Climate Risk Database Help

This page provides helpful information about how to use the Climate Risk Database. You can use the section links to navigate to what you want to know.

The Climate Risk Database (CRD) provides access to geospatial datasets, and its map viewer lets you browse existing maps and contribute your own.

Browsing Datasets

The Datasets page lets you browse all the data published in the Climate Risk Database.

Data can be downloaded in a variety of formats, for use in other applications.

Developer Access

The Developer page is the place for developers to get started building applications against the Climate Risk Database. It includes instructions on using the web services, links to the source code, and information about the open source projects used to create it.

Browsing Maps

The Climate Risk Database allows users to create and share maps with one another.

The Maps page is the gateway to map exploration in the CRD. From here you can search for a map or create a map, which opens the map viewer.

3D mode

Any map can also be viewed in 3D. Select the 3D button in the map toolbar on the right-hand side of the map; select it again to return to 2D.

Creating a Map

To create a new map go to the Maps page and choose to create a new map.

This will take you to the map viewer with a base layer loaded.

To add datasets from the Climate Risk Database, use the add layer button in the layers panel on the left-hand side of the screen. This opens a list of all the datasets available in the CRD.

To add datasets to your map, select them and confirm with the Add button. When finished, close the list to go back to the map.

Reordering and Removing Layers

Change the display order of the layers listed in the layers panel by simply dragging and dropping their names. The order in the map will be updated to reflect that. To turn a layer's visibility off simply uncheck it, and to remove it entirely select it and use the remove button.

Saving your map

Once a suitable set of layers and zoom level has been found, it's time to save it so others can see it. Use the Save button in the map's top toolbar and fill out the title and abstract of the map.

Publishing a Map

Any map from the Climate Risk Database can be embedded for use in another site or blog. To publish a map:

  1. Select the map from the list of maps on the Maps page and open its share options.
  2. Choose your desired height and width for the embedded map.
  3. Copy the HTML snippet provided into any HTML page or iFrame-supporting blog post.

This will put an interactive widget showing your map in your web page or blog post.

Be sure to save the map before publishing if there are changes that you want others to see. It publishes the last saved version, not the last viewed version.

Remixing a Map

Any map available can serve as a starting point for a new map.

  1. Open the map in the map viewer.
  2. Add and remove layers as you like.
  3. Pan and zoom to highlight the area of interest.
  4. Important: update the title, abstract, contact info and tags to reflect the new map.
  5. Save the map as a new map.

You will be able to see your new map when you search for it from the Maps page.