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Drawing Shapes on the Map

WFDSS provides a robust set of tools that allow Incident Owners (must be an Author to be an owner), Incident Editors (any WFDSS user can be assigned editing privileges), and analysts to draw shapes on the Situation and Analysis maps. Points, lines, rectangles and polygons can be drawn to represent fire perimeters, planning areas, M.A.P.s, incident obj. shapes, points of interest, analysis ignitions, barriers or landscape masks. The following rules apply:

Users can draw multi-part shapes (such as a main fire and a spot fire), or you can merge existing shapes to create a new shape. Users cannot draw a polygon to represent a fire perimeter with pockets of unburned fuel, however, you can upload this type of shape, if needed. See About Maps for a detailed explanation about each drawing tool and About Shapes for additional information about managing shapes.

Figure 1: Map Tools

Map Toolbar

Note: If you want to be able to associate a shape you've created and saved on the Situation or Analysis map to an M.A.P., you must have your browser's popup blocker turned off.: If you want to be able to associate a shape you've created and saved on the Situation or Analysis map to an M.A.P., you must have your browser's popup blocker turned off.

To draw shapes on the map:

  1. From the Incident List, select the incident you would like to draw a shape for.
  2. Click Assess Situation. The map appears with the selected incident marked and centered on the map.
  3. Select the map layers you want to view to help guide your drawing (click the + sign beside a category name to expand it, and then select/deselect the appropriate checkboxes for the map layers you want to view).
  4. Select the map tool you want to use to create a shape on the map (point, line, rectangle, or polygon).
  5. Place your cursor on the map where you want to start drawing, and then click once.
  6. Draw the shape, left-clicking as you go to create vertices for lines and polygons. For rectangles, you must click and drag. Double-click, or press the shift key and click to release the tool. The shape turns yellow. (If you don't like the shape you drew, click the eraser tool Eraser Icon to erase your sketch and draw it again.)
  7. If drawing a multi-part shape, place your cursor on the map where you want to start drawing the next shape. Draw the shape and double-click to release the tool when you are finished. Each shape you draw will turn yellow upon completion (draw multi-part shapes carefully, as clicking the erase tool at this point will erase all shapes you have drawn).
  8. When you are finished drawing the shape(s), save the shape under the appropriate Incident or Analysis layer:
    1. To expand the Incident layer, click the + symbol. The Planning Area, Fire Perimeters, Management Action Points (M.A.P.), Incident Obj. Shapes and Points of Interest layers appear in the tree view.
    2. To expand the Analysis layer, click the + symbol. The Ignitions, Barriers, and Landscape Masks layers appear in the tree view.
    3. Click the green Green circle + icon beside the type of shape you want to add.
    4. Enter a Name for the shape. Be sure to use descriptive names (e.g., Aspen Grove Rd). For M.A.P.s, WFDSS adds the M.A.P. number to the front of the shape name once the shape is associated with an M.A.P. so it is best to assign an M.A.P. name that is not a number.
    5. Click Save. The shape appears in the map display with its name beside it and in the tree view with a checkbox beside it.
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    Last updated on 12/23/2021 3:28:41 PM.

In This Section

Maps and Shapes

To draw shapes on the map:

See Also

About Maps

Using the Map View

About Shapes

About Analysis Shape Files (STFB, NTFB, FSPro)

Deleting Shapes

About Planning Areas

Subscribing to Planning Area Notifications

Creating a Planning Area

Drawing a Landscape Extent

Querying the Landscape Data

Creating a Barrier

Creating an Analysis Ignition File

Merging Two Shapes

Uploading Shapes

Creating a Landscape Mask

About Images

Uploading Images

Capturing Map Images

Downloading National Data Layers

Downloading Incident Shapes

Downloading Fire Perimeters

Viewing Shapes

Viewing Unit Shapes on a Map

Viewing, Copying or Downloading Feature Information

Copying Feature Information

Downloading Feature Information

Viewing Smoke Dispersion Information

Viewing the Fire Danger Rating Graph

Saving Fire Danger Rating Graphs to Incident Content

Viewing Strategic Objectives

Reference

Field Descriptions

Glossary Resources

Spatial Data Reference

Landscape Data Source Reference

Relative Risk Reference

Organization Assessment Reference

Fire Behavior Reference

About the WFDSS Decision Editors