There isn't one! All user interface features of Big River are either obvious from the interface or are described in this Help section.
Big River is intended to be as easy to use as possible.
It is best to use a browser with WebGL support such as the latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer 11. It will also work in some older browsers (for example IE9 and IE10) but the map rendering will be limited. It may not support 3D rendering of maps, so the 3D Terrain option may show the same result as 3D Smooth.
There are three types of spatial data which are read from the data sources and displayed by Big River over its base maps:
Point Click on any point to see more information about that particular point feature.
Line Click on any line to see more information about that particular line feature.
Region/Polygon Click within any region to see more information about that region.
Some older computers do not have graphics cards which fully support WebGL and some older browsers do not make use of this support even if it is present. Big River requires this support in order to support 3D Terrain Perspective View.
Try upgrading your browser to the latest version. If that still does not work, you may need to consider working on a computer that has more recent graphics support.
Big River automatically changes the content of the map according to the scale at which you're viewing. If you zoom in it shows more detail. At some points in the zoom range, the map display switches from high altitude photography to lower altitude photography. These sets of the photography are not colour matched to each other, so may have quite different hues. The actual photography scales used, the date of that photography and its lighting conditions will vary in different places and with data from different providers.
When you are using Perspective View the part of the terrain nearest to the "camera position" is naturally shown at a larger scale than the more distant parts. Depending on your zoom level, this can result in the foreground being displayed with a different set of photography from the distant parts of your Perspective View.
Some devices may operate satisfactorily, especially if they support a mouse connection and WebGL graphics. Where it works it is for viewing the data rather then working with nrw datasets. But Big River cannot guarantee support for all smaller screen devices
Send your question to the Big River support email address, which is info@redbaobab.com.We will do our best to help
The spatial data displayed on Big River comes from a variety of sources. Some data is from government ministries or agencies, but other data providers are also used. Some data is stored directly by Big River.
You can see details of the department or organisation that provides the spatial data by clicking About this data in the Data Workbench.
In many cases the spatial data displayed on Big River are referenced directly from the supplying department or agency by the Big River server. If that supplying department or agency updates or removes any data, such a change may not immediately be reflected in the Data Catalogue. Let us know if you see a problem.
If you have any questions about the spatial data itself, you will need to contact the supplying department or agency.
The base maps displayed by Big River come from a number of difference sources including Microsoft’s Bing, and NASA. They are downloaded from the source as they are required, so they are as up to date as that service provides.
Before distributing any data from Big River it is important to understand the licence restrictions for the data. All Datasets displayed by the NationalMap are the property of the department or agency which has provided them. Therefore the restrictions for each Dataset may be quite different.We make an effort to explain this in the description for each dataset
The licence which governs the usage and distribution restrictions for each Dataset is shown in the Info metadata for the Dataset. To display this information click on the title of your prefered data set in the Data Catalogue.
The reliability will vary between datasets. To understand the reliability of a particular dataset, click on the title of the data set in question in the Data Catalogue for more information. The metadata which is shown in the Data Catalogue may offer sufficient information or you may need to contact the listed data provider. Big River cannot certify data reliability.
Some Big River base maps are provided by services for the whole world. There is no value in suppressing the display of the rest of the world, so you can view it if you wish. (Take a look at Mt Everest or the Grand Canyon in perspective view - they’re cool!)
Almost certainly, Big River welcomes data contributions and will continue to add or update data from existing data providers.
If you are a data provider, see the How To page for information on adding Datasets to Big River.
Email us on info@redbaobab.net to report the problem. Be sure to include a step by step description of how to reproduce the problem.
Absolutely! Just email your suggestion to info@redbaobab.net
The data displayed by Big River are from a variety of different data providers. You will need to refer to the department or agency which provides the Dataset which contains the issue.
Click on the title of your prefered data set in the Data Catalogue to find out which department or agency provides that data.