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Measure Distances & Areas in map.army — How To

Measure a distance of a route or an area to observe within map.army .

Overview

The military map generator supports the measurement of distances and areas in the metric system as well as in the imperial units:

Activate Measurement Functions

The measurements tools are deactivated by default. Follow these steps to activate within the web application:

1. Open the ‘Options’ menu
   

2. Scroll to the ‘Map Settings’ and activate the ‘Measure Tools’ check box
   

3. The ‘Measure Tools’ for distance and area are displayed in the bottom left corner of the main window
   

Measure Distance

The distance measurement displays the distance between two points. In case of measurement of a route with multiple points the tool displays the distance of the sections as well as the overall distance. In addition, the bearing between the two points is displayed.

To start measuring a distance:

1. Press the ‘Measure distance’ button (button turns blue)
   

2. Click onto the map to set the starting point

3. Every click will add a point for measurement

4. Double click to end the measurement (pressing ‘Esc’, ‘Space’ or right click are also supported to exit the measurement)

Measure Area

The measurement of an area calculates and displays the area between three or more points on the map.

To start measuring an area:

1. Press the ‘Measure distance’ button (button turns blue)
   

2. Click onto the map to set the starting point

3. Every click will add a point for measurement

4. Double click to end the measurement (pressing ‘Esc’, ‘Space’ or right click are also supported to exit the measurement)

Supported Units

Distance measurements support the metric system, the imperial system, and nautical miles (NM) for aeronautical and maritime use. The unit is set in the ‘Unit of Measurements’ pulldown in the ‘Options’ menu.

For angles the units of degrees and Milliradian (NATO) are supported, with the reference selectable between true (geographic-north) bearing and magnetic bearing. The magnetic-declination correction is applied automatically using the current WMM2025 model — see Magnetic Declination & Orient to North for details. The units and reference can be set in the ‘Angular Unit’ pulldown in the ‘Options’ menu.

Terrain Tool — Cursor Elevation

The Terrain Tool shows the ground elevation at the cursor position as you move over the map. Elevation is reported in metres or feet according to the Distance Unit setting.

The displayed elevation is AMSL (Above Mean Sea Level) — i.e. orthometric height referenced to the geoid (Earth Gravity Model), not GPS-style ellipsoidal height. This matters for aeronautical and surveying work where AMSL is the standard reference. The underlying digital elevation model is a global terrain dataset sampled at roughly 30 m grid resolution; expect metre-scale uncertainty in mountainous terrain and at the edges of the dataset.

For symbol-level elevation (the altitude shown for a placed point symbol), the same AMSL reference applies.