Geology Roam

This help page explains how to use Geology Roam to view and create maps of British Geological Survey data.

• Open Roam
• Overview
• Navigating in Roam
• Searching for a location
• Understanding map views
• Select Basemap
• Overlays
• Web Map Service
• Customise feature display
• Customise opacity of geology
• Get Rock Information
• Drawing Tools
• Printing
• Map Information
• My Maps
• My Maps
• Measurement Tools
• Geological Photos
• Active Legend
• View 2 maps side by side

Open Roam

1. When you log in to Digimap you will be presented with the Digimap Home page.
2. Choose Geology then Geology Roam.

Overview

Geology Roam enables you to view and print maps using British Geological Survey (BGS) and Ordnance Survey data at one of 12 predefined scales.

Prints can be created from A4 to A0 in size.

• To expand/collapse the left panel click the arrows icon.
  

Navigating in Roam

You can navigate in Geology Roam by panning (moving the map in any direction) and by zooming in and out of the map.

To pan you can:

• Click and drag the map i.e. click and hold the left mouse button, then drag to move the map.

To zoom in/out of the map, you can:

• Double click to zoom in
• Use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in or out.
• Use the zoom slider bar to zoom in or out:

• Click the plus sign to zoom in and click the minus sign to zoom out.
• Click and drag the blue marker to zoom in or out.
• Or click anywhere on the slider bar to zoom to that scale.
  
  

Searching for a location

You can search for a location in Roam using a place name, postcode, grid reference, easting/northing or latitude/longitude.

1. Click in the search box near the top left of the map window.
2. Type the place name, road name, partial postcode or full postcode (e.g. EH9 1PR) in the search box, and click the magnifying glass
3. If there is more than one match for your place name, the search results will be displayed below the search box. Click the place name you are interested in to view in the map window.

Notes:

• You will not find landmarks and places of interest such as Edinburgh Castle or Nelsons Column or county names such as Cornwall. These are not currently listed in the gazetteer.

• Only search for places in the UK.

• Partial Postcodes (e.g. EH9) only work if they are the only term searched for.

To search using the Coordinate / Grid Ref. Search options:

1. Type the Grid Reference (e.g. TL4685) in the search box and press return. The map will automatically navigate to that location.
2. Enter Easting/Northing defined by coordinates on British National Grid e.g. 545030 138305
3. Enter Latitude/Longitude coordinates to go a specific location defined by geographicals. Formats accepted can be either decimal degrees e.g. 55.123456 -5.123456 or in degrees minutes seconds e.g. 55 07 24.3N, 05 08 04.7W

Understanding map views

Geology Roam has 12 different predefined map scales, called views.

The views consist of different BGS geology data and background Ordnance Survey map products which are appropriate for each view's scale (e.g. the Local view uses the BGS DiGMapGB-50 data and the OS 1:50 000 scale raster).

The following table lists the scale and map products used for each view, to help you decide which view is appropriate for your purpose.

Select Basemap

Basemaps offer a different view of the geology data or some alternative map data products.

1. Select the Basemaps button in the top middle of the map to change the Basemap that is being displayed.
2. The Basemap button will only be enabled where there are alternative Basemaps available.
   

Overlays

Web Map Service

Customise feature display

In Geology Roam it is possible to customise which features are displayed on the map (e.g. display only Bedrock or Superficial Deposits).

1. Click the Map Content tab in the left panel.
2. The Map Content contains a list of the feature types that are included in the map.
3. Switch features (or groups of features, e.g. all Bedrock) on/off by checking or unchecking the tick box next to the feature name.
4. All features can be switched off by unchecking the show/hide all layers tick box. NB: Clearing all layers will result in a blank map, so remember to switch at least one layer back on!
   

Customise opacity of geology

1. Use the slider at the top of the map to increase or decrease the opacity of the geology data, making either the background mapping or the geology more clear.

Get Rock Information

1. Select the information tool on the top menu bar.

1. Click on any point on a map will open up an information box describing the geological information for that point.
2. The description will be for the features shown on the map so turn off the superficial deposits layer if you want to know about the geology underneath.
3. Details of the rock name, type and age are given where they are available, along with the layer that the information is from; Bedrock, Superficial Deposits etc.

Drawing Tools

The drawing tools in Geology Roam allow you to draw symbols, lines, polygons and text on your maps. You can add labels to these features and have the ability to select colours and styles for them too.

Below is a summary of the main options available.

1. Click Drawing Tools in the left panel.
   

1. Add features using the tools on the Create tab. 

2. Select from the point, text, line or area tools, and click on the map to start drawing.

3. Text colour and font size can be set using the Text Settings options.

4. Area style settings can be set using the Fill and Stroke settings, to select the colour and opacity of the fill and the colour, style and width of the outline.

5. Line style settings can be set using the Stroke settings.

6. Use the modify tools to add labels, reposition, resize and reshape features drawn.

7. To edit the colour and styling of text, line or areas drawn, click on the Select tool (or the drag to select tool) and then click on the feature you want to edit to select it, it will be highlighted.  Next, change the colour and style settings you want to change.  Then deselect the feature(s) by clicking away from the feature in an area where you have no annotations.

8. You can import a dataset to display it as features on your map using the Import tab. Supported formats are:

• Shapefile (in zip)
• KML
• GPX
• CSV
• GeoJSON

9. To export your drawings - click on the Export tab, choose a file format, give your file a name and click Export.

Saving your drawings

1. To save a set of annotations you have drawn, use the My Maps...Save tab. 

2. Give your map a name and click Save and the map along with any annotations will be saved.  

3. To open a saved map and set of annotations, click on the My Maps...Open tab.

4. Select the map together with annotations you want to view.

Printing

Geology Roam allows you to create printable maps in A4 to A0 size and in portrait or landscape layout in a variety of formats and at user defined scales.

To create a printable map:

1. Click the print button on the top menu bar.
2. Enter a map title.
3. Enter the scale that you want to print the map at.
4. Select the print format.
5. Select the page size using the drop down menu.
6. Select orientation (landscape or portrait)
7. Check the box if you want to add National Grid Lines.
8. Check the box if you want to include any Annotations you have drawn on the map.
9. Check the box if you want to include Hill Shading.
10. Check the box if you want to include Rock Code Labels, see note below.
11. Check the box if you want to Add Legend. Note the legend will be created as a separate PDF file and placed in a zip file with your map.
12. Click Generate Print File, this will produce a PDF file which you can save or print.

Map Labels: Selecting the Map Labels option will print labels for the polygon data on your map (i.e. bedrock and superficial geology layers). Polygons are labelled with their Rock Unit code. Labels are placed in the centre of each polygon, unless the centre of the polygon is beyond the extent of the map, in which case the label is repositioned so it is within the map extent. Small polygons under a certain size (dependant on map scale) are not labelled as the label would obscure the polygon. Finally, overlapping labels are not printed. If overlapping labels are present, one of them will not be printed; this results in a clearer, more useful map.

Preview your map

1. Use the Content Preview tab to view a small area of the map content that you will get.
2. Use the Layout Preview tab to show the extents of the area your map will cover based on the paper size and scale of the map.  Drag the map in either preview window to change the location of your map.
   

Map Information

The Map Information tab displays spatial reference information about the current map view. The information will update as you pan and zoom the map.

1. Click Map Information on the left panel to open.
   
2. Displays the top right and bottom left coordinates of the current map view.
   
3. The scale the current map will be printed at by default (this can be changed in the Print menu).
4. Hover over any point on the map to view the coordinates.
   
   

My Maps

My Maps enables you to open and save maps you have previously saved.

Measurement Tools

Roam's Measurement Tools enable you to measure distances and areas on your map.

1. Select Measurement Tools tab on the sidebar to open.

1. Click once on the map to start measuring.  

2. Move the mouse pointer along to the next point.  Clicking once on the map will add a point.

3. Double click to finish measuring.  The total distance or area measurement is displayed in the measurement tools sidebar.

   
   

4. Measurements can be deleted using the Delete measurements button.

Geological Photos

You can view over 3000 geological images to view in Geology Roam. Members of the BGS have taken photos of rocks, landforms and other geological features in the landscape.

These are concentrated mainly in upland areas such as Cumbria, the Peak District, North Wales and the Dorset Coast.

1. To access the photos you will need to be on one of the 5 most detailed map views.
2. The camera icon on the left panel will change to colour when you are in the 5 most detailed views.
3. To show the available photos in an area, open the Geological Photos tab in the left panel.
4. If there are photos available in your area, camera icons will appear on the map.
5. A list of all the photos available on the map will appear in the Geological Photos tab (if there are no photos e currently looking at then a message will appear in this tab.
6. Clicking on a camera icon will open up a thumbnail of the image(s) for that location. If you then click on the thumbnail a full size image and more information will open in a pop-up.

Active Legend

The Active Legend provides a means of highlighting the geological features and finding out their name and era.

Select features from the map

1. Open the Active Legend menu, the eye icon on the left panel.
2. Select any feature on the map and it will be highlighted in the Active Legend menu.
3. Select any feature from the lists in the Active Legend and all the features of that type will be highlighted on the map.

View 2 maps side by side

The 2 up View feature of Geology Roam shows historic two maps of the same location.

1. Search or navigate to your chosen location.
2. Select Collapse Sidebar at the bottom left.
   
3. Click the 2 up button  from the top menu bar. The same map will appear in both map windows of the 2 up View.
   
4. Select the basemaps from each map that you want to view.
   
5. You can zoom and pan in either of the map windows. The other map will change so that both are always of the same location.
   
6. You can switch back to the main map window by clicking 2 up.