Map Layers: KML / KMZ

1. What the KML / KMZ layer does

The KML / KMZ layer overlays your own geographic content onto the tracking map — operational boundaries, routes, points of interest, site plans, and imagery — as a toggleable overlay behind your assets. Anything you can author or export as KML or KMZ, from Google Earth (File › Save Place As) or any GIS tool, can become a map layer.

Content renders with the styling embedded in the file: line and fill colors, widths, and transparency appear the way the file's author designed them.

A KMZ is a packaged KML that can carry its own images, and both kinds of packaged imagery render on the map:

Custom point icons — placemark icons packaged inside the archive draw at their placemarks, at their configured size.
Ground imagery — georeferenced image overlays (charts, site plans, imagery snapshots) are draped at their configured coordinates, with their configured transparency.

The layer suits teams overlaying leases, concessions, or operating areas around their fleet, operations working against charted routes or corridors, and any organization with existing Google Earth content it wants behind its assets.

2. Enabling it (administrator): create the map layer

Creating the layer is a one-time, administrator-only step.

Step 2.1 — Prepare the file

Export your content as KML or KMZ. In Google Earth, right-click a folder or place and choose Save Place As; most GIS tools offer a KML/KMZ export. Keep KMZ archives under 100 MB.

Step 2.2 — Add a map layer

In GSatTrack, go to Manage › Map Layers, then click Create Map Layer.

Step 2.3 — Choose the KML/KMZ type and select your file

Set Type to KML/KMZ, give the layer a Name (shown to users in the Layers menu), and choose your file.

Step 2.4 — Preview, then save

Click Preview Map Layer to see the file drawn on a preview map before anyone else does — styles, icons, and ground imagery render exactly as they will appear on the tracking map, and the preview zooms to your content. Then click Create Map Layer (or Save Changes when editing) to save.

Tip: files that can't be read are rejected at upload with an error message, so a broken export never becomes a blank layer. If the file is rejected, re-export it and upload again.

Editing later: to replace a layer's content, edit the layer, choose the new file, and save — users see the new content the next time they load the map.

3. Turning the layer on

Open the Layers control from the Map Mode Indicator in the top-right corner of the map and toggle your KML / KMZ layer on. Toggle it off the same way to clear it from the map.

4. Reading the map

Content draws with the file's own styling

Lines, shapes, and points appear in the colors, widths, and transparency the file defines. KMZ placemark icons draw at their placemarks; ground imagery drapes at its configured coordinates and transparency.

Hover and click features for their details

Hover a feature to see its name. Click it to open its details popup — the feature's name and description, or a table of the feature's attributes when the file carries data fields instead of a description.

5. Limitations

Network-linked KML (content the file fetches from remote servers) is not loaded.
3D models, tours, and screen overlays are not rendered.
Ground imagery with a rotation is rendered without the rotation applied.
Very large files may be rejected at upload; keep KMZ archives under 100 MB.

Quick reference

Where to find it: Map Mode Indicator → Layers → your KML / KMZ layer.
Prerequisites: an administrator-created layer with an uploaded KML or KMZ file.
Enable it (admin): Manage › Map Layers › Create Map Layer → Type KML/KMZ → choose the file → Preview Map Layer → save.
What renders: embedded line/fill styling, packaged placemark icons, and georeferenced ground imagery; hover for a feature's name, click for its details.
Replace content: edit the layer, upload the new file, save.
Size limit: keep KMZ archives under 100 MB.