This document is intended as a guide to get you started with the Atlas. You may work your way through the text below, or you prefer
a more visual approach, try our introductory movie which walks you through the basic functions of the Atlas Data Visualization Engine.

How do I find the Earth System Atlas Data Visualization Engine?

It couldn't be simpler! Just click here. There is also a link to the Earth System Atlas Data Engine on every page.

Which data sets are currently available?

These are listed in the dropdown menu located directly above the map. We are still in the process of populating the menu with data sets, so that some categories are planned but not currently available. These show up as gray boxes, and the name of the data category disappears if the cursor hovers over it.

Land Surface Elevation Bathymetry Blue Marble Population Densities Land Cover Crop Area Major Crops Vegetation LSWI Deforestation Fires Dust Soil pH Nitrogen Loads

Atmosphere Composition Pressure Temperature Humidity Winds Vorticity Clouds Lighting Aerosols

Oceans Sea Surface Temperature Currents Human Impact Marine Animals El Nino

Climate Precipitation Paleo Anthropogenic Climate

Hydrology Run-off, North America only Discharge, North America only

Base Data Country Mask Cell Area

What if I only want to view data over a selected area instead of globally?

There are numerous ways to select a region of interest. The most straightforward is to use the Navigation dropdown menu (located to the right of the Data menu) which allows you to select a continent.

Navigation

World	Europe
Africa	West Asia
North America	East Asia
South America	Australia

There are also zoom in and zoom out buttons located to the right of the map.

View entire planet
Zoom in
Zoom Out
Pan
View previous map
View next map

Alternatively, hold down the space bar and drag the cursor over a region of interest on the map. This will create a red-shaed box. When you release the space bar, the map will display only the region you have selected.

To the right of these buttons is a small map which serves as a nativation reference, identifying the location of the area displayed on the larger map.

Mouseover Function

Because the data stored in the ESA are digital, it is possible to load latitude, longitude and the data value at each pixel on the large map as the cursor passed over it. Latitude and longitude values are available in mouseover mode when the box labeled Use floating coord/data reader (located beneath the small navigation map) is checked. Data values are added when the box labeled Data reader (located above the large map) is checked.

What is MetaData and why would I want to know about it?

DATA MANIPULATION TOOLS

One of the most innovative features of the Earth System Atlas Data Visualization Engine is its ability to manipulate data sets in fairly sophisticated ways, with the results delivered through a simple web browser. Data sets may be queried to extract specific information from them; they may be combined and the results displayed on the map, as well as being available for download in ASCII format.