Learning Center

The Geo-Surface™ owner portal

A free web page for Ditch Assist owners, used on a computer: outline a field, load public LiDAR, see where water flows, draw ditch and tile routes, then take the map to the tablet as one ZIP file. Includes the computer basics you need.

The Geo-Surface™ owner portal is a free web page for Ditch Assist® owners. You use it on a computer. You outline a field, load the public LiDAR for it, see where water flows and ponds, and draw the ditch and tile routes you have in mind. Then you save one ZIP file, copy it to the tablet, and the map shows under your survey and grading screens in the field.

The portal's own screens call it the Ditch Assist Owner IDM Portal. It is the same thing.

Before you start

  • You own a Ditch Assist kit: a control module (Full Automation or Guidance Only Kit) or a licensed Ditch Assist Lite receiver
  • You have your portal login from Ditch Assist. No login yet? See Get access to the owner portal.
  • A desktop or laptop computer with the Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge web browser. A phone or tablet screen is too small for drawing outlines.
  • A mouse. A laptop touchpad works too.
  • Internet the whole time. The login, the map photos and the LiDAR all come over the internet.

How long it takes: about 15 minutes for a quarter section once you know the steps. Allow half an hour the first time.

The LiDAR and the water-flow run are worked out on your own computer. A big outline at the finest detail can take a few minutes and needs a lot of memory, so close other web pages and programs first.

Computer basics for the portal

You only need the mouse and two keys. If you rarely use a computer, read this part once. The other portal pages link back here.

Open the web browser

The web browser is the program that shows web pages. Use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

  • Windows: click the browser's icon once in the taskbar, the strip along the bottom of the screen. Chrome's icon is a round red, yellow and green ball. Edge's is a blue and green wave. If neither is in the taskbar, double-click the icon on the desktop.
  • Mac: use Chrome. Click its icon once in the Dock along the bottom of the screen.

Go to a web address

The long white box across the very top of the browser window is the address bar. Click once inside it. The text already there turns blue. Type the new address (it replaces the blue text), then press Enter.

Click, double-click and drag

  • Click: point at something and press the left mouse button once. On a touchpad, tap it once with one finger.
  • Double-click: two quick clicks in the same spot. Keep the mouse still in between.
  • Drag: hold the left button down, move the mouse, then let go. On a touchpad, press down and slide your finger.

Move and zoom the map

  • Move the map: point at the map and drag it the way you want it to go.
  • Zoom in: point at the spot you want closer and roll the mouse wheel away from you. Or click the + button at the top left corner of the map.
  • Zoom out: roll the wheel toward you, or click the – button under the +.
  • On a touchpad: slide two fingers up or down to zoom.

The two keys you need

  • Enter, the big key on the right side of the letters: runs a search, and finishes a route you are drawing.
  • Esc, in the top left corner of the keyboard: stops drawing an outline.

Scroll the left panel

The panel down the left side of the portal is taller than most screens. To reach the steps further down, point at the panel and roll the mouse wheel toward you. On a touchpad, slide two fingers up.

Find the Downloads folder

Files the portal saves go to the computer's Downloads folder.

  • Windows: click the yellow folder icon in the taskbar. File Explorer opens. Click Downloads in the list down the left side of that window. The newest files are at the top.
  • Mac: click the blue and white face icon in the Dock. Finder opens. Click Downloads in the list on the left.
  • Right after a download, Chrome and Edge also show a download arrow at the top right of the browser window. Click it to see the file.

The portal window

The portal has two parts. The panel down the left side walks you through six numbered steps. The map fills the rest of the window.

The owner portal after the welcome window: a white panel down the left side with tabs, the Country box, a yellow line reading Find your field, then outline it, and numbered step cards with orange buttons; a satellite map of North America fills the rest, with a white search box at the top middle and three round buttons at the bottom left 1
  1. The left panel. The six steps, one under the other. Read it close up in the next picture.
  2. Search box. Top middle of the map. Type a place, an address or coordinates here.
  3. Round buttons. Bottom left corner of the map: Map Layers (what the map shows), your location, and Map Tools (measure an area, a distance or an angle; add labels).
Top of the left panel, close up: tabs Map Setup, Map Outputs and Upgrade; the Country box reading United States; a yellow line reading Find your field, then outline it; step 1 Find your field (optional) with a round question-mark button and an orange Show LiDAR coverage button; step 2 Outline your field with an orange Draw an outline button 1 2 3 4 5
  1. Tabs. Map Setup holds the six steps. Map Outputs holds backups and extra files. Upgrade links to Geo-Surface Pro.
  2. Country. Canada or United States. Changing it reloads the page.
  3. The yellow line. Always says what to do next.
  4. The round ? button. Every step has one. Click it for a short explanation of that step. Click it again to close it.
  5. Orange buttons do the work in each step. They stay pale until the step is ready.

A finished step folds down to one line with a green tick and the word Change. Click Change to open that step again.

The six steps at a glance

  1. Find your field (optional)

    Search for the field, and check that LiDAR has been published there.

  2. Outline your field

    Click around the edge of the field, or upload a boundary file you already have.

  3. Get LiDAR

    Load the LiDAR elevation for the outline onto the map.

  4. Show water flow

    The portal draws where water flows and where it ponds. Steps 1 to 4, click by click: Map water flow in the owner portal.

  5. Plan routes

    Draw ditch and tile routes and read their profiles: Plan ditch and tile routes.

  6. Save for Ditch Assist

    Save the map as one ZIP file and load it on the tablet: Save the portal map and load it on the tablet.

From the owner portal to the tablet 1: on the computer, step 6 of the owner portal, Save for Ditch Assist, saves one ZIP to the browser Downloads folder. 2: the ZIP holds the map picture (.jpg), its world file (.jgw), which places the picture on the map, and your routes (.kml). 3: copy the ZIP to the tablet, into the Download folder, by USB cable, email or Google Drive. 4: in the app, open Map Layers, tap +, then Add Image Overlay, and pick the ZIP; for the routes, unzip the .kml and use Add KML. 5: the portal map shows under your survey and grading maps. Overlays are not kept when the app restarts: add the ZIP again each session. From the portal to the tablet Save for Ditch Assist Owner portal, step 6 1 One ZIP file .jpg + .jgw + .kml 2 Copy it to the tablet Into Download 3 Add Image Overlay Map Layers, then + 4 Shows under your map Add it again after an app restart 5

Plan in the portal on the computer, save one ZIP, copy it to the tablet and add it as an image overlay. Then survey the route with RTK in the app.

  1. Save for Ditch Assist. Step 6 in the owner portal, on the computer. It saves one ZIP to the browser's Downloads folder.
  2. One ZIP file. The map picture (.jpg), its world file (.jgw, which places the picture on the map) and your routes (.kml).
  3. Copy it to the tablet. By USB cable, email or Google Drive. Put it in Download and leave it there.
  4. Add Image Overlay. In the app, add the ZIP from Map Layers with Add Image Overlay (step by step). For the routes, unzip the .kml and use Add KML.
  5. Shows under your map. Overlays are not kept when the app restarts. Add the ZIP again each session.

What the map is, and what it is not

The portal map is a planning picture. The routes you draw are lines on that picture. On the tablet the app shows the picture under your live map, but it does not turn a portal route into a survey or a design. You still survey the route with RTK in the app and the app designs the grade from your survey, not from the LiDAR. See Survey a route.

The portal and LiDAR & Mapping in the app

Both work from the same kind of public LiDAR and both work out flow, depressions and ponding. They suit different moments.

The owner portal

  • On a computer, in the web browser, with a big screen and a mouse.
  • Outline by drawing, by uploading a KML, KMZ or zipped shapefile, or by finding a Canadian quarter.
  • Flow lines, Ponding Predictor, depressions, wetness index, and contours at the spacing you pick.
  • Route profiles (depth, grade, excavation), a 3D view, PDF maps, KML files and project backups.
  • Gets to the tablet as one picture that you add on the map again each time the app restarts, plus optional KML lines.

The app: LiDAR & Mapping

  • On the tablet. Draw the boundary on the map, up to 800 ac.
  • Flow routes, ponding risk and depressions.
  • Layers are saved on the tablet under My LiDAR Fields and work offline.
  • Saves the elevation for Levee & Contour and contour workflows, and feeds the Drainage Planner.

Use the portal to plan in the office, try routes and read their profiles before you commit, or print a map for the landowner or crew. Use the app when you want the layers saved on the tablet for offline field work. See Prepare a field with LiDAR & Mapping.

Where to go next

Related

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