Interactive location map
SegY viewer
Every loaded file puts its geometry on the map. Sources, receivers and bins are drawn from the trace headers, gathers open where you click, a ruler measures between any two points, and whatever you select here is marked on the section and on the QC graph at the same moment.
From the headers
Geometry, as loaded
Click to open
CS, CR or CMP gather
Linked
Map, section, QC graph
In view
Location map inside the workspace
The map is the survey's index. It is built as the data loads — the location map is one of the things a SEG-Y file brings with it, alongside the trace data and the headers — and it is where positions get checked: if the geometry looks wrong there, the trace-header format is what needs correcting. Then it becomes a way in. Set the control item and clicking the map opens the shot, receiver or mid-point gather at that place; the ruler answers how far apart two points are; and the selection travels to the section view, the header table and the QC graph without being asked twice.
Map tools
Six things you do on the map itself.
The map's toolbar is short on purpose. Most of what it does is selecting, measuring and getting a better look.
Pick a gather
The control item turns the map into a selector: choose selected common gather, then click, and the common shot, receiver or mid-point gather at that position opens. The headers it groups on come from the Common gather tab.
Pick a line or a volume
Select line singles out one 2D line when several are loaded — or one 3D volume when several sit at different coordinate positions.
Measure with the ruler
Hold the left button and draw a line between two shot points, between any two points, or along a line to get its length. The tool tip reports the measurement.
Stretch the scales
Hold the left button on the horizontal or vertical scale and move up or down to expand or compress it — the way to spread out a dense patch of shots without changing anything else.
Grab and pan
The middle mouse button in the body of the map turns the cursor into a hand grab for moving around it.
Restyle any item
Show properties opens the vista items for the map — loaded receiver data, loaded source data, the selected trace and the rest — and each has its own point colour, style, size and label settings.
Linked views
Select once, see it everywhere.
The map is not a separate window that happens to show coordinates. It shares a selection with the seismic view, the trace-header table and the QC graph, which is what makes it useful for geometry QC rather than only for orientation.
What is drawn
The map's own contents
Geometry
Source, receiver and bin positions, read from the trace headers as each file is loaded.
Vista items
Loaded source and receiver data, the selected trace, the selected line and the rest, each switchable and individually styled.
Selected trace
A trace picked in the header table is drawn on the map as a green dotted line.
On screen now
The sources, receivers and bins currently visible on the seismic view can be shown on the map, so the section and the geometry stay tied together.
During preview
A file still in Preview Mode maps only the traces read so far — enough to see the coverage before committing to a full load.
Where a selection shows up
The same trace, in three places
Seismic view
A vertical dotted line at the selected trace.
Location map
A green dotted line at the same trace's position.
QC graph
A dot inside a circle at the corresponding point of the cross-plot.
Gather tabs
A gather chosen on the map opens in the selected-common-gather tab, ready for the pre-stack QC tools.
Positioning check
Reading the trace headers in full refreshes the map — the moment to confirm the survey sits where it should.
More g-Viewer capabilities
The map opens everything else.
Clicking geometry is how you get to a gather, a section or a volume. These are the other g-Viewer topics.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Where does the map get its coordinates?
From the trace headers. The location map is one of the things a SEG-Y file loads along with its trace data and its text and binary headers, and reading the trace headers in full updates it. If the positions look wrong on the map, the trace-header format is what to correct before reading again — the map is the first place a mis-set byte location shows itself.
Can I open a gather by clicking the map?
Yes — that is what the Control item icon is for. Set it to selected common gather, choose the headers you want to group on in the Common gather tab, then click anywhere on the map and the shot, receiver or mid-point gather at that position opens in its own tab. Common shot, common receiver and common mid-point gathers are all reachable this way.
Can I measure distances on the map?
The ruler measures the distance between two shot points, between any two points on the map, or the length of a line — hold the left mouse button and draw, and the tool tip reports the result. Any arbitrary straight line works the same way. The map scales themselves stretch and compress by holding the left button on an axis and moving, and the middle button gives you a hand grab to pan.
How does the map stay in step with the other views?
Selection is shared. Click a row in the trace-headers table and that trace appears on the seismic view as a dotted vertical line, on the location map as a green dotted line and on the QC graph as a dot inside a circle. Going the other way, the map's Select line option picks one 2D line out of several, or one 3D volume out of several sitting at different coordinates.
Get started free
Put your survey on the map.
g-Viewer is a fully functional free trial with auto-update, for Windows, Linux and macOS on Apple Silicon. Load a SEG-Y and check its geometry in the first minute.