This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit

(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone

document for download from the SPIDER interface.

SIRIUS SPIDER
Quick Reference Guide for information users

Table of Contents
1 Introduction and scope 1
2 How to get started 1
3 Main SPIDER User Interface 3
4 How to obtain interactive graphs for temporal monitoring of crop evolution 7
5 How to obtain information about a vector feature 9
6 The Overlay Tool 10

1. Introduction and scope

This document aims to be a starting guide for new users of SPIDER (the System of Participatory
Information, Decision-support, and Expert knowledge for River-basin governance, developed in the
project PLEIADeS, see www.pleiades.es). It briefly explains the access to and the basic functions of
the global-SPIDER version 1.4.2. A supporting video tutorial is available in the Workspace of
http://www.sirius-gmes.es.

The scope of this document is focused on “information users”, i.e., those SPIDER users that use it
for the purpose of visualizing and querying information.
A complementary tutorial for other types of SPIDER users (information managers and group
managers) is available in the workspace.

2. How to get started

SPIDER is a web-based application, with a webpage that accesses web services at the server from the
client side. In order to use SPIDER in optimum conditions it is recommended to work with a screen
resolution of 1280 x 1024, or at least with a resolution of 1152 x 864.

The system requirements for the web browser are:

1. Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher / Firefox 3.X or higher
2. Latest available Flash Player version

Access through Home Page:

The global SPIDER version has been deployed in a server maintained by the Instituto de Desarrollo
Regional (IDR) of Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Spain, the coordinator of SIRIUS. It

1 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

can be accessed through the SIRIUS webpage www.sirius-gmes.es, by clicking on the SPIDER icon
(Figure 1).

Figure 1. System icon

This will open an entry page (Figure 2) where you can select the pilot area of interest from a drop-
down menu (to the right of “Group”).

Figure 2. Entry Page

Getting into SPIDER:
Once you have selected your pilot area in the group drop-down list ( Figure 3),
type your login and password. Each pilot area team has a group for system access with a special login
and password.
Most pilot areas also have a demo access for information viewing only (user: demo; password: demo).

Enter the user and password

of your group, as supplied
by the pilot area SPIDER
administrator and press OK.

Figure 3. User access

2 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

If you do not belong to any group please contact the SPIDER user coordinator (who will consult with
the SIRIUS coordinator, Dr. Anna Osann, if needed):

Contact: Jesús Garrido

jgarridorubio@gmail.com

If you belong to a group but cannot access your group or you do not have a user-id, please contact the
corresponding group administrator.

In order to visualize better the interface, it is highly recommended that before entering SPIDER you
select in your browser:
View -> Full Screen (F11)
Once the Password is validated the system takes you to the SPIDER main screen shown in Figure 4.

Important note: you will see this main screen only if your regional group administrator has uploaded
data and configured the environment. Otherwise you will see the default (empty) layout with the heart-
shape contours of Castilla-La Mancha.

3 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

3. Main SPIDER User Interface

A basic description is provided below of the elements of the SPIDER User Interface and their
functionality.

Main Toolkit Bar.

Quick Access Display Toolkit Bar.
Tool

Viewer. It has its own toolkit bar

Table of Contents (on the upper left hand side).
It has its own toolkit
bar (above the list of
layers). Chart Table.
Chart area.

Date Range.

Figure 4. Main SPIDER User Interface and its dialogue boxes.

Main Toolkit Bar: holds the access button for the generation of reports, a Quick Guide
(pdf download) access button and a Logout button.

Viewer: the maps are displayed here and the user can work with them using the available
mapping tools. The Viewer area has its own toolkit bar (on the upper left hand side).

Table of Contents: the layers to be shown in the Viewer and the order in which they are
displayed are configured here. The Table of Contents has its own toolkit bar (above the
list of layers) which is described farther below.

Date Range: the initial and final dates for the time series chart and chart table are defined
here, as well as the grid size for pixel queries related to the temporal evolution.

4 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

Quick Access Tool: this tools allow the user to access data of a specific location by
means of geographical coordinates or by selection of polygons from a drop-down list.

Chart area: The Charts display the temporal evolution for one or more parameters and at
one or more locations. These as well as additional tabs enable query functionality.

Chart Table: displays the chart area data numerically as a table.

Display Toolkit Bar: both the display date and the display Spatial Reference System
(Projection and Datum) can be defined here.

The User Interface opens with the default zoom to the entire pilot area. In order to see details and to
appreciate the full functionality of the system, it is recommended to zoom into a smaller area right at
the beginning.

The most important module of the interface is the viewer and a brief description of its toolkit buttons
is provided below:

Zoom to initial extent: click on this button to go back to the initial (default) zoom.

Zoom to layer extent: click on this button to zoom to the full layer extent.

Zoom in: zooms in, centering where the user has clicked or centering in the box defined by
the user.

Zoom out: the viewer zooms out and centers the map where the user has clicked, or centers in
the box defined by the user.

Zoom back: the viewer zooms to the previous zoom.

Zoom forward: the viewer zooms to the forward zoom.

Drag: by clicking and moving the cursor, the map will drag the visualization zone in the
direction defined by the user.

Querying spatial information: after selecting a layer, the user can use this button to query
information from the selected layer by clicking on a point or by defining a spatial query (see
details below).

5 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

Querying point information with time dimension: this button makes a query based on a
point while addressing multiple spatial layers in a temporal sequence.

Selection: after selecting a layer, the user can use this button to select a group of features by
drawing a box or select one feature by clicking on a point in the map

Measure distance: allows the user to measure the distance between two points. Click on one
point in the map and while maintaining the mouse button clicked go to the other point to
measure distances.

The Table of Contents area has the following toolkit buttons:

Add Layers: With this button users can add more layers to those that their specific SPIDER
group is showing by default. A new window will be displayed where users can select from all
layers available to the group. Also, a WMS (Web Mapping Server) button allows us to
connect with many other web servers in order to visualize new layers.

Delete Layers: Clicking this button the selected layer will be deleted both from the viewer
and the list of layers. In order to restore them, just use Add Layer button.

Move Layer to the top: Clicking this button the selected layer is moved to the top of the list
of layers. Subsequently, the layer moved to the top is visualized as the top layer in the viewer.

Move Layer to the bottom: Clicking this button the selected layer is moved to the bottom of
the list of layers. Subsequently, the selected layer becomes the bottom layer in the viewer.

Move Layer up one position: Clicking this button the selected layer is moved up one
position in the list of layers.

Move Layer down one position: Clicking this button the selected layer is moved down one
position in the list of layers.

Transparency: Clicking this button the selected layer can be gradually made more
transparent in its visualization in the viewer.

Styles: Clicking this button the user can change the style of the selected layer (in case the
layer has defined styles). A new window will be displayed and the user can decide which style
he/she wants.

Query: Clicking this button the user can make queries to the selected layer. A selection form
appears in a new window that allows to define details of the query features. A ? help element
provides further guidance.

6 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

Different kinds of layers in the Table of Contents can be recognized by means of the following icon
legend:

Shapefile

Image layer / Time tile (a series of at least two images on different dates): Both kinds of
layers are shown with this icon. The distinguising feature is the date beside the layer name.
A Time tile always shows a date at the end of the layer name, whereas a single image entry
does not carry a date, as shown in the following example:

Here, the second layer is a single image, while the first layer is a Time tile.
The date is the day of the image in the Time tile that is or can be visualized. In the example
provided, the date is shown in green. However, according to the further explanation provided
below, the date may also be shown in blue or in red.

Green Colour Code: This means that the image can be visualized, i.e., the
date specified is within the Range of Dates and is also the same date as the
Display Date.

Blue Colour Code: This means that the image itself cannot be visualized,
although the date shown is within the Range of Dates. The Time tile must
be selected (clicked on) in order to display a graph of the temporal
evolution in the Chart area and after that the image will be ready to be
visualized in the Viewer (see Section 4).

Red Colour Code: This means that the image cannot be visualized,
because the Display Date shown in the Display Toolkit Bar is outside the
Time tile’s Range of Dates. The Range of Dates must be selected according
to the dates of images in the Time tile.

Visible Layer vs Selected Layer:

- A layer can be made visible (i.e. appears in the Viewer) once the checkbox on its left side is available
to be checked . After checkng it the layer will be visible in the SPIDER Viewer.
- Some operations require a previously selected layer. Clicking on the layer name will change its
appearance from (in our example) to . This is required e.g. for
querying point information with time dimension (in order to create a graph in the chart area).

In the Chart area below the Viewer, the following buttons appear:

Chart/Multichart: Clicking this button the user can display the temporal evolution of one or
more parameters.

Export to Excel: Clicking this button the user can download the data displayed in the chart to
an Excel file.

7 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

4. How to obtain interactive graphs for temporal monitoring of crop evolution.

We show the procedure for the example of the layer “NDVI 08 Original”. The individual steps,
numbered from 1 to 7, are marked in yellow in Figure 5, Figure 6, and Figure 7, respectively.

1. Select the layer in the Table of Contents by clicking on its name (“NDVI 08 Original” in the
example). The layer will appear highlighted in the list of layers. Check if it has a date on the right of
the name of the layer. This means you can request temporal info for this layer. (Figure 5)

2. Once the layer is highlighted, define the initial and final dates (i.e. the Date Range) and define the
pixel grid size. (Figure 5)

Note: the filenames, maps and graphs which appear in the screenshots in this document are those
which can be obtained when accessing the SPIDER Group (from PLEIADeS): Guadiana Medio
(login: demo and password: demo) at http://zeus.idr-ab.uclm.es/publico/flash/ (click on Spain)

Figure 5. Selecting layer and changing dates

3. Select the button in the viewer to request temporal information. (Figure 6)

4. Click on any location on the map to visualize crop evolution at this particular location. An info
marker is now displayed for the location where you clicked. (Figure 6)

5. At the same time, a graph is now displayed in the chart area below the viewer. The chart shows the
temporal evolution (in this example of the NDVI values for the period defined in the Date Range) at
the specific location (defined in step 4 above). By positioning the mouse over specific points in the
chart area, the actual value (and corresponding date) at the respective points in the graph are displayed
(Figure 6). By holding the mouse clicked from one specific point to another, we can display the
accumulated value corresponding to the period between the two dates.

6. Each point in the chart represents the value of a parameter at the selected location (in this example
of the NDVI) obtained from the satellite image on a specified date. If you click on any point in the
chart, the viewer automatically switches to display the map obtained from the satellite image
corresponding to that date. (Figure 6)

8 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

6
Figure 6. Displaying temporal crop evolution

7. MultiChart Tool. Very often it is desirable to represent in the same chart two or more temporal
evolutions of one or multiple parameters. This functionality is available in SPIDER by clicking on the
Chart button. When the parameters displayed in the chart have different visualization scale the chart
will be adapted to the larger scale. Figure 7 illustrates the temporal evolution of the NDVI at two
locations defined in the viewer.

Figure 7. MuliChart Tool

9 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

5. How to obtain information about a vector feature.

The following steps allow to obtain information about a vector feature (the individual steps from 1 to 6
are marked in yellow in Figure 8):

1. Select the layer you want to request information about (“Necesidades 2008 Montijo” in the
example). Make sure that the layer appears highlighted in the Table of Contents. No dates will be
selected because the information has no temporal component (Figure 8).

2. Select the button in the viewer toolkit bar to request information.

3. Click on a location in the map or drag the cursor to define a spatial box.

4. A new tab with information is opened in the chart area below the viewer area. The information
contained in the layer is shown in the chart area.

5. Clicking on the button for one feature makes the viewer zoom to this feature.

6. The features in the chart area can be sorted by clicking on any of the columns you would like to be
used for sorting.

2
1

6
5
3

Figure 8. Requesting feature information.

10 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

6. The Overlay Tool.

The overlay between a vector layer and a set of images gives access to the statistics (mean, standard
deviation, maximum, minimum, etc.) of any image-derived parameter for a given vector feature
(polygon, set of polygons). Furthermore, with a temporal tile (i.e. from a time sequence of images), the
temporal evolution of these statistics can be obtained.
Follow these steps (highlighted in yellow in Figure 9) in order to obtain the overlay information:

1. Establish the range of dates from your image data set (time tile) in the Date Range box. The Overlay
will be based on the date range selected in this step (it can be changed later, in case the overlay needs a
different date range).

2. Select the polygon(s) from your vector layer that will be used with the Overlay Tool (the layer
Water Management Units in this example). Click on the filename of the vector layer in the Table of

Contents, then click on the ‘Select’ button in the Viewer area (2b) and finally drag the mouse
over the desired area of investigation in the Viewer (2c). This now defines a polygon area (individual
polygon contours will appear marked in bold blue in the Viewer). Also automatically, a table with the
various information appears in the Chart area (2d).

2c
2a
2b

1
1
2d
2d

Figure 9. First steps using Overlay Tool.

11 of 12
 This Quick Reference Guide is Part 1 of the SIRIUS SPIDER Training kit
(D1.4 version v1.1 05/07/2011). It is also available as a stand-alone
document for download from the SPIDER interface.

3. Overlay Options (Figure 10). By clicking on the button shown below the Viewer, the user is
now able to select those statistical parameters which will be calculated for the set of satellite images
to be used with the Overlay Operation. In this example we select Maximum and Minimum and the
NDVI-BOA Landsat 2009 image data set. Then click Ok.

Figure 10. Overlay Options.

4. Using Overlay Tool to display overlay results. After clicking on the icon a graph and table of
overlay results will be automatically displayed (Figure 11). Placing the mouse on Column Name in the
results table will display the formula that has been used to calculate the parameter..

Figure 11. Overlay results.

12 of 12