Most of us have been using one on-line mapping programme or another for year now . They ’re a godsend for those of us who get lost within a 3 - mile wheel spoke of our homes , and they ’re just plain fun for people who love figuring out where stuff is .
With this in mind , imagine how amazingGoogleEarthmust be for it to elicit awe from the online community and make South Korea to demand changes to the programme .
Google Earth is no average mapping coating . case " Denver , CO " into the Google Earth hunt boxful , and yes , you may get a line where Denver , Colo. is in relation to Grand Junction , Colo. and how to get from your destination to 1600 Curtis St. in downtown Denver . In the same search , though , you may also learn that 1600 Curtis St. is in the 80202 nil code and that there are 12 Starbucks Coffee shops within a half - mile r of that address ; you may zoom along out from 1600 Curtis St. and observe it disappear into a planet view of the Earth and then soar back in as if you were falling onto 1600 Curtis St. from blank ; and if you select " Forbidden City " in the " Sightseeing " column , you may see what it would look like to flySuperman - style from 1600 Curtis St. in Denver to the Forbidden Palace inBeijing , China .
And you think the world was modest before .
The application is somewhat easy to use , but there are a lot of part to try out . See how Google Earth gets image and data and learn how you could get embark on with Google Earth so you could research some of the features and customization options .
What is the Google Earth software?
Google Earth is currently available for download as a desktop app program , although you take to be connected to theInternetto apply it . Every clock time you open Google Earth , it automatically connects to Google ’s servers , dedicate you access to terabyte of geographical , political and social data point . For illustration , you’re able to look at a city with sure " layers " twist on , include topographic information , population data and crime statistic for the orbit . The layers and all of the map piloting button , including rapid growth , joust and rotate , are all located in the Google Earth frame .
The magnanimous good deal right now is the basic version of Google Earth is completely detached . Of course , this could change in the hereafter . So let ’s all lead off by download the free version of the software package situate at Earth.Google.com while it ’s still loose . If yourcomputerruns Windows , Linux or Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher , and it ’s fewer than five years older , you should have no problem meeting the system requirements . If your computer ca n’t launch the applications programme , translate on to find out what you ’ll be able to do once you upgrade your equipment .
Once you open Google Earth and start move around a morsel , you ’ll immediately comment one of the biggest " whoa " aspects of the program : some of the information is 3 - viosterol , and the stuff that is n’t 3 - D is still aphotograph– there are no illustrated map here . The baseline visual information comes from orbiter imagination and aerial picture take by aircraft .
While Google Earth consist an raiment of features that would belike take month to to the full utilize , the canonical feature accommodate generally into the follow categories :
The canonical version of Google Earth is free , and it ’s an amazing piece of software . But in showcase you require more , or you think to use the curriculum for commercial covering , there are subscription - free-base versions of Google Earth that offer additional function . take on for a closer face at the basics .
Features of Google Earth Maps
The beneficial way to get to know Google Earth is to start with a location and see what Google Earth will tell you about it . So let ’s get going with HowStuffWorks headquarters in Atlanta , Ga. If you typewrite " 675 Ponce De Leon Ave . Suite 4500 , Atlanta , GA 30308 , " into the Google Earthsearch boxand fall into place " lookup , " you zoom in fromspaceto HowStuffWorks headquarters . You are now count at aphotographof the location .
To get more information and turn the photograph into a real map , the next footmark is to turn on some layer . Available layers let in dining , lodgment , savings bank , road , terrain , mall , grocery stores , gas station , Mungo Park , transit , school and geographic feature .
To make a squeamish , operative map , you might just turn on the " roads " layer . If you zoom out a minute , you ’ve generate yourself a good driving function of the broader area surrounding 3350 Peachtree Rd . in Atlanta .
permit ’s say your little tour of Atlanta admit a stop at HowStuffWorks headquarters followed by a misstep to the Georgia Dome to check out a Falcons game . A select the Google Earth directions button reveals two slots : one for the start reference ( 3350 Peachtree Rd . Atlanta , GA ) and one for the ending address ( 1 Georgia Dome Dr NW , Atlanta , 30313 ) . Clicking " Search " let on both written direction and a highlighted road on the mathematical function , which has automatically whizz out to accommodate the intact road from HowStuffWorks to the stadium .
Google Earth Search for Business
you could save , print or e - postal service all of the single-valued function and information you ’ve generated so far . There are buttons in the Google Earth toolbar to accommodate each of these action .
At this pointedness , let ’s say the Falcons plot is over and you ’re quick to grab a bite to eat . This is where thefind businessesfeature comes in .
The first matter we desire to do is re - concentrate the map so that the centering in on the Georgia Dome . To do this , we left - click anywhere on the map and hang back it upward until the Georgia Dome is centered ( alternately , we could also just put " 1 Georgia Dome Dr. " in the original lookup boxful and vanish right there – this would put the Dome in the center , too ) . you may zoom in now and get a pretty nice view of the Dome .
To chance out what restaurants are settle in the vicinity of the Georgia Dome , you select the " Find commercial enterprise " tabloid and enter , say , " restaurants " in the " What " box and leave behind the nonpayment " Current position " in the " Where " box . When you chatter on " Begin Search , " here ’s what come up :
The map soar up out slightly and re - centered itself to fit in the most eating place effect while still keeping the Georgia Dome in hatful . But that ’s not the only fashion to recover eating place . you may also turn on the " Dining " level , which does n’t reckon on any keywords but rather searches the full Google " Dining " category for restaurants in the sphere . Here ’s what befall when you do that :
Now you ’ve got even more options .
In this section , we ’ve encompass most of the canonic use of Google Earth . But most of what we ’ve gone over here is cover in other mapping applications as well , although it may not be nearly as pretty as the persuasion in Google Earth . What specify this plan asunder are the social function that make it a pastime , not just a utility program .
Google Earth 3-D and Other Features
Video Flyovers
One of the most amazing aspects of Google Earth is the flypast . When you ’re looking at Atlanta , Ga. , and you do a search for " Nepal , " you do n’t just blink away and stop up in Nepal . The program flies you there , so you may see the terrain and all of the body politic beneath you as you make your way to your destination . This video flyover feature is great when it comes to getting driving direction . At the bottom of the CRT screen with your flex - by - good turn directions , there ’s a " free rein " button . If you click it , Google Earth will fly you over the route , turn right and go away and veering as required , so you may see just what it ’s going to look like when you drive it .
3-D Views
Google Earth has created 3 - D buildings for many major U.S. city . For the most part , they ’re not elaborate replication – they ’re simple , gray-headed 3 - D drawings – but you do get a very good feel for the city when you turn on this stratum . Google Earth now supports textured ( real front ) 3 - 500 draft . Some are build into the app , but mostly Google is now countenance users create and spell 3 - D drawings themselves using the free Google SketchUp programme . As with any other opinion , you’re able to use the " disceptation " and " rotate " buttons in the navigator panel to get the full 3 - 500 survey .
Sightseeing Across the Globe
If you have n’t had clock time to travel the earth just yet , Google Earth is your new good friend . you could zoom in on global landmark just by clicking on a emplacement in the " Sightseeing " box , which lists the most popular destination , including the Eiffel Tower in Paris , Arizona ’s Grand Canyon and Vatican City in Rome .
OK – video flyovers , 3 - D sight and rubber-necking across the ball are pretty cool , but hold back until you see what Google Sky can do .
Google Sky
Google Earth wows users with its ability to fly to and from anywhere on Earth . In August 2007 , Google introducedGoogle Sky , giving substance abuser the ability to actually take to the stars .
With one click of the black eye , a Google Earth user can switch to Sky Mode and vacate the position . With Hawaii - res image from NASA , the Digital Survey Consortium and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey , Google Earth has put together an exact and fascinating look at out space . Users can fly around , just like in Earth musical mode , to search the far reach of space .
As with the Earth portion , Google Sky has band of bed you’re able to expose . you could findconstellationsby name or see them drawn out on your silver screen . TheBackyard Astronomylayer references three astrological catalogs to give greater contingent on some of the more well - known outer space object . you could highlight galaxies , nebulae , star clusters and illustrious visible stars to get info on localization , history , classifications and even contact to NASA ’s database of data . There is also aHubble Showcasethat provides images taken from the Hubble Space telescope , along with some detailed data about the object .
Two very cool features of Google Sky are theMoon in MotionandPlanets in Motionlayers . These show the paths of the moon and the planets across the sky from your given location on Earth . NASA took pic once every hr for three month to make certain the paths were exact . A slider bar lets you take the span of prison term you want to consider . Then , you just click to see the moonlight or major planet move . If you chatter on the moon itself , the programme nail its location on that appointment , the phase , how far it is from Earth and how smart it may look in the sky . press the planets , and you’re able to obtain out their size , distance and magnitude .
Google Sky also leave two very interesting tours of out distance . TheUser ’s Guide to the Galaxytakes you on a trip through a number of well - know galaxies . TheLife of a Startour usher the lifespan of a distinctive star , from nativity to destruction . A fact listing shows what happens to each hotshot and how it fits into the cosmic soup . In both tours , you’re able to either snap on one at a time , or download it for one long trip through the universe of discourse .
Now that you know all the cool things you may do with Google Earth , permit ’s encounter out where it gets all the information to make it exploit .
Google Earth Map Data
Google Earth was once a premium program calledKeyholethat cost about $ 90 . When Google purchased Keyhole , it inherit TB of digital mapping information and set about creating a basic version of thesoftwarethat would be useable as a loose download . Now you ’re all caught up .
The photographic maps useable on Google Earth fare primarily from two sources : satellites and aircraft . Google stupefy this imagery and other digital mathematical function entropy from sources such as TeleAtlas and EarthSat , both of which compilephotographsand maps into digital form for commercial applications . Because the data come from unlike source , it ’s allow for at different resolutions , which is why some areas of the globe seem crisp even at street level while others are blurry from a great aloofness . Google is strive to have as much high - definition coverage of the world as potential . When you apply Google Earth , you ’re not viewing the imagery in literal time : fit in to Google , the information is no more than three twelvemonth old and is continually updated as novel data becomes uncommitted .
Google Earth has several countries like the United States , Canada and the United Kingdom treat to street level , so you may zoom in and view road figure and local businesses and get directions from here to there . The database has a good amount of information on other regions like Western Europe , India and Japan as well , but the rest of the world is hit or overleap . While you could surge in and get a pretty adept look at theEgyptian Great Pyramid , you ca n’t see street epithet or witness a foodstuff shop in the area . Google is forever summate more information to its database , though , and the maps are getting skilful with each update .
This take us to another rootage of Google Earth ’s data : the Googlesearch engine . Part of what defecate Google Earth so habit-forming is its collaboration with Google search . As you now bed from the " How to obtain the Fun Stuff " section , when you ’re viewing a metropolis , you could search for chocolate shops , restaurants , market stores , bars and tons of other businesses in the neighbourhood , and you could fall into place on them to get elaborate selective information from the Google lookup railway locomotive . Users can also add a business location to a map by snap on " Add / Edit a Business Listing " in the Google Earth toolbar .
Now that we get it on where the data total from , we ’ll learn about what it takes to get that data to your computer screen .
Google Earth Technology
When using Google Earth , people can take for give the ability to zoom in , rotate , goat god and tilt on an persona as specific as their own front yard . But the trick of Google Earth is not in compile and storing all these paradigm . It ’s getting them to your computer quickly and efficiently . With a 56k dial - upmodem , it would take 12,400 years to download a one - metre resolution image of the Earth [ rootage : Butler ] . But Google Earth makes it seem like a high - resolution picture of the entire world is proper in front of you . Figuring out how to move so much info was one of the platform ’s big hurdles .
One path to burn down on transfer meter is by using your computer’sdisk cache . you could search the details about disc caches inHow Caching Works . For now , let ’s simplify things and define disk cache as impermanent computer memory for files your computer has already accessed . If your computer can temporarily lay in viewed images of the Earth , it wo n’t need to retransfer the trope from the source when you want to take in them again . Google Earth counts on this technology to help speed up transferral time .
Another key to getting all that information on your screen has to do with how your computer processes and expose maps . Google have severalsoftwarepatents that relate to how Google Earth functions . The one patent that really makes the whole affair potential cover something calledUniversal Texture . Universal Texture ( UT ) use two methods for get large sum of selective information to your computer –mip mappingandclip stacking[source : Tanner , Migdal , Jones ] .
Mipmaps are collection of bitmap images that work within a texture to create the illusion of depth . They work in an turn back Pyramids of Egypt structure , pile on each other with each grade having twice the resolution of the one under it . These stacks ultimately create a three - dimensional representation of a two - dimensional image .
Clip stacks are dowery of jumbo mipmaps that are trot to a specified maximum sizing . The benefit of clipping these enormous files is wide-eyed – Google Earth trust on the fact that users will only need to see one objet d’art of the mipmap at a time . When the drug user assure the program where they need to fly , the computer program uses an algorithm to figure out which sections of the larger virtual grain are need and utilise only those sections to create the terminal image [ source : Tanner , Migdal , Jones ] .
just put , Google Earth has created a gargantuan , multi - terabyte , hi - res image of the whole Earth and serves it up one small piece at a metre in bite your computer can easy digest . Zoom in to your front K , and the programme clip forth everything but the front yard and its beleaguer area .
Now get ’s get back to playing with Google Earth . In the next section , we ’ll study how Google Earth can be customise .
Customizing Google Earth
One of the factors that makes Google Earth suffer out from other mapping programs is the storey of customization it offer . you may easy insert placemarks of locations you want to return to or overlay your own images on a mapping you create . It ’s all right there in the toolbar . And if you want to get really fancy , you may spell your own files into Google Earth to display routes , level of interest group , boundary data , et cetera . Much in the fashion anInternetbrowser readsHTML , Google Earth reads a language calledKML . you may open your own KML file in the Google Earth program and see your data exhibit on the Google Earth imagery . To teach about import your own data , check out these links :
Crisis in Darfur– an overlayer developed by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum that maps out the genocide inDarfur . When you activate the overlay , the Darfur region in Sudan is outlined on the orb . marker appear where the Sudanese soldiers and Janjaweed militia have destroyed small town . The markers also tell you how many people were displaced as a result of the destruction of each hamlet . The sheathing includes images , video and articles about the on-going crisis .
Geographic Web Layer– a level with three submarine - layers : theBest of Google Earth Communitylayer , thePanoramiolayer and aWikiPedialayer .
Read on to read about more ways that you may customize Google Earth .
Google Earth Layers
Wild Sanctuary– an sheathing that lets you listen to soundscapes collected by Bernie Kraus . He meet sound from locations across the world in climates ranging from tropic rain forest to the Antartic . When you press a marking , a pop up windowpane come out and the collected sounds begin to play . you could turn the sounds off by closing the pa - up window .
NASA– the space organization has created a few interesting applications for Google Earth . One allow you to consider artificial satellite image ofMars , efficaciously turning your Google Earth into a Martian orb . Another is theBlue Marble Next Generationapplication , which creates a beautiful double of the Earth from space . It activates when you zoom out to take in the Earth as a globe and switch back to regular orbiter view once you zoom in through the atmosphere . It also include the choice to rick on a veridical - time Global Clouds overlay , which is updated every few 60 minutes . Note that only the cloud bed is update ; the estate images beneath the clouds will still be up to three years previous .
ChartGeekandEarthNC– ChartGeek is an overlay of Sectional Maps and TAC charts , used bypilots . In a like vein , EarthNC Plus is an practical app from DestinSharks.com with a level of over 600 marine charts . These chart are probably not a honest replacement for forcible documentation , but can be very useful for planning flights or cruise .
Other layer allow you compare before and after pictures of regions affected by extensive changes . For example , you could view planet images of Greensburg , Kan. , before it was pull down by a drawing string of tornadoes and liken it with pictures taken after the devastation . Users have also created animations using Google Earth to show how a realm changes over metre or how massive implosion therapy due to clime variety could affect a city .
Google Earth is arguably the greatest free download available right on now , and most the great unwashed are thrilled with what it offers – most , but not all .
Google Earth Concerns
Google Earth give aerialphotographsof every substantial inch of the earth readily available to anyone with a computer . mass have kindle concerns about this fact on a couple of different fronts .
Google Earth elicit muscular responses from people the first time they practice it . One common reaction is bold veneration and joy at the dramatically increase access to the world . Another one , which usually like a shot follows the first and has to do with the human impulse to look up one ’s own speech , is , " Oh , that ’s kind of creepy . " While most hoi polloi jazz the theme of viewing the world on their computer , they do n’t have a go at it the idea of the world watch them . Could someone use Google Earth to more efficaciously haunt a target ? Could burglars use Google Earth to case an domain ?
There are a dyad of things to note when consideringpersonal privacyconcerns . First , the information on Google Earth is already available elsewhere ; and second , the imagination is up to three years old . No one is regard satellite data point in real - time using this app . Three - year - one-time data is arguably not very utilitarian to a stalker .
Other concern about the program focus onnational security . Officials in numerous countries have voice business organisation over the level of detail available in the Google Earth applications programme , include Australia , Britain and the United States . After all , terrorist could arguably make use of an app that supplies detailed satellite imagery of the globe . But the most vocal opponent of Google Earth by far is South Korea . South Korea is technically still at war with North Korea and is very upset that any North Korean Tom , Dick or Harry can view South Korean military initiation with the click of a release and a little zoom .
Realistically speaking , if Google can get its hands on this data , then North Korea plausibly already has it . In any event , it ’s deserving observe that anyone in South Korea can zoom in on North Korea ’s atomic research facilities . Google Earth makes spy baby ’s play .
The imaging propose by Google Earth is nothing Modern – Google gets its data from other sources , after all . But the promotion is revolutionary . It no longer takes intensive research to track down a satellite image of theEgyptian pyramidsor of the White House . It takes no research at all . All you have to do is download Google Earth and you ’ve got a bird’s - eye aspect of the reality .
For more information on Google Earth and related topics , check out the connection on the next page .
