ARRA Projects Map User Guide
The USDA ARRA Projects Map is a map service created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for viewing ARRA fundingn obligations on a map via your web browser. This custom map displays economic recovery projects, which have created private sector jobs within our communities. This user guide describes how anyone with an Internet connection and a supported web browser can use this free service on a desktop or laptop computer.
Getting to Know the ARRA Projects Map
The following diagram describes the features available in the Economic Recovery Projects Map.
- Navigation controls - Use this to pan and zoom the map as well as reset the map to default extent.
- State polygons - At the initial scale a state polygon map is displayed. The color of each state represents that state's relative spending totals.
- Department filter - Use this drop-down menu to limit the display of projects on the map to only those of a single department.
- Zoom-to selection menu - Use this drop down menu to quickly zoom to a geographic region of United States territories which has received ARRA funding.
- Cluster Icon - Cluster icons appear when two or more projects share the same location.
- Map background - The background of the map gives context to map markers and may changed type when the map display mode is changed.
- Project marker - Project Markers mark the location of a project or program.
- Variable filter - This drop down menu offers an additional, department-specific parameter to filter by once a department filter is made active. For example, when selecting the Department of Agriculture, this menu will display an agency filter for USDA agencies.
- Overview map - This small map helps orient you by showing the location of the current map view in the context of a larger geographical area.
- County marker - County markers are displayed on the map as the second level of data after state polygons and before the display of project markers. County markers will become visible at an appropriate map scale only if there are projects within that county which meet the current filter parameters.
- Funding amount filter - Use this drop down menu to select funding amount to filter by.
- Map display mode - Used to change the background map to display streets, satellite imagery or both.
- Clear filters - Use this to reset the agency and funding amount filters to display all projects.
Navigating in Google Maps
You can navigate (move your view) in two dimensions in any Google Map. To pan (move the map), click and hold your left mouse button in the map viewer, while dragging the cursor around the map.
The curser will change to a grabbing hand while moving the map.
Using the Navigation Controls
The navigation controls are shown on the top left of the map viewer. Navigation controls include:
As indicated in the diagram, there are three levels of project data each having their own scale range. The top three zoom levels will display no data, the next five levels display a state polygon polygon map, the next two levels display county summary markers and the top two levels display project level markers.
- Arrows - Click the appropriate arrow buttons to move the view north, south, east or west.
- Default view - Use the button in the center of the arrows to return the map to its default zoom and extent.
- Zoom - Click + to zoom in on the center of the map. Click - to zoom out.
- Zoom slider - Drag the zoom slider up or down to zoom in or out incrementally.
Additionally, you can zoom in on an area of the map by holding the cursor over the area of interest then double-clicking the left mouse button. To zoom out, you can double-click the right mouse button.
If your mouse has a scroll wheel, scrolling the wheel forward allows you to zoom in and scrolling backwards allows you to zoom out.
Using the Overview Map
The overview map (shown left here) appears in the bottom right corner of the map. It helps orient you by showing the location of current map view in the context of a larger geographical area. The area currently displayed in the map is shown as a purple box in the overview map. At any time, click 
to hide the overview map or click 
to display it again.
As you pan or zoom in the map, the overview map view changes accordingly. You can change the existing view in the map by doing one of the following:
- Drag and drop the purple box in the overview map.
- Drag and drop the area outside the purple box to pan the map.
Using the filter drop-down menus
The filter drop-down menus above the Economic Recovery Projects Map allow you to filter projects or programs by department, by a secondary department-specific filter and by funding amounts.
The Department menu above the Economic Recovery Projects Map allows you to view projects of All departments listed or of individual departments.
For example, by selecting Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), only projects or programs of the USDA will be displayed in the map viewer.
To make a selection click the down arrow ( 
) and select the department of interest form the drop-down menu.
The variable filter menu in the center of the map header becomes available only when a department is selected from the department filter. Depending on which department selected, the variable filter will display either a department's agencies or its programs to filter by.
For example, by selecting Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) from the department filter on the left, the agencies of the USDA found in the current data set will populate the variable filter menu.
To make a selection click the down arrow ( ) and select the item of interest form the drop-down menu.
The Agency menu above the Economic Recovery Projects Map allows you to select All Agencies or specific USDA Agencies found among the current data set.
For example, by selecting Forest Service (FS), only projects or programs of the Forest Service will be displayed in the map viewer.
To select an agency click the down arrow ( ) and select the agency of interest form the drop-down menu.
The Funding amount menu above the Economic Recovery Projects Map allows you to select funding amounts by range.
By selecting, for example $10,000 - $50,000, only projects or programs funded between $10,000-$50,000 will be displayed in the map viewer.
To select a funding amount click the down arrow ( ) and select the agency of interest form the drop-down menu.
To clear selected filters, click the Clear Filters button on the right of the filter bar.
About Markers
Markers appear in the map to signify the project or program location. Three types of markers are displayed in the Economic Recovery Projects Map: County summary markers, cluster markers and project or program markers.
Cluster Markers are for viewing convenience and are displayed when two or more projects or programs share the same zip. Selecting a cluster marker will reveal the projects or programs within that cluster by offsetting the markers that share the same location. Once these markers are displayed they may be clicked for more information.
The types of markers included in the map are:
Map Symbology
The lowest zoom levels will display state polygons shaded according to the total spending level for that state. When a mouse is placed over a state polygon, a summary of projects and programs in that state will appear. Filtering the map data by agency or funding amount may alter spending totals thus altering the summary and display color of a state.
The second level of data is the county summary marker. This marker is displayed at scales beyond the state level when there are one or more projects within a county. When a mouse is placed over a county marker, a summary of projects and programs in that county will appear. Filtering the map data by agency or funding amount may alter spending totals thus altering the display or summary of a county marker.
This cluster marker shows the location 2 or more projects or programs that share the same location.
When a cluster marker containing projects or programs at the same location is clicked, it will expand to show underlying markers. Those markers can then be clicked to see more information about the projects or programs.
This marker shows the location of a project or program.
Viewing Info Windows
Info windows appear when you click a marker and display additional information about the location.
Info windows can be opened by clicking on a project marker.
Info windows contain great information such as the project or program name, recipient or vendor name, funding amount, contracting Agency, city, state and zip code.
To close an info window, click 
.
A blog and comment board can be opened by clicking on the Share your comments link.
From this blog, viewers may learn more about the progress of various projects and programs within that state.