The viewer contains many map buttons, or icons, that each do something.

The buttons in the upper left are for moving around the map. Use the + to zoom in and the - to zoom out. The scroll wheel on a mouse or the equivalent on a touch pad can also be used to zoom in and out.

The Home button returns the map to its original extent which is the whole state.

If permission has been granted in the web browser, the Locate button will place a blue dot on the map at your location. Please use with some scrutiny as sometimes the location is that of the internet provider.

The first button is the Layer List. The Layer List determines what layers are visible on the map. Those with an eye icon are turned on, or visible. Those with a crossed-out eye are not. Click on the eye to turn layers on and off. Remember that layers draw in order. A layer higher up on the list will draw on top of a layer lower down. See the Layer List and Map Layers section for more information.

The second button is the Legend. The legend shows the symbols and colors and what they mean for any layer that is visible (turned on in the Layer List).

The third button is the Query Panel. Learn about the Query Panel in the Finding and Selecting Parcels section.

The fourth button is the Add Data button. Is offers ways to add additional web map services or GIS data to the map. It is for experienced mappers so we will leave it be in our help documents. If you have questions, please reach out (contact info in footer).

Next is the Print button and the final is the Export button. Learn more about these options in the Print, Share, and Export section.

The Search button is a location search. Enter an address, town name, place, etc. to find it on the map.

  The Basemap button provides many options for the basemap. By default the Imagery basemap is visible. Choose other options to change the basemap. You can always go back to imagery.

The Measure button is a tool to make quick measurements. The first tab measures line features.

• Start by clicking on the map and continuing to click to add points along the line. The distance displays in the tool.
• The Unit dropdown contains many options for the line measurement units (feet, miles, meters, etc.).
• Double-click to end the line.
• If you are mid-measurement and want to stop, hit the esc key or the New measurement button.
• Click New measurement to clear the previous measure.
• The second tab measures polygon features, or features with area. It works similarly to the line measure. Double-click to close the shape.

Layer List

The Layer List determines what layers are visible on the map. The eye icon turns layers on or off. Layers with the eye icon are turned on, or visible. Those with a crossed-out eye are not (yellow arrows in the graphic). TIP! Remember that layers draw in order. A layer higher up on the list will draw on top of a layer that is lower down. 

Some layers exist inside groups. A group is shown by a small, right-facing arrow. A down-facing arrow is an open group (red arrows in the graphic). TIP! A layer inside a group will ONLY draw if it is turned on AND the group is turned on.

Layer Options Menu

Several options exist within the options menu shown as 3 horizontal dots to the right of the layer name (purple arrow in graphic). The 3 dots are sometimes called a horizontal ellipsis menu or a meatball menu. Click on the meatball menu to Zoom To the extent of the layer (most layers are statewide) or to access transparency. For transparency (green arrow on the graphic), click the  ∧ or ∨ to increase or decrease transparency. This may be particularly useful on the surface water and ground water rank layers.

Map Layers

The viewer contains several types of map layers.

Reference Layers provide context and labels and include Reference Layer, Town Boundary and Town Labels, Drinking Water Watershed Boundary, Drinking Water Watershed Labels, Aquifer Protection Area Boundary, Aquifer Protection Area Labels, and Parcels.

Rank Layers are the ultimate output of the project. One exists for Surface Water (Surface Water Rank) and one for Ground Water (Ground Water Rank).

Metric Input Layers are the many layers that were used to inform each of the metrics. They are included with each metric group and can be viewed along with the parcels to understand how the resulting calculations were determined. Some metrics have one input layer and some have several. Example metric input layers are Stream within the Stream Metrics group, Waterbody within Waterbody Metrics group, Riparian Zone within Riparian Metrics group. Metric input layers at the end of the layer list are CCAP Landcover 2016 1m (input for all land cover based metrics including Forest, Impervious, and Turf) and Slope (input for Slope metrics).

Metric Layers are the sub-metric layers that combine to form the metrics. They are identified by the word "metric" in their title. They are all parcel layers that are colored based on the metric value. The metric layers are the ones that are weighted and combined to form the overall surface water and ground water ranks. Learn more about each of the metrics along with the weighting and ranking on the Methods and Metrics page.

Significant Environmental Hazard Locations Layer. This layer does not fit into the categories above. It is important because environmental hazards indicate that the area may not be useful for preservation if the parcel is already contaminated. The Significant Environmental Hazard Locations layer provides the status of hazardous conditions, including open, controlled, and resolved conditions. The points are included in the Parcel Prioritization Viewer and parcels that contain a hazard point of any kind are flagged in the Parcel Information panel with text ** Identified as Significant Environmental Hazard Site. The presence of a site should not immediately exclude the parcel from consideration, but does warrant further investigation. 

Parcel Information Panel

The Parcel Information Panel is loaded with information about an individual parcel.

Parcel ID. Every parcel has a unique ID. It is based on the town number which is first and then a sequential numbering of parcels in the study area. Ideally, every parcel in the state would have a standardized unique ID but this does not exist at this time. The Parcel IDs for this project are not related any other Parcel ID system such as those used in an individual town.

Town. The town to which the parcel belongs.

Blue text states if the parcel is in a drinking water watershed, aquifer protection area, or both. If it is in both, it receives a bonus during ranking, see the Exclusions and bonuses section on the Methods help page.

Small Print. Unique conditions including being owned by a water company, owned by CT DEEP, or containing a "Significant Environmental Hazard Site." When these occur they are listed under the rank in the Parcel Information panel.

Ranks. The Surface Water and/or Ground Water rank is shown in red numbers. The closer to 10, the higher the rank. Notice the fine print including actual rank and stretching. Visit the Metric weights and Parcel ranking sections on the Methods help page for more information.

Metric Values. The metric output including the metric value and its score is presented for each metric. See the Metrics section for a complete explanation.

Parcel Information Panel Actions Menu

The Actions menu is located on the upper right side of the panel. It is broken into two parts - Current and All data.  Current applies to the parcel that is currently displayed in the data panel.

Current

View in table. Opens all of the attributes for that parcel in a table. TIP! The table lives along the bottom edge of the map. If it is not expanded, you won't see it. Click the small up arrow to expand the table panel.

Zoom to. Zooms to the parcel that is active on the data panel.

Pan to. Pans the map to the parcel that is active om the data panel without changing the zoom level.

Show on map. Highlights the parcel that is active on the data panel.

Export. Exports the data from the parcel as a CSV, JSON, or GeoJSON file. CSV is a comma separated value format that can easily be opened in excel and other spreadsheet programs. JSON is JavaScript Object Notation which is a text format for transporting data.  GeoJSON format incorporates geographical data structures.

All data

TIP! Do not use the actions under All data without first filtering. Using these actions with all available parcels will be slow and result in an unwieldy amount of information.

Set filter. This tool filters parcels based on user-defined criteria. To use the filter tool:

1. Choose the Set filter option on the Action menu
2. Click +Add
3. Choose Clause to add one criteria or Clause set to add more than one. Note that you can add more to the Clause option as well. When using a Clause set, choose if all criteria must be met (AND) or if just one needs to be met (OR).
4. For the first Clause
   1. Select the attribute to filter by. Suggestions are Town, any of the metrics (Distance to Stream, Area of Riparian Zone, Percent of Forest, etc.). The example below shows  Percent of Forest.
   2. Select the operator (is, is not, is great than, etc.)
   3. Select User Input. Other options are Field which uses another field in the table as part of this clause and Unique where you select an existing attribute value as the criteria.
      TIP! Unique is useful for categorical selections such as Town or Watershed.
   4. Flip the filter switch to on (yellow arrow).

The number of parcels in the Parcel Information panel is drastically reduced to 13. From here there are some options.

• Flip through the parcels using the < and > on the Parcel information panel,
• Use the Action icon, All data choices to View in table, Zoom to, Pan to, or Export.

To remove the filter, in the Set filter box, either flip the switch back to off (left) which retains the selection but removes the filter, OR remove the filter by clicking the X in the Clause.

There are three ways to select parcels: the Query Tool, using the map, and filtering within the Parcel Information Panel.

Query Tool

The query tool is located on the tool bar in the upper right of the viewer. It is a fast and easy way to find parcels with certain characteristics.
TIP! Click the Apply button at the bottom of the Query tool panel to apply your criteria. This may require scrolling to the end.
TIP! Notice the filter reset button in the bottom right of the Query Tool. Use it to reset the filters back to the default settings.

Parcel ID. If you are revisiting the tool and know what parcel you are looking for, enter the Parcel ID. There is not a standard, statewide way to identify parcels, so the IDs used in this tool were generated for the tool and do not match individual town parcel IDs. They are systematic in that the town number is first followed by a sequential numbering for the parcels in that town.

Town. Select all of the project's parcels that are within a given town. Select one or more towns.

Parcel Size. Choose to only look at parcels of a given size. Enter a range in size using acres.

Surface Water Rank. Choose parcels based on their overall rank for surface water. Values range from 0 to 10 with 10 representing the top scorers based on the metric criteria. See the Methods and Metrics page for more details.

Ground Water Rank. Choose parcels based on their overall rank for ground water. Values range from 0 to 10 with 10 representing the top scorers based on the metric criteria. See the Methods and Metrics page for more details.

Located within both DWW and APA? A small number of parcels, about 4000, exist in both a drinking water watershed and aquifer protection area. Use this option to to find them. TIP! These parcels are identified in the Parcel Information Panel in blue text "This parcel is located in a drinking water watershed and an aquifer protection area."

Owned by Water Company? These parcels have been identified as being owned by a water company. All metrics have been calculated and are available in the Parcel Information Panel and in the tables, but they have been excluded from the ranking as they are already considered protected. TIP! Parcels owned by a water company are identified in the Parcel Information Panel with **Owned by Water Company.

Owned by CT DEEP? These parcels have been identified as being owned by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP). All metrics have been calculated and are available in the Parcel Information Panel and in the tables, but they have been excluded from the ranking as they are already considered protected. Please note that due to input dataset accuracy and alignment, there may be a small number of parcels missed in this Query selection. TIP! Parcels owned by CT DEEP are identified in the Parcel Information Panel with **Connecticut DEEP Property.

Parcel Area > 2 acres AND has <= 80% impervious. Two additional criteria were applied to exclude parcels from the ranking. The first is parcel size. Any parcel smaller than 2 acres was not ranked. The second is the percent of impervious. Any parcel with greater than 80% impervious was excluded from the ranking. Use this option to remove parcels that are too small or have too much impervious (choose Yes) from the selection. Alternatively, use it to explore parcels that were excluded due to small size or high imperviousness (choose No).

Primary Drinking Water Watershed. Parcels often cross watershed boundaries and can exist within more than one watershed. A parcel's primary watershed is the one in which is has the highest percent area. In this option of the Query Tool, a parcel "belongs" to the watershed in which it has the highest percent area. For example, if a parcel overlaps with two watersheds, it will be listed with the one that has greater than 50% of the area. If a parcel overlaps 3 or more watersheds, it will belong to the one with the highest percent area. Use this tool to pick one or more watersheds from the list and then explore the parcels that identify it as the primary watershed.

Primary Aquifer Protection Area. Parcels often cross boundaries and can exist within more than one aquifer protection are (APA). A parcel's primary APA is the one in which is has the highest percent area. In this option of the Query Tool, a parcel "belongs" to the APA in which it has the highest percent area. For example, if a parcel overlaps with two APAs, it will be listed with the one that has greater than 50% of the area. If a parcel overlaps 3 or more APAs, it will belong to the one with the highest percent area. Use this tool to pick one or more APAs from the list and then explore the parcels that identify it as the primary APA.

Select using the Map

The map select tool is in the upper left corner of the map. Click the icon to turn the tool on as shown by the dark color (yellow arrow in graphic).

• Select a single parcel by clicking on it on the map. Note that this may require zooming in.
• Select multiple parcels by drawing a box on the map. Zoom in to the desired area, hold a left-click and drag to form a box. As long as the box includes multiple parcels, multiple parcels will be selected.

Map Tool Selection Options

• To change how the map tool selection behaves, click the small down arrow next to the tool (red arrow in graphic).
• Choose the Selection tool. By default, the rectangle selection tool is active. Optionally, change to Lasso, Circle, Line, or Point. The best way to understand each option is to try them out.
• The Selection mode "Partially or completely within" is selected be default. This selects any parcel that touches the selection. For example, if you draw a box using the Rectangle tool, any parcel that touches or is within the rectangle is selected. Alternatively, choose "Completely contained by" to select only those parcels completely within the box. The result is fewer parcels.

When one or more parcels is/are selected on the map, the Parcel Information Panel updates to only include the selected parcels.  Use the < and > to scroll through them.

At any time, click the Clear selection icon (purple arrow in graphic) to start fresh.

Filter on the Parcel Information Panel

See the Parcel Information Panel help section, Panel Actions Menu sub-section.

Chart Information

There are two charts in the dashboard and each summarize the parcels by town, one focused on the surface water ranks and the other focused on the ground water ranks. Each chart has multiple tabs which show different charts - average, maximum, minimum, and count.

Average (Surface Water or Ground Water) Rank by Town – the average rank of parcels by town.  

Maximum (Surface Water or Ground Water) Rank by Town – the highest parcel rank in each town.  

Minimum (Surface Water or Ground Water) Rank by Town - the lowest parcel rank in each town.  

Count of Parcels (within Drinking Water Watershed (DWW) or Aquifer Protection Areas (APA)) by Town – The number of parcels contributing to the average, max, and min values. 

By default, all parcels in the study area are included in the average, max, min, and count calculations and charts. If a selection has been made using the map and/or a filter is in place from the Select Parcel(s) by panel (left), then the average, max, min, and count values are for those remaining parcels only.  

Chart Functionality

Mouse over any bar on any chart to see the value.

Click on a bar on any chart to select just those parcels is that town. Multiple town bars can be selected. The results change on the map and on the on Parcel Information list (right). TIP! Be careful about what, if any, criteria are selected on the Select Parcel(s) by panel (left). The criteria will impact what is visible on the map and Parcel Information list when a chart bar is selected.  Click on a selected bar to unselect it.

TIP! Pay attention to the y axis as the values change.

Moving Around

Zoom. Use the + and - buttons to zoom in and out. Alternatively, use the scroll wheel on the mouse or the equivalent on a touch pad to zoom in and out.

Pan.  Hold the left-click and drag the map to pan to a different extent.

Home. The home icon returns the map to its default extent which is the whole state.

Search. The Search button is a location search. Enter an address, town name, place, etc. to find it on the map.

Map Layers

Layers. The Layer List determines what layers are visible on the map. Those with an eye icon are turned on, or visible, and those with a crossed-out eye are not. Click on the eye to turn layers on and off. The right-facing arrow next to Boundary indicates a group layer. Click on the arrow to expand the group and make its layers visible.

The foremost layers in the viewer are Surface Water Rank and Ground Water Rank. Other layers provide reference including Towns, Boundary layers (Drinking Water Watersheds, Aquifer Protection Areas), Parcels, CT DEEP Property and Open Space, Land Cover, Slope, and Elevation.

TIP! Remember that layers draw in order. A layer higher up on the list will draw on top of a layer lower down. 

Basemap. Use the Basemaps icon to change the basemap. The basemap is what is drawn underneath the parcels and other layers in the map. The default is imagery.

Select

Select. See the next section, Select Parcels Using the Map.

Map Selection Tool

Click on the Select tool (upper left corner of the map, purple arrow in graphic) to activate it (turns to blue) and draw a box within a single parcel or touching and containing multiple parcels.

The Zoom to selected tool (red arrow on graphic) zooms the map to show the parcels that are selected.

The Clear selected tool (yellow arrow on graphic) clears the selection.

How the Selection Changes the Dashboard

• The selected parcels are highlighted on the map.
• The Parcel Information panel (right) is updated to contain only selected parcels. See Select Parcels Using the Information List help section for more.
• The charts change to represent only the selection. Often one of the charts will state that the "Selected parcels are outside of the area." Most parcels are either in a drinking water watershed (Surface water charts) OR an aquifer protection area (Ground Water charts) and not both.

Parcel Information List

Basic information for each parcel is presented in the Parcel Information List.

• Parcel ID. Every parcel has a unique ID. It is based on the town number which is first and then a sequential numbering of parcels in the study area. Ideally, every parcel in the state would have a standarized unique ID but this does not exist at this time. The Parcel IDs for this project are not related any other Parcel ID system such as those used in an individual town.
• Town. The town to which the parcel belongs.
• Acre. The area of the parcel in acres.
• Rank. The parcel's surface water rank is shown in large, blue text and the parcel's ground water rank is shown in large, green text. None indicates that the parcel is not in a drinking water watershed (for surface water rank) or an aquifer protection area (for ground water rank).
• The * text states if the parcel is in a drinking water watershed, aquifer protection area, or both. If it is in both, it receives a bonus during ranking, see the Exclusions and bonuses section on the Methods help page.

Selection on the Parcel Information List

By default, both the Parcel Information list and map show all parcels. The Parcel Information list is one way to select one or more parcels.

Click on a parcel in the Parcel Information list and multiple things happen:

• the parcel is selected on the list which is evident by the blue highlight bar on the left,
• the parcel flashes pink,
• the map zooms to the selected parcels(s).

To add more parcels to the selection, continue clicking on them on the list. Those selected have the blue bar on the left.

To unselect, click on the parcel in the list again. The blue bar is removed and the parcel is no longer selected.

To list only the selected parcels, use the Show Selected icon (see arrow in graphic above).

Use the Panel's search box to find parcels by typing in a town name or a known ID number.