Creating a Map

The map view is the ultimate Vesta experience, where data can be seen in space with one simple view.

Use scrolling to zoom in or out of the map. To zoom on an area of interest on the map, use the shift key and drag your cursor to select the desired areas.

When running Vesta without internet connection, the map tiles (the geographic background) will not display when viewing a map.

Note that it is important to manually save any time dependent information of the map when exporting the image file.

Process Steps

1. Open the Visualize hub from the main rail (see Navigating Vesta).
2. Choose a path:
   • Guided — pick an option that includes a map, such as "Explore one variable," or
   • Manual — pick "I know exactly what I want," choose a layout, and add a Map view from the catalog.
3. In the pane's variable dropdown, search for and select the variable you want to display — this one searchable list covers variables, datasets, and results together.
4. Select Create workspace to build a new workspace, or Adjust current to add the map to the workspace you already have open.

Multiple Map Layers

If a variable from a different dataset is added, it creates a new layer on that map and the user can move layers up or down. The legend corresponds to the top-most layer and the individual layers' colors can be changed from the map layer settings.

The side by side comparison of two maps above shows the point data from the left overlaying a polygon layer, representative in this case of Flint's census tracts.

At the bottom left corner of each map rendition, the layer order can be changed by clicking the '+' symbol to bring a layer to the top, or to the bottom by clicking the '-' symbol. Clicking the 'x' symbol will erase that layer from the map.

Query Function

The query function in the map visualization creates a table with all of the data pertaining to a selection geographic location.

Click on the query tool, and then select a location of interest on the map. A table of information on the selected map layer will display.

Map Customization

Vesta offers a host of customization options for maps.

1. Selecting the upper right hand setting wheel and clicking on the setting icon will open a window with several customization options for the data layer displayed — see Variable Appearance below.
2. Selecting the lower left hand map icon will open a setting wheel with different map tile options for the background layer.
3. The map view can be explored by using the drag tool (hand icon), and selections on the map area are made by clicking on the cursor icon.
4. Individual objects can be selected using the query tool (binoculars icon) to get a snapshot data summary for that object.
5. Tutorial 1 illustrates how to use map customization.

Variable Appearance

The setting icon opens a Settings dialog for the variable currently displayed, with several sections:

• Opacity — a slider controlling the layer's transparency.
• Point Appearance — options such as Show Labels, for point data.
• Selection Highlight — Outline Color and Outline Width, used to highlight selected features.
• Color Scheme — Data Type (such as Sequential or Diverging), number of Classes, Classification Method (such as Natural Breaks), and a Diverging Value field for centering a diverging scale. A scrollable palette picker offers many preset color ramps, and each class's color can be edited individually, with a Reverse option to flip the ramp's direction. A histogram of the variable's distribution shows dashed lines marking where each class breaks, so you can see how the classification lines up with your data before committing.

Note that these settings belong to the variable itself, not just to this one map. Changing a variable's appearance here updates it everywhere the variable is displayed, and the choice is saved with the project.