Agricultural Nutrient Management Program

Department of Environmental Science and Technology

0116 Symons Hall
7998 Regents Dr.
College Park, MD 20742
TEL 301-405-1319 | FAX 301-314-7375
www.extension.umd.edu/anmp

Lesson 4: Using Google Earth Pro to Draw Field Boundaries for the
Farm Map
INTRODUCTION Google Earth Pro is free software that can be used to draw field
boundaries for each farm. It is more user-friendly than the method for
drawing boundaries in QGIS, but creates a file that can easily be uploaded
into QGIS. To download the software, visit this link:

https://www.google.com/earth/download/gep/agree.html

CONTENTS In this document, you will find instructions for:

• Getting to know Google Earth Pro
• Locating and mapping the property of interest
• Exporting the boundaries for use in QGIS
• Loading the KML files into QGIS

GETTING TO Instructions
KNOW GOOGLE
EARTH PRO Step Action
1 Once Google Earth Pro is downloaded and installed, open the
program.
2 Become familiar with Google Earth Pro:
• Search box
o Type in an address or
city/town to find the
location of interest
• Places box
o The layers you create (like
farm and field boundaries)
will go under “My Places”
**Note: If you open any .KML files in
Google Earth, they will open in your
“Temporary Places” section. You’ll
have to drag them up to your “My
Places” section to keep them from
disappearing when exiting.

The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or
natural origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, or gender identity and expression.
 • Layers box
o Make sure “Borders and
Labels” and “Roads” have a
checkmark next to them.
o All other layers can be
turned off (click on the box
to remove the checkmark).
 This will help Google
Earth load faster the next
time you open the
program

**Note: Any of these boxes can be

minimized using the blue triangle
next to the name. For example, click
on the blue triangle next to “Layers”
to minimize it.

LOCATING AND Instructions

MAPPING THE
PROPERTY OF Step Action
INTEREST 1 When Google Earth is open, a globe or map is displayed on the
right side of the screen and three boxes; Search, Places and
Layers are displayed on the left.

a) In the Search box, enter the address of the property for

which you will create a map. Then press return or click on
“Search”. An aerial view of the property will display on the
right side of the screen.
b) In the toolbar, click
on “View” -> “Reset”
-> “Tilt and
Compass”. This will
reset and align the
aerial view. You may
need to repeat this
step often as you
zoom in and out of
the map.
2 In the “Places” box, right
click on My Places, then
click “Add” then “Folder”
to create a folder to store
this map. Give the folder
the operator’s name, then
click “OK”.

3 If the client farms multiple tracts/farms you may choose to

add additional folders for each farm/tract within the client
folder.
• Right click the client’s folder, and then choose “Add”
and “Folder”. Give the folder the tract/farm name.

4 Right click on the tract/farm folder you just created. Choose

“Add” and choose “Polygon”.
a) Give the polygon a field name/number (you may
choose to include the farm name to keep things
organized).
o Within this “Google Earth - New polygon” box,
click on the “Style, Color” tab. Under Lines,
select the line color you wish to use (white
copies best) and width of the line. Select the
color by clicking on the white box to the right of
the word Color. This will bring up the color
palette.
o Under Area choose “outlined” from the drop-
down menu.

b) Do Not click “OK” or close the New Polygon box yet.

c) Move your cursor over to the map. It will change
to a square. Click around the perimeter of the
field you want to outline.
d) When finished with that field, click “OK” in the New
Polygon box to close it.
 5 Repeat step 4 for each of the fields on the farm until
all fields are outlined.

6 As always, reset the tilt and compass of your map when you
are finished making changes.
• In the toolbar, click on “View” -> “Reset” -> “Tilt and
Compass”.

EXPORTING THE Instructions

BOUNDARIES To export the field boundaries drawn in the previous section, you will
FOR USE IN need to save them as a keyhole markup language file (kml). While
QGIS individual fields can be saved and added to QGIS, saving the whole farm is
more practical for the purpose of nutrient management.

Step Action
1 Right click on the farm folder
under which all field and
property boundary polygons are
saved. Next click on “Save Place
As”.

2 In the “Save file…” window:

• Navigate to the operator’s nutrient management plan folder.
You may want to create a “Map” subfolder.
• Enter a file name.
• Change the “Save as type” from kmz to kml.
• Click Save.
LOADING THE Instructions
KML FILES INTO
QGIS Step Action
1 Navigate to and open the county Base Map project file.

2 To load the field boundaries,

highlight the Property Lines
layer on the Layer panel by
clicking on it. This will ensure
that when the KML file is
loaded, it will not be hidden
by other layers.

3 Click on the “Add

Vector” Icon.

4 In the “Add
vector layer”
window, click on
“Browse”.

5 Navigate to the folder where the kml file was saved. Make sure
“keyhole markup file” is selected using the drop down menu
next to the File name if you are having trouble finding your file.
Select the file and click open.
6 In the “Add
vector layer”
window, click on
“Open”. The file
will now be
added to the
Layer panel.

7 Right click on the

newly added layer, and
then click on “Zoom to
Layer”.

8 Next, turn on the “Property Lines”

layer by clicking on the box next to
the layer name and shape.

9 View the Map Canvas. The black lines represent the property
lines. The field boundaries that you imported into QGIS will be
filled
with a
solid
color.
10 To change the field
properties, right click on the
layer and then on
“Properties”.

11 In the “Layer Properties” window, click on the “Style” tab on

the right side of the screen. Then click on “Simple fill” near the
top of the screen.

12 On the left side of the window, scroll down to “Symbol Layer

Type”.

Do the following:
• Use the drop down button next to Fill. Click on
“Transparent Fill”.
• If you’d like to change the Outline color, choose a color
that is easily visible using the drop down menu.
• Change the Outline width to 0.66.
• When finished, click on “OK” at the bottom of the
window.
13 The Map Canvas now shows field and property boundaries.

14 Make sure you have saved this project as a separate file. Do

NOT save the changes you have made to the original Base Map.

Updated 5/16/2017