Questions
Answers
How can I download geodata?
Step 1: Choose a Geodataset for download
In the "Geodata Browser" panel choose a "Map Category" and a "Map Product" from the drop down menus. The selected dataset will be shown in the Map Window and a short description of the dataset will be displayed.
Step 2: Select the Layers for download
Choose the layers you would like to include in the download by activating the checkbox next to them. Detailed layers may not be displayed at the current scale of the map. These layers are indicated in the legend field by a crossed-out eye. They will still be included in the download if you activate the checkbox. In order to see them, zoom further in.
Step 2a (optional): Activate a Background Layer
For a better orientation, a background layer can be displayed by activating the checkbox in the Background Layer Tab. With the slider you can change the transparency of the layer. Background layers are not included in the download.
Step 3: Locate the Download Area
The download area is represented by the red boundaries (the Dataframe) in the Map Window. If you lost the red square while navigating on the map, click the "Set" Dataframe button in the "Download Area" window. If you want to zoom to the red square, click the "Zoom to" Dataframe button. In order to adjust the Dataframe manually, the "info" button must be pressed.
There are several ways to navigate to a certain area of the dataset and display it in the map window:
Using Map Navigation Tools
Activate the Navigation Pane. Use the overview map and the map tools to navigate to a selected area:
Using Name Search
In the Name Search Tab enter (in German, French or Italian) the name of the settlement you want to search for. Click on a search result to zoom in.
Using Coordinates
Enter the corner coordinates of the area you would like to download.
Using Tile Grids
Choose a tile grid from the "Snap to Tile Grid" drop down menu. Press the "Info" button 
. Click on a tile number to set the Dataframe for download
to the area the tile represents. In order to select several tiles hold down the shift-key while clicking
the numbers. Only rectangular areas can be selected.
Step 4: Add Product Layers to the Download Cart
Make sure that the Dataframe (the area defined by the red boundaries on the map) is correctly Set to the area that you need. If the "Current Area" text is printed in red, you will need to resize the Dataframe, until the colour turns black (Dataframe area must be less or equal with the maximum allowed area for download). When you finished configuring your area, add the selected Layers to the Download Cart by clicking the "Add to Download Cart" button. You can add one or more Layers for the same of for different Dataframes.
Step 5: Review Configurations and trigger File Generation
The "Download Cart" panel is automatically activated after adding Layers to it. Here you can find the list of all Layers you selected for download. Each entry contains the name of the Layer and the extent of the Dataframe. From the "Download Format / Projection" field, you may choose the adequate format for the file and also change the projection of the Geodata, if you wish to.
To delete one entry click the corresponding "recycle bin" button. To trigger the generation of a download link for a Layer click the "Generate File" button.
The file generation may take some time (depending on the size and format between a couple of seconds and several minutes). You can check the "Status / Download" field for the status of your download.
While the file is being generated, you can go back to the "Geodata Browser" panel. When the file extraction is finished, a download link appears. Click the link to download the file. The file will be available for download for a limited time. Its name will be the short name of the Layer, with the specific extension of the format you chose (exception: the Shape files are archived into a .zip). Note that this name is the same for all extents. If you select different extents, it is recommended that you manually change the name of the file after download.
Where do I find the legend?
Usually the legend corresponds to the layers' thumbnails form the "Layers for Download" window. However, there are some datasets/layers, where this is not the case (mostly by raster datasets but also by vector datasets, where different categories of data are displayed on the same layer). For the product Pixel Map Combined you can have the legend from the Pixel Map Masks of the same scale.
For the Thematic Maps (raster, 1:500'000) you can download the legend in PDF format if you click on the thumbnail of the layer in the "Layers for Download" window. For the Geological Atlas 1:25'000 swisstopo published separate legends/explanatory booklets for each map sheet. Please contact us and specify the map tile(s) (take the number(s) from the upper-left corner, with the "Snap to Tile Grid" option activated, 25000) so that we can send you the corresponding legend.
For vector maps, such as swissTLM3D, you can visualize the legend by driving the mouse over the layer thumbnail in the "Layers for Download" window. If the legend doesn't appear automatically, just click on the thumbnail to activate it.
How does the Export Cart functionality work?
This functionality is intended for students and ETH affiliates other than staff. You can choose the data that you wish to download (see the download section) and, as you are not allowed to download it for yourself, you may export your download-cart. In a popup Window you will get a cart-id, which you will have to copy.
In order to effectively obtain the data, you have to contact your supervisor or the ETH Library and, if you provide the mentioned id, they will import the cart you saved, and you can be sure they can download for you exactly the data you wanted, in the requested format and for the region you specified. For contour lines, you will have to specifically tell your supervisor also the desired interval.
We recommend that you send the cart-id to your supervisor soon after exporting your cart. The carts (and accordingly their ids) are stored for a limited time on the GeoVITe server.
How does the Import Cart functionality work?
There are two possibilities to import a cart. Either you receive a link to GeoVITe that contains the cart-id, or you have directly the cart-id. The cart-id and the specific link are obtained by exporting a cart.
With the link, you will have to first log in and, if the cart-id exists on the server, the content of the cart will be automatically loaded into the current "Download Cart".
If you have just the cart-id, you may paste it into the field that appears when you press the "import Cart" button in the "Download Cart" panel in order to recall the products contained by that cart in your current download-cart.
This functionality is intended mainly for student supervisors, which have to provide the students with the geodata they need for a specific project. The students may login themselves into GeoVITe, search for the needed geodata and add it to a download-cart. When they export this cart, they will get an id, and ask you to download the data for them.
Please be aware that it is your responsibility that the students abide the Terms of Use for this geodata.
Where do I find a complete list with all the geodata available?
The complete list of available Datasets is to be found here.
What is the "Dataframe"?
What we call the dataframe is the red rectangle on the map-pane that you use for selecting the extent for which you need data.
The datasets you want to download for this extent are to be selected from the Layers-pane.
How can I move/adjust the Dataframe?
In order to move or adjust the Dataframe, you have to first press the “Info” button in the “Navigation” panel. Then, to move the dataframe, click on the small red circle in the middle of the frame and drag it to a new position. To adjust the size of the dataframe you can click and drag one of the small corner- or edge-located red squares.
How does the “snap to tile grid” work?
Choose a tile grid from the "Snap to Tile Grid" drop down menu. Press the "Info" button . Click on a
tile number to set the Dataframe for download to the area the tile represents. In order to select several
tiles hold down the shift-key while clicking
the numbers. Only rectangular areas can be selected.
The area of the region I want to download exceeds the maximum allowed area. Is it possible to get a bigger area?
The maximum downloadable area is set with regard to the time needed to download and the size of the file. It is advisable that you choose an area less than the maximum, or a bigger area from the same product family but in a smaller scale. Another option is that you download adjacent regions of smaller areas and then put them together. Please try these options first. If you are still sure that you need a bigger area, you may contact our support, and we’ll see what can be done about it.
What does the “Info” button do?
The “Info” button is used when you want to adjust the Dataframe or to set
it to a grid tile (see also the "Snap to Tile Grid" question). In the future we intend to enrich its
functionality with attribute query possibility for the clicked dataset/layer.
Can I get contour lines from a digital elevation model?
Yes. GeoVITe offers access to various digital elevation models. The DHM25 Base Model is already a vector dataset, where you can find the contour lines with a 25meter interval. For the other datasets there exists the possibility to generate contour lines with an interval of your choice for the selected extent. For this, set the Dataframe to the desired area, add it to the download cart, like usual, and then choose “.dxf” as the download format type.
When you click the "Generate File" button, a window will pop up and ask you to give in the interval in meters.
After this, you will just have to click on the link to download your contour lines. GeoVITe offers for this latter option no visualization. It is recommended that you first read the information about the chosen digital elevation model, in order to know what interval makes sense to ask for. For example, for DTM-AV an interval of 1 to 5 meters is reasonable.
What is geodata?
As Geodata we can define every dataset that has a spatial aspect or component. Synonyms are "spatial data", "geographic data", "geographic data sets" or "GIS data". The syllable "Geo" implies that the dataset has a spatial component that allows to georeference the described phenomena to a location or region on the earth.
For more information on this subject please refer to our Geodata Tutorials.