: Magnify is used to zoom in AND recenter the map at the same time. Click the Magnify button, then click the map or drag a box where you would like the zoom/center to be.
   	PAN: Use Pan to move the map without zooming in or out. Click the Pan button then click and hold on the map, moving as desired. Let go when the map is where you want it.
   	DISTANCE: To find the distance between two locations, click the Distance button, then click once at the first location, and again at the second location. Double-click anywhere to clear.
   	INFO: Use Info to find out what information a data point or points on the map represent. Click the Info button, and then click the data point. Alternatively, "draw a box" around the points
   	LOCATE: Click Locate to open a small image of the entire watershed. A red box on this map will indicate the area shown in the big map. Click Locate again to turn off.
   	LEGEND: The Legend explains what all the map symbols mean. Click the Legend button to open and close the legend window.
   	LAYERS: Use the Layers tool to select additional maps layers to display. You can select USGS quadrangles and Water Resource layers to add to the map view.
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