Christine-GIS Viewer 1.3

Transcription

1 Southern African Bird Atlas Project 2 Animal Demography Unit, Dept of Zoology, University of Cape Town info@sabap2.org Christine-GIS Viewer 1.3 Instructions (ver. 2.1) Compiled by Doug M. Harebottle Contents 1. Getting started (Windows XP/Vista) Installing Christine GIS Map Viewer Installing the shape files and project file Using Christine Loading the SABAP2 project file Updating the pentad coverage shape file Working with views and themes Adding the digital maps to the view Accessing and opening the maps using the Starter Kit CD Accessing and opening the maps using the DVDs Map hints Printing pentad maps Saving your project Opening your saved project Troubleshooting... 10

2 1. Getting started (Windows XP/Vista) 1.1 Installing Christine GIS Map Viewer 1.3 To install Christine GIS, place the Starter Kit CD/DVD into your CD/DVD drive, wait for the popup menu and then click on the Christine GIS Viewer 1.3 Install link. Click on Run and follow the on screen prompts. 1.2 Installing the shape files and project file Before opening and using Christine, you need to install the shape files and the Christine project file to your computer s hard drive. In the pop up menu, click on the Install shape files and Install project file links. Click on Run and then click the Unzip button. The files will automatically be copied to your hard drive in specific folders the project file will be saved to C:/sabap2/christine/, while the shape files will be copied to C:/sabap2/christine/shapes/. If you do not have these directories on your C: drive they will automatically be created during the Unzip process. NOTE: These files can also be downloaded from the SABAP2 website ( 2. Using Christine 2.1 Loading the SABAP2 project file Open Christine GIS by going to Start > All programs > Christine GIS viewer > Christine GIS viewer 1.3 or click on the Christine icon on your desktop. Click on Project (in the top menu), and select Open Project. In the Look in field select your C: drive, open the sabap2 folder, then double click on the christine folder. Then click on the sabap2_christine file and click on Open. A window will then pop up asking if you would like to save changes in the opened project, click on No. Then double click on Views and then double click on SABAP2. A view will open with a map of South Africa (see Fig. 1). Fig. 1 On opening the SABAP2 view, a map of South Africa with the pentad coverage and major national roads is shown. 2

3 2.2 Updating the pentad coverage shape file If you installed the shape files from the Starter Kit, the pentad coverage shape file (pentad_cover.shp) will show the coverage as at the last update of the Starter Kit (refer to date at top of the pop up menu). To download the latest coverage shape file click on the link that says Click here to download the latest pentad coverage shape file. The files will be installed automatically (click Run and then Unzip ) and will overwrite the existing shape files already installed. The website will indicate when the last update of the file was made. 2.3 Working with views and themes The map has nine themes (or layers), each represented by a shape file (.shp) in the theme window (grey shaded column; provincial.shp down to pentad_cover.shp). When you zoom in (either by using the zoom in tool or scrolling with your mouse), each theme becomes clearer. Depending on the scale, themes are appropriately labeled e.g. Quarter Degree Grid Cell (QDGC) names 3020AA, town names, etc. You can also change the scale of the view by typing in an appropriate scale in the scale box in the top right hand corner. For example, if you type in 1: , and hit enter, the view changes to show the one degree grid and the names for each grid (see Fig. 2). By un ticking a particular theme, that theme no longer becomes visible in the view. This allows you to select which themes you would like to see and/or use. We would advise that you don t un tick any of the themes that are initially ticked. The rivers and vegetation themes are optional and you can activate these should you wish to. These themes create the basic overlays that are needed for you to determine which digital 1: maps to add to the View (see Figs 2, 3 & 4 below). 3

4 Fig. 2 View (at scale 1: ) showing the one degree grid cells (orange squares), their names (e.g. 3021) together with the national road network (blue lines) and the pentad coverage. Fig. 3 View (at scale 1: ) showing the one degree grid cells (orange squares), the quarter degree grid cells (blue squares) and their names (e.g. 2728AA) together with the national road network (blue lines), major towns and pentad coverage. 4

5 Fig. 4 View (at scale 1:500000) showing the quarter degree grid cells (dark blue squares) and their names (e.g. 2728AA) and the nine pentad grid cells (small black squares) and their names (e.g. 2700_2800). The one degree grid cell lines (orange lines) are still visible as well as the national road network, major towns and the pentad coverage. 2.3 Adding the digital maps to the view To add maps to the view you will need access to the digital 1: maps (TIFF image files). These are available either on the DVD sets (that can be ordered from the ADU go to ) or on your Starter Kit CD/DVD. For the latter, they should be in the Maps folder on your Starter Kit CD/DVD. We would advise copying the Maps folder from the CD/DVD to C:/SABAP2/Christine/ so that you don t have to keep on inserting the CD/DVD in order to access your maps everytime you open Christine. To find which map (or maps) you need to open, go to your view in Christine and find the appropriate one degree grid cell(s) in which your pentad(s) fall. For example if your chosen pentad falls within the Pretoria area you will need to find the 2527 one degree grid label. You then use the Select and zoom tool, and by dragging the selection to highlight the 2527 cell, the programme will zoom into that selection. Once you have done that, each of the sixteen QDGCs become visible. The QDGC name (2527AA, 2527CD, etc.) is important as you will need this as a reference when finding the associated digital map. If you then select and highlight a QDGC (using the Select and zoom tool) each of the pentad grid cells and their codes become visible in that QDGC. 5

6 There are two ways in which you can access and open the digital maps: Accessing and opening the maps using the Starter Kit CD/DVD The maps on the Starter Kit represent a selection of Quarter Degree Grid Cells (QDGC) that fall within a radius or one degree block of your home town. In Christine, with your SABAP2 view open, go to View > Add theme. Change Files of type to Tag Image File Format (*.tif, *.tiff). In Look in go to the C:/SABAP2/Christine/Maps folder. (If there are no maps or a Map folder it indicates you have not copied the folder from the CD/DVD to your hard drive, see 2.3 above) Select an appropriate map folder (e.g. 2628, 2527), based on the QDGC name (e.g. 2628AB, 2527BB) and double click to open it. A selection of map files will then appear and are named based on their QDGC name (e.g. 2628AB_1992_ED2_GEO.TIF; 2527BB_1996_ED3_GEO.TIF) Find the appropriate QDGC map file, click on it and then click on Open. The map file will be added to the top of the theme window (the grey column). You can add more than one map at a time by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on the map file names. Once the map files have been added you need to move them below the veg_rsa_biomes.shp theme. You do this by right clicking on the map file name (theme) and clicking on Move to bottom. Tick the white box next to the map name and the map will be loaded into your view (see Fig. 5). If your view includes the QDGC of the map you have just loaded a message will pop up saying Redrawing map please wait. If the view does not cover the map being loaded, you will need to navigate (using the Pan tool ) and move the map to the appropriate QDGC. You can also go directly to the map by clicking on the map theme, right click, select Zoom and pan and then Zoom to theme and it will take you directly to that theme. 6

7 Fig. 5 View (at scale 1:450000) showing digital map 3119AA that hase been loaded into the view. The QDGCs (dark blue squares) and their names (e.g. 3118BB, 3119AA, etc.) and the nine pentad grid cells (small black squares) and their names (e.g. 3105_1905) can be seen. The one degree grid cell lines (orange lines) are still visible as well as the national road network, major towns and pentad coverage Accessing and opening the maps using the map DVDs The DVD set consists of 6 disks containing all the 1: digital maps of South Africa. Maps of Swaziland and Lesotho are not available. The disks are labeled according to a range of one degree grid cells and are loosely arranged from north to south so that Disc 1 ( ) covers all one degree grid cells in Limpopo from 22 S to 25 S and 27 E to 30 E, through to Disc 6 ( ) which covers the Western Cape and Eastern Cape from 33 S to 34 S and 17 E to 24 E. To find which maps you need to load you will need to work out in which one degree cell your survey area (pentad) falls. To do this open the 50k_index_2008.pdf file in the C:/SABAP2/Christine folder. This file provides an index of all the 1: maps. It can also be downloaded from the SABAP2 website ( On opening the file (in Adobe Reader) you will need to rotate the view click on the View menu, then click on Rotate View and click on Clockwise. You then need to zoom into the map (use the Zoom in button) or select a percentage from the drop down box. Zooming in 100% provides you with enough detail to make a selection (see Fig. 6). Once you found the appropriate one degree cell in which your survey area (pentad) falls make a note of it. For example, in Fig 65, Johannesburg falls within the 2628 one degree cell, Pretoria in the 2528 cell and Rustenburg in the 2527 cell. 7

8 Fig. 6 An example from the 1: index file showing one degree cells (e.g. 2627, 2628). Note that in each one degree cell there are 16 QDGCs visible in the map. To find the appropriate 1: map (= QDGC), you will need to work out in which one of the 16 cells your selected survey area (or pentads) falls. Remember that each QDGC contains nine pentads. Each QDGC is numbered with two letters (e.g. 2628AA, 2527AD, 2627DB) and numbered left to right, top to bottom in each one degree cell (refer to the box in the pdf file for more details). The QDGC map name is also usually referenced with a town or farm name that is appropriate to the area e.g. 2628AA Johannesburg, 2527BB Klipvoor, etc.). These map references are listed in the pdf file and you can simply go and look for the correct name in this list. Using the QDGC reference that is applicable to your survey area, find the DVD DISK that covers that one degree cell. For example, if you know that your survey area (or pentad) falls within 2527BB Klipvoor, you will need to find the one degree cell This will be on DISK 2 as it falls within the range which is printed on the cover of the DISK. Place the DISK into your DVD drive, select Open folder to view files from the pop up window. Click on Folders on the top menu. Then open the folder cd_2 which shows a list of one degree cell folders. Then copy the 2527 folder to C:/SABAP2/Christine/Maps. To load the map into Christine, open the view in Christine click on View > Add theme. In Look in go to the C:/SABAP2/Christine/Maps folder. Change Files of type to Tag Image File Format (*.tif). Open the 2527 folder and then select the 2527DB image file (2527BB_1996_ED3_GEO.TIF) and click on Open. The map file will be added to the top of the theme window. Move the map theme to the bottom of the theme window by right clicking on the map name, and selecting Move to Bottom 8

9 2.3.3 Map hints (a) The map file names (e.g. 2527BB_1996_ED3_GEO.TIF) refer to the following: 1995 = the year in which the map was last updated and published ED4 = 4 th edition GEO = map is geo referenced which means that as you move your cursor over the map, coordinates area displayed in the bottom right (X; Y) (b) (c) (d) It is strongly recommend that you copy the maps you require to your hard drive before loading them into Christine as the programme references the map location each time you open the view, and if you have loaded the maps from the disks then you will have to make sure that the disk is in the drive each time you want to view the map(s) in the view. You can add more than one map at a time to the theme window by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on the map file names. Opening adjacent maps will create overlaps in the images. We suggest you open and use one map file at a time. 3. Printing pentad maps Once you have loaded a map in the view, use the Select and zoom tool selection to select a pentad that fills the view. and drag your Then go to the 'View' menu and select 'Print', select your printer and click on OK. This will print the view on an A4 page. 4. Saving your project You must save your project once you have made changes to the view (i.e. added maps) so that next time you don't have to re open and re load the maps each time you open Christine. By saving your project you can simply add additional maps to your view should you want to view or print a pentad in a new region. To save your project, click on the 'Project' menu and select Save Project'. You can also add additional Views click on 'View' and select New view. You can then add any of the shape files (.shp) from the C:\SABAP2\Christine\Shapes directory and any new maps. To rename the view right click on the view name and select Rename'. 9

10 Additional views allow you to have multiple views in one project. For example: you could have one view called 'Home pentads' in which you have the maps that cover your local area, and another view called 'Remote pentads' or 'Other pentads' in which you can load maps of pentads from areas outside of your local area. 5. Opening your saved project To open or re open your project, all you need to do is, after opening Christine, click on Project then select Reopen project. A list of all recently opened projects appears and you simply select the sabap2_christine.cri file. All the shape files and maps that you last used will re load automatically. This is why it is important to save your digital maps onto your hard drive first before loading them into your view in order for them to open automatically when you re open your view. 6. Troubleshooting If you have any difficulties in opening files or themes or have general troubleshooting problems you can also consult the 'Help' menu which is quite comprehensive and easy to navigate through. However, if you need further assistance, please contact Doug Harebottle ( , doug.harebottle@uct.ac.za) or Mike Brooks ( , michael.brooks@uct.ac.za) at the ADU. Last updated: 09/07/