Mapping Tool Instructions

Mapping toolinstructions

The following instructions will explain howto drawpolygon areas (borders around a specific land area) for aproject usingGoogle Maps and determine the latitude and longitude of your general project location. Existing polygonscan alsobe loaded as an existing Google Earth (KML) file.

Browser Compatibility:

This mapping tool is known to work with the following browsers:

- Internet Explorer version 10 and above (Internet Explorer’s Compatibility View is not supported)

- Chrome version 36 and above

- Firefox version 17 and above

If you experience any issues please ensure that you are using the latest browser version.

Contents

1. Launch the Mapping Tool

2. Navigate to the general area of interest

3. Drawing a polygon area or multiple areas

4. Modifying polygon areas and clearing the map

5. Saving mapping

6. Advanced Features

1. Launch the Mapping Tool

The mapping tool launches from a link within your application form.
You can return to your mapping using this link at any time until you submit your application to the Department.

You will note the map opens in the basic map view which shows roads, creeks and property boundaries. You may prefer to use the satellite image which can be accessed by clicking the ‘Satellite’ button at the top left side of the map. If you want to go back to the basic map view at any time, click on the ‘Map’ button next to the ‘Satellite’ button.
The map also has a layer to inform which Threatened Species Strategy Species may be in your area, get a list of species by clicking on the map layer with the hand tool. You can turn this layer on or off in the ‘Layers’ box at the top right. A legend on the left of the map can be switched on or off by clicking on “Show/Hide Legend” at the top left.

2. Navigate to the general area of interest- using Search or the Zoom and Pan functions

Type a town or location into the search box in the upper left of the screen. The tool will suggest a list ofplacesbased on what you type, and you can select the closest location by clicking on the listed place.

Zoom and pan

After the tool has taken you to the genreal area of your search, you can move the map in any direction by ’zooming‘ and ’panning‘.

Navigate to your area of interest by zooming and panning on the map image.
Zoom in as close as you can to your area of interest to help ensurehigh accuracy in your project mapping.

3. Drawing a polygonarea or multiple areas

Select the drawing tool at top of the map window
Your mouse will now turn into a cross symbol
Place your cross at a place where you want to start drawing and click the left mouse button to make your first point.

Continue placing points around your area until you get back to the starting point. To finish your polygon, click back on your first point.
TIP: You can pan around the map whilst in draw mode by holding down the left mouse button and dragging mouse, then release the mouse button to return to drawing.
Once you have created the polygon area an information window willappear (if you have made a mistake at this stage, you can use the ‘Delete’ button to remove the polygon and start again).
The information box gives you the area of the polygon, and the perimeter length around it.

In the top right of the map the total area of all your polygons is shown.

Area of this polygon Combined area of all polygons

After clicking ‘OK’ you can add another polygonarea by following these steps again.
Click the‘Save Mapping’ button in the top right of the screen to save your work. Once saved, the map will be automatically submitted to the Department when you submityour application form. You can return to the mapping tool to adjust your polygon areas at any time, until you finally submit the form.

4. Modifying POlYGONareas and clearing the map

If you need to modify a polygon area, use the hand tool and left mouse buttonto click and drag the relevant white points. To make new points along the boundary click and drag the semi-transparent (partly see through) points.

To undo the last point you dragged, click the back symbol. It will appear every time you shift a point.
To edit apolygon’sTitle, select the hand tool and then click inside the polygon. The information window (as described above) will appear and you can make edits.
Once you’ve made edits, click ‘OK’ to confirm and close the information window. Alternatively, click ‘Cancel’ if you don’t want to keep any of the changes you just made.
If you click the ‘Delete’ button you will delete the whole polygon. Beware – you cannot undo this action and will have to redraw any area intended for that location.

The ‘Delete All Polygons’ button in the bottom left of the screen is used to delete all existing polygonareas and information. Beware - you cannot undo this action.

5. Saving mapping

Incomplete polygons will not be saved, sobefore you save, make sure you have finished drawing and that the information window is closed by pressing ‘OK’.

After clicking ‘OK’ in the information window, click the ‘Save Mapping’ button.You can save your mapping at any time by clicking the ‘Save Mapping’ button. You can return to the mapping tool to adjust your maps at any time, until you finally submit the form.

6. Advanced Features

Loading Google Earth KML files

Note: 1. This feature is only available on Firefox browser versions 13 and above, or Internet Explorer versions 10 and above. It should also work with most other browsers if they are upto date.

2. Please make sure KML files only contain polygon areas.

3. Take care using this feature – if you load an existing KML file it will over-ride and clear all existing mapping you have done using the tool.

4. For more information on Google Earth KML file see ()

If you already have a Google Earth KML file with polygon areas for your project,you can browse to it using the ‘Load from File (KML)’ button in the bottom left of the screen.
IMPORTANT: To avoid losing any existing mapping when you load a KML (see point 3 above) you should always load an existing KML file first and then add any new polygons as required, rather than the other way around. If you have multiple KMLs that you wish to merge into one, before loading it into the tool, you can do this within Google Earth Pro, which can be freely downloaded at
Browse to a KML file on your file system and click ‘Open’ to load the KML file to the map.

Once loaded, you can use the hand tool to edit polygon areas - any existing information from your KML file canbe edited if it is not correct. REMEMBER, after loading, or editing, and pressing ‘OK’ you should press the “Save Mapping” button for your KMLs to be attached to the application form.

Loading a Google Earth KML as text

Browsers that don’t support KML file loading will automatically provide white space below the map to paste the contents of a KML file as text and load it.

If the ‘Load from File (KML)’ button is greyed out, this means your browser version doesn’t support KML file loading. As an alternative method you will see a ‘Load from Text (KML)’ button, which allows you to copy and paste KML text into the provided text area and load it to the map. Firstly open your KML file in a text editor (e.g. notepad) and copy the full KML text and paste it into the text box. Then click the ‘Load from File (KML)’ button to load the KML to the map.

Once loaded, use the hand tool method described earlier to click on each polygon areas and edit the information box. You may find some existing information is loaded from your KML file into the ‘Title’ text box, you can edit this if it is not correct. REMEMBER, after loading, or editing, and pressing ‘OK’ you should press the “Save Mapping” button for your KMLs to be attached to the application form.

Download your polygons as a KML file

You can click on the “download” button to save your polygon/s as a KML on your local computer for your own personal use or to share with others if you choose to do so. Your KML will be saved to your browser’s designated download folder.