Tools (Drawing, Elevation Picker, Anim)

A grab bag of map-based utilities in the sidebar's Tools group, independent of whichever visualization modes are active. (Sun/Shadow Calculator and Source Info also live in this group — see Sun Position and Terrain and Basemap Sources respectively.)

Drawing

Sketch directly on the map — a TerraDraw-based sketch/measure layer for annotating or roughly measuring distances and areas over the terrain, independent of any export pipeline. Tools: Select, Point, Line, Polygon, Rectangle, and Circle (Esc cancels the active tool back to Select — see Keyboard Shortcuts).

• Named layers — multiple layers, each with its own visibility toggle, style, and zoom-to-bounds button; a layer's contents can be imported from GeoJSON/KML or exported back out.
• Persistence — drawn/imported layers are kept for the session by default; turn on Settings → Browser Local Storage Persistence → Vector Layers to have them survive reloads (OPFS-backed, with a storage-usage readout and Clear button).
• Batch-export targets — in Historical mode, drawn features are the per-feature targets of the Export Multi (Historical) GeoTIFF batch dialog.

Feature Iterator

The loop toggle on a layer row steps through that layer's features one at a time, auto-framing each on the map: lines/polygons get fit to the viewport with a 20% margin, points are centered at a fixed zoom of your choosing (or the current zoom). The index wraps in both directions, clicking a feature of the iterated layer on the map jumps the iterator to it, and →/N, ←, and D/Delete step or delete without touching the panel (full list under Keyboard Shortcuts) — handy for reviewing an imported inventory of sites one by one.

Drawing — an imported GeoJSON layer (world heritage site boundaries) alongside a second, hand-drawn point layer

Elevation Picker

Click anywhere on the terrain to read off its elevation, sourced from the same active DEM driving the rest of the app (Mapterhorn, Mapbox, MapTiler, AWS, or a custom BYOD source) — useful for a quick spot-check without switching on Elevation Hypso or exporting a GeoTIFF. Several distinct modes live under this one toggle:

• Single-point altitude — one click samples the elevation right there.
• Altitude delta — a second click measures the straight-line distance and elevation difference (Δ Elevation) against the first.
• Line profile / line of sight — switches to a full elevation profile chart sampled along the path between two points, plus a mast-height field for a simple line-of-sight check.
• Straight line vs. routed path — the profile can sample a direct great-circle line, or a real routed trail/road (BRouter or Valhalla, with a hiking/bike/vehicle profile) between the two points instead.
• Sample Reference: Absolute vs. LRM — sample real elevation, or height relative to the local neighborhood mean (same reference the Local Relief Model / Plane Slicer use).
• Plane Slicer — an elevation-threshold plane that paints the terrain above or below a chosen altitude (or LRM height), independent of the point/line picker above.

Elevation Picker — Line Profile (two points, color-graded by elevation) + Plane Slicer flood-fill — Matterhorn massif — open in app ↗ (camera/Plane Slicer state only — the two picked points aren't URL-reproducible, pick them on the map yourself)

Animation

Fly the camera along a scripted path through the scene — set keyframe camera poses and interpolate between them, exportable as a rendered fly-through. Available in Terrain mode; Historical mode's own Tools group drops it since there's no single continuous elevation surface to fly a smooth camera path over.

Animation — panel only