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4-5. Alternative projections

The Geospatial Explorer can render maps in a variety of Coordinate Reference Systems (CRS). In this tutorial you will switch the default projection to a polar view centred on the North Pole.

  1. Open the Settings tab in the configuration builder.

  2. Select Navigation from the settings list.

  3. In the Default start location section, switch to Custom (Manual Entry) and set:

  4. Latitude: 90
  5. Longitude: 0

  6. Zoom level: 4

  7. In the CRS section, set the Default Coordinate Reference System to EPSG:3413 — WGS 84 / NSIDC Sea Ice Polar Stereographic North.

  8. Save the settings.

  9. Open GE Preview. The map should now open looking down on the North Pole.

  10. If you added the recommended background maps, switch the basemap to Blue Marble or Stadia Satellite to see the polar view clearly:

    1. Go to the Layers tab and open the Base Maps section.
    2. Select the Edit button on the OpenStreetMap base map and turn off its Display on load toggle.
    3. Select the Edit button on Blue Marble or Stadia Satellite and turn on its Display on load toggle.
    4. Save the base map changes.

  11. Open GE Preview again and turn on the Above Ground Biomass layer to see how the data reprojects on the fly in the polar projection.

Tip

Try returning to Settings → Navigation later and switching the CRS back to EPSG:3857 or EPSG:4326 to compare how the same start location and layer look in a different projection.

If you want to continue with other tutorials, you may find it easier to switch back to the default EPSG:3857 and a more familiar start location after exploring the polar view.

Info

The Geospatial Explorer ships with the default projections shown in the Default Coordinate Reference System dropdown. If you need a projection that is not listed, you can add it under Custom Projections by entering the appropriate Proj4JS string.

Data is reprojected on the fly from its source projection to the display projection, so custom projections can also be useful for supporting specific datasets even when the display CRS is one of the built-in options.