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April 30, 2008

Rumor-mill: Google Ocean in the Works

According to CNET, Google is working on a new product rumored to be called "Google Ocean". Apparently Google invited a bunch of oceanography experts last December to discuss creating a 3D oceanographic map. And now, rumors are flying on what might result.

Ever since Google Earth was released in 2005, many people have wondered why the ocean floors seen in relief color were not in 3D. According to posts by some of its developers, part of the reason had to do the 3D model of GE not allowing sub-surface rendering. There have been rumors for a long time Google was planning to add 3D to the oceans and allow sub-surface rendering for Google Earth. So, would this new ocean-viewing capibility mean another new version of Google Earth? Google Earth 4.3 was just released two weeks ago - it seems unlikely we'd see something else new right away. Or is the capability to render ocean floors already built in to 4.3 and they just need to turn on new servers to make the oceans 3D? Or, will we have to wait several months before Google Ocean is released?

There are three approaches to making Google Ocean. First, as suggested above: modifying Google Earth's base terrain model to support ocean floor 3D data. This would be the best approach in my opinion. Keep it all in one application. Second, Google Ocean could be a different dataset like Google Sky where you switch to a different mode - connecting to a different server - still using the Google Earth application. Or, third, Google Ocean could be a whole new application. Hmm....

Google Earth's capability to overlay images and placemark data has already enabled oceanographers and other scientists to add many useful layers of information about our world's oceans. Here are just a few examples of useful marine visualizations for Google Earth:

• Sea Surface Temperature
• Coral Reef Base - a database on the condition of the world's reefs
• Ocean Weather Data Gulf and Western Atlantic
• US Nautical Charts in Google Earth - EarthNC has a ton of Google Earth content for boaters
• Scientific Ocean Drilling Database
• California Marine Protected Areas
• Cruise Ship Positions and Web Cams

Posted by FrankTaylor at 10:43 AM | Comments (8)

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April 23, 2008

Space Debris Viewed in Google Earth

In January 2007, the Chinese military decided to demonstrate their technological prowess by shooting down one of their own satellites in orbit. The action was condemned by governments around the world, but many people may not have realized the real consequence. The Earth's orbit is getting very cluttered with satellites and debris after 50 years of launches from Earth. But, this one decision to explode a satellite in space contributed thousands of potentially deadly projectiles (golf ball sized or larger) into many orbits around the Earth. Each object in orbit is typically flying around the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour (27,400 km/h). The European Space Agency recently shared a press release describing the problem of space debris including some 3D visualizations).

Robert Simpson, who writes the Orbiting Frog blog, had already developed a tool for visualizing orbit tracks in Google Earth. He recently gave a talk on space debris at Cardiff University. Using the orbit tracker, and the data available on all objects tracked in space at Celestrack, he was able to create this visualization showing the positions of all the tracked objects from the destroyed Chinese satellite in Google Earth. Each placemark is a Chinese flag showing the position of tracked debris from that one explosion. This is a network link which will automatically update every 5 minutes with the current position of each object. Read Robert's post for more details and you can get a copy of his presentation.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 8:25 AM | Comments (6)

April 22, 2008

NASA Earth Day Photos in Google Earth

As part of Earth Day, NASA released their top ten favorite photos taken by crew from the International Space Station. Since about half the photos were of locations on the Earth we can see in Google Earth, I decided to create a KML version for the NASA photos (which includes overlays of the images). The other 4 photos from NASA were of atmospheric observations which didn't include details of where (and what direction) the photos were taken. Some of the photos were at oblique angles, so I used the Photo Overlay techniques I described last week to place them. This turned out to be quite a challenge because there are limitations on the Photo Overlay in terms of zoom levels so I could not place myself at the same approximate position as the ISS when the photo was taken. Check out the Mount Everest photo and use the transparency slider to judge how well the photo aligns. Anyway, enjoy!

Posted by FrankTaylor at 6:07 PM | Comments (0)

Google Earth For Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. A time to sit back and think about our wonderful planet, and some of us will be out picking up some trash, or just enjoying nature. For those of you stuck inside due to weather, work, or other reasons - perhaps you might want to spend the day exploring our wonderful planet through the power of Google Earth. Here are a few links of stories from Google Earth Blog (GEB) describing environmental related content available for viewing in Google Earth:

• Basic Tips on Using Google Earth

• Environment Layers - Greenpeace, ARKive (endangered species), Unicef (water and sanitation), UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme)

• Rising Sea Levels - Animations showing what would happen if ice melting caused seas to rise too high - e.g. New York City.

• EPA Air Quality Report - US Environmental Protection Agency's air quality report for Google Earth - called AirNOW

• International Polar Year - Collection of content for Google Earth about the Earth's poles, and science projects ongoing to study the arctic environment. Part of the International Polar Year project.

• Sea Ice Melting - Dramatic animation of data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center showing ice extents from 1979 through March of 2008 on both poles. See other GE data from NSIDC.

• Google Earth Outreach Showcase - See environmental and science content for Google Earth.

• Amazon Indians Using Google Earth - Primitive indians learn to use GPS and Google Earth to help protect their rainforest - true story!

• Upper Green Valley - Issues of gas drilling impacting the environment in one location

• Neighborhood Fights Logging With Google Earth - Neighbors in Santa Cruz, California successfully stop a logging plan by using Google Earth. Read the full story.

• Blue Marble Add-On - This file lets you view a prettier image of the Earth from NASA for Google Earth. It shows the view of the Earth from space, with or without clouds, based on the current month. The clouds are closer to real time - updated every 15 minutes. The picture of the Earth and clouds disappear automatically as you get closer so you can see GE's built in satellite imagery without interference.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 8:55 AM | Comments (1)

April 21, 2008

Google Earth Zooming Music Video

This morning I saw this music video which was created by some students at National Taiwan University (NTU). They have used Google Earth as a presentation medium to capitalize on its ability to show many zoom levels for images all within the same interface. Steven Ho, who has created lots of cool Google Earth content, blogged about this video recently. This was a pretty innovative application of GE, so here it is:

via Steven's blog GEmVG Blog. You can also download in Google Earth one of the two zoomed sets of images shown in the video to see how it was done.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 9:19 AM | Comments (2)

April 18, 2008

Links: GE Lesson, GETools, Microsoft KML, 3D Bridges, Royal Australian 3D, EPA Award

• Stonehenge GE Lesson - Noel Jenkins has released another well-prepared school lesson which involves Google Earth - this one is about Stonehenge. via Noel's JuicyGeography blog.

• GETools - Brian Flood - author of the excellent Arc2Earth tools for GIS folks, is working on some new tools for working with Google Earth. He's working to turn the tools into a product which he's calling GETools. He has been developing various ways to interact with Google Earth through its little-known API (which also hasn't seen a lot of development by Google). Based on some demonstration videos he has released, the tools will enable some pretty cool functions. My favorite is the implementation allowing draggable directions to work inside Google Earth (I believe he's leveraging the Google Maps API to perform the same function in Google Earth - which Google hasn't done themselves!). I'm looking forward to seeing these tools released Brian!

• Microsoft Maps KML Better Than Google Maps - KML was recently approved as an international standard by OGC. But, KML is already reaching wide acceptance in the geospatial visualization world. In fact, it appears Microsoft's implementation for KML in their 2D version of Virtual Earth is better than Google Maps' implementaiton of KML. And, it's true. I've tested it myself. Google Maps does not show large KML files with lots of vector data. But, Microsoft's recent update to Virtual Earth handles them just fine. Google thinks this is a good thing because they are excited to see KML reach broader implementations.

• 3D Bridges - Gerardo Paz of Buenos Aires, Argentina (who translates GEB to Spanish) is also a 3D modeler, and he has posted some excellent 3D models of bridges in Argentina. Notice how he has even edited the underlying imagery to remove the aerial photo of the bridges while replacing them with 3D. You can see all four bridges here in GE. Here's a collection of other bridges found in 3D Warehouse.

• Royal Australian 3D - The Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) has released a layer featuring hundreds of unique buildings and structures in Australia. This is similar to the layer for GE released last year by the American Institute of Architects. In the RAIA layer , each placemark contains photos and details of each site and links to more information. In addition, they have modeled 60 of their favorite structures and uploaded them to the Google 3D Warehouse, so you can easily choose and download them for viewing in Google Earth. I do wish their layer of placemarks highlighted the locations with the 3D models with a different placemark icon and provided a link in the placemarks to download the models. In fact, I sent that as a suggestion. See the Google post about this new content, and the RAIA web page.

• EPA Award - The US Environmental Protection Agency has given an environmental award to Terradex for its development of a Google Earth network link called AirWatch that dynamically shows air quality for the US (and the UK, China, and Mexico City - see post). This work inspired the development of the EPA's AirNow application for Google Earth. See details from Google about the award announcement.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 9:15 AM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2008

New Layers for Google Earth's Sky Mode - April 17

Just a quick note that Google has updated the layers for the Sky mode of Google Earth (viewable with GE 4.2 or the new 4.3 beta). We last had a big update to the Sky layers in January. So, I'm kind of surprised to see even more data added. But, I'm not going to complain!

So, today's update includes several new layers:

• Current Sky Events - This layer folder now has two new additions: 1) Hubblecast - a layer of placemarks showing video clips from the Hubble Space Telescope team showing science mini-documentaries on various astronomical topics. The placemarks show the location of the objects discussed. 2) StarDate - StarDate is the public education and outreach arm of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory. These are radio broadcasts available in English and Spanish, and again placemark places discussed in each clip.

• Education Center - This layer folder also has two new additions: 1) Celestron Skyscout - another astronomy layer which comes from the Celestron telescope company. They have developed Skyscout, which is a "personal planetarium" device that lets you point at objects in the sky and tells you what you are looking at (Read more about Skyscout). I'm guessing this layer is a sample of the content you would get if you had one of these Skyscout devices. 2) Virtual Tourism - this is a much more interesting layer. The layer actually comes from a project by Keir Clarke at Virtual Tourism. He created a Google Maps mashup called Star Viewer which uses the Sky API to show astronomy video clips. Now its a built-in layer for Google Earth's Sky.

There seems to be some problems with the "Our Solar System" layer at the moment. First, there seem to be two copies of each planet in slightly different positions. Double clicking on the planet in the layers doesn't fly you to the location either.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 1:05 PM | Comments (0)

More Thoughts on Google Earth 4.3 (beta)

It's been over 24 hours now, and many thousands of people have had a chance to download the first beta release of Google Earth 4.3. Read GEB's first impressions for screenshots and see the GEB video demonstration. Here are some more observations about GE 4.3, including other new features, and some problems reported with the new release (some of which GEB readers have pointed out in the comments to earlier posts):

• Streaming indicator - the old horizontal streaming indicator which showed the progress of images loading for the current view has been replaced with a small circular streaming "clock"-like indicator. The old one actually showed a numerical percentage. The new one does not. While I understand the desire to not waste the screen with too much information, I would rather have the option to use the old indicator, or have an option to at least show the numerical percentage.

• Imagery dates - When you move your mouse over imagery, Google will show the dates in the lower right - if dates are available. Google says the dates may only be approximate. And, some of the sources of the imagery did not provide date information. Most of the DigitalGlobe satellite imagery have dates, and are more accurate. I'm quite surprised the Spot Image imagery doesn't have dates though. Perhaps they are blends of several dates like the Landsat imagery?

• Mac Flash Support - and Bug - Google has added a frequently requested capability to 4.3 to also support Flash applications inside placemarks, as was done for Windows in 4.2. This means you can now view YouTube videos, and other flash apps on the Mac as well. However, there is a bug with YouTube videos on the Mac. Once you start playing a video, you have to double-click to get the buttons to work (like Pause, the slider, etc.). This needs to be fixed!

• Mac Atmosphere - The new atmosphere on the Mac is too bright, and obscures the view of the Earth. The transparency/brightness needs to be turned down so it looks like the Windows version when viewed on the same screen.

• 3D Buildings - As I've previously said, the performance in 4.3 is much better than with 4.2. However, some people have reported things are slower. I think this has to do with the increase in the number of 3D buildings, or it may be graphics driver issues (make sure to update your graphics drivers). Older graphics cards are going to be slower with more 3D buildings even with the improvements. After testing on several differently aged computers, my tests show 4.3 to be faster in all cases for 3D buildings with comparable numbers of buildings (most of my computers tend to have faster than average 3D cards though). By the way, I would really like to know how Google acquired several complete cities in 3D with photo textures: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Oakland, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Francisco - and there may be more (anyone find any others?). Some of these buildings even appear in Tokyo. These are not in the 3D Warehouse - if you put your mouse over these 3D buildings they don't highlight. It appears the cities may have been at least partially automatically generated. Hamburg also has lots of 3D buildings, but these came from an earlier release from the city itself. One last thing, many new cities also have "gray buildings" (without photo textures) in the new release. [UPDATE - See Google's post about the new 3D buildings.]

• Sunlight - I generally like the sunlight in this version. It's obviously designed to make things look nicer in Google Earth, as opposed to accurately portraying the sun and lighting accurately. If that's the intent, then I wish the atmospheric effects would show more orange and reds when at sunsets/sunrises. There have been reports with some people not getting the expected behavior with the new lighting. It appears there are some graphics driver, or video card incompatibilities with this beta release. If you're having these problems, make sure to report them at the Google Earth Support Forum. Google has been really good at making GE run on a wide variety of platforms and video cards.

• Placemarks - This release of Google Earth appears to have a complete re-write of the placemark description bubbles (probably required in order to enable Flash support for the Mac). Some people using less common browsers have reported problems when following links that they don't open in their browser (e.g. Maxthon).

• Flight Simulator - The Flight Simulator is no longer an "easter egg". It is now enabled as soon as you install 4.3. Look under the Tools menu for "Enter Flight Simulator...". Follow GEB's Flight Simulator tips for how to use it, or read the new Flight Simulator instructions in the GE User Guide. via UsingGoogleEarth blog.

Regarding beta releases: For Google Earth 4.2, Google only released one beta version before releasing the final version. GE 4.0 had several beta releases before the final version. There are several reports now of things needing fixing for this release - I'm sure Google will take all the reports and implement fixes as quickly as possible. If you've got a problem not reported elsewhere, report it at the Support Forum.

Over all, I think this release has some very nice new features. There are several things I would still like to see added in a future version of Google Earth, but the one I want most is: a new user interface for the layers (the current interface makes it too hard to find and use good layers). Google Earth has some really great data, but many people don't realize the data is there. Plus, Google is constantly moving the layers around trying to help, but that means those of us who use it every day have re-learn the locations. Not only that, those of us who blog about layers have to re-edit old posts to point to the new locations - which is a real pain (I still have dozens I'm sure which point to old layer locations).

Stefan at OgleEarth has some thoughts and ruminations about this release. As I stated in my comments to his post, I think Google Earth's strength is its ability to share useful information, but also be able to produce beautiful views of the Earth as well. The new features in 4.3 focused on making it look good (new atmosphere, sunlight, and better 3D buildings) are just as important in my opinion as functional features like showing dates for the imagery. They all contribute to its popularity, and usefulness for different applications (whether scientific, presentational, or even artistic).

Posted by FrankTaylor at 10:32 AM | Comments (27)

April 16, 2008

New Navigation Gadgets in Google Earth 4.3

The new navigation gadgets are a pretty big change from the previous versions of Google Earth. They are designed to help you realize the full potential of the 3D environment in Google Earth. Google has updated the Google Earth User Guide, and they have added the following video to help explain the new gadgets:

Here are some other tips for navigating:

• Fast zoom - You can zoom in/out quickly by pressing the right mouse button and dragging up and down. NOTE: I find it annoying that the direction of motion is the opposite from the behavior of the zoom gadget (up is out, down is in for the mouse zoom).

• CTRL arrow keys - you can move your view like with the "look around" gadget by pressing CTRL and using the arrow keys on your keyboard to move your view.

• Middle Mouse Button - if you have a 3 button mouse, use your middle mouse button. Click and hold the middle button - you now get a marker for the place you clicked and you can hold the button down and use your mouse to tilt and rotate about that point. This is a little different than in previous versions of Google Earth, but it works quite well.

• Reset your view - to get your self re-oriented quickly - click in the 3D window and then hit the "r" key on your keyboard. This resets to "straight-down, north-up" viewing.

• New shortcuts - Here's some other tips on shortcuts for navigating from the new user guide.

Also, read the official GE User Guide on navigation (as linked above).

Posted by FrankTaylor at 10:32 AM | Comments (11)

April 15, 2008

Video Demo of Google Earth 4.3

For a fast look at the main new features of Google Earth 4.3, here's a 6 minute video demonstration. Everything you see is with the free version of Google Earth 4.3 (download here). Shown in the video are the new day/night lighting effects, new 3D buildings, new 3D navigation gadgets, and, of course, the new Street View imagery inside Google Earth. You need to download the new Google Earth 4.3 to see these new features (see tips on getting the brand new download). Read my mini-review of GE 4.3 for more details on the new features. Here's the video:

Posted by FrankTaylor at 10:01 PM | Comments (5)

Google Earth 4.3 First Impressions and Screenshots

[UPDATE 2145 ET: I've created a quick video demo of 4.3 and put it on YouTube .... And, here is a YouTube demo by Google of 4.3].

Google Earth 4.3 (beta) is now available - it's available for all versions including the free version. You can download it from the Google Earth download page or download it on GEB's download page. The Google Earth web site has been updated, and the User Guide now reflects 4.3 tips.

This is Google Earth 4.3 (beta) - an incremental update with new features and some pretty cool new data as well. Based on the last release, we'll probably see an update to this version, fixing any problems that surface for the beta, and an official 4.3 will be released in a few weeks. Also, this is NOT a major new version (which presumably would be called GE 5.0 - and would contain a whole suite of new capabilities, data and interfaces). However, as mentioned in my earlier post, there are some significant new features.

First off, we have new day/night lighting effects. You can turn on a real-time sunlight which shines on the new atmospheric lighting Google has added. Look for the new sun icon in the upper middle (next to the new Sky button). Once it loads, you will see the current position of the sun. You can grab the time slider to change the sun over the course of a whole day so you can see the sun from sunrise to sunrise. Note that the lighting effects the atmosphere, so you actually get color changes near the horizon, and on clouds (if you turn on the Weather->Clouds layer). Here are some sample screenshots showing the lighting effects:

Day / Night Shot from Space
Sunrise in Denver with 3D Buildings

I expect there will be some pretty screenshots showing some cool lighting effects in the coming days...

Keep reading this post for more details and screenshots.

Next, let's look at Street View. Turn on the Street View layer in the lower left. As you zoom in over the US, you'll see gold camera icons representing locations with Street Views. You can zoom in closer to see vast arrays of Street View icons. If you click on one, you get a placemark description allow you to "Jump into Street View". This takes you inside the Google Earth Photo Viewer and lets you pan and zoom around on the inside of the Street View panorama you selected. As you look around, you will see successive Street View icons available down the streets. You can double click those to move to that next Street View image. Here's a screenshot showing several spherical Street View panoramas which you can see if you zoom closer (not all Street Views are spherical however - these were seen in Raleigh, North Carolina).

Street View in Google Earth

Next up - New and faster 3D models. Google has optimized the loading and performance of 3D buildings. When you first turn on the 3D Buildings layer near a city with models, you'll see simplistic versions of the buildings load up really fast, then they gradually get more solid and load more texture detail. Meanwhile, performance of the scene updates quite speedy. This is a huge improvement over 4.2 which would get bogged down on a city like Denver which had hundreds of models. For models which come from the Google 3D Warehouse, when you float your mouse over a building the model highlights in "blue". If you select it, you see a placemark description telling you about the model and providing a link back to 3D Warehouse. But, here's some real news! It just so happens my home city is Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh is one of several cities with hundreds of new buildings which appear to have been automatically generated. I've asked some Googlers about this, but so far they're not telling me where they came from. But, practically the entire city area has photorealistic 3D buildings (but, no trees!). I have no idea how many cities have the new buildings. But, here's a few I found: San Francisco, Baltimore, Raleigh, Charlotte, Boston, Orlando, Austin, Oakland, and Phoenix (let me know if you find more). You can tell if they are the new ones because they don't highlight "blue" when you put your mouse on them. Here's a screenshot of San Francisco:

San Francisco in Google Earth 4.3

One other thing - I noticed Google favors showing a user-built 3D model over the new "automatically" generated buildings. So, you'll see a mixture for most cities of the two types. [UPDATE 4/17: Google has posted more details about the 3D Buildings in 4.3]

Next up - New navigation gadgets and controls. This one will be a little hard to explain in words. I'm going to have to do a video to demonstrate. The intent here is obviously to help people realize Google Earth is really 3D. I've always been surprised by the number of people who use Google Earth and only look straight down (like with Google Maps satellite views). Google has tried to address this with the new gadgets. First, the new zoom gadget at the bottom seems to work the same, but when you zoom in close to the ground it will tilt your view increasingly to the horizontal. Next up, the middle gadget does panning pretty much like the normal gadget. The really new feature is the top right gadget. The gadget with the "all-seeing-eye" (I imagine lots of people are going to make jokes about Google putting the "eye of providence" in Google Earth). This gadget allows you to look around in 3D like you are standing in one place. It takes some getting used to, but if you are in a city, or near 3D terrain, it really works pretty slick! Another tip, if you click your Middle Mouse Button, you now get a marker for the place you clicked and you can hold the button down and use your mouse to tilt and rotate about that point. This is a little different than in previous versions of Google Earth, but it works pretty well. I'll give more details and a video in a future post about this. Important tip: to get your self re-oriented quickly - click in the 3D window and then hit the "r" key on your keyboard. This resets to "straight-down, north-up" viewing.

And, now for Imagery dates. This one is really simple. Zoom in to imagery and put your mouse over it. If you are close enough, and the imagery has a date available, you'll see a date appear in the status bar at the bottom. Like this:

One other major new feature is Mac support of Flash (works pretty much like with Windows - but, there's some weirdness with YouTube playback). And that's all I have time for now.

[UPDATE - here's some more GEB thoughts and details on the new release.]

If you're having problems with Google Earth 4.3, report them to the Google Earth Support Forum, or read this post for some pointers on 4.3 and instructions on how to go back to 4.2.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 7:35 PM | Comments (81)

Google Earth 4.3 - First Look - How to Download

Just now downloaded Google Earth Version 4.3 (beta) off the Google servers!

[UPDATE: You should be able to go to the official download page to get 4.3 now. You won't need to use the trick below.]
In order to get it, I had to go to the old way of downloading Google Earth. Please note: the following method will bypass the Google Updater method, but will enable you to get an early look if you can't wait to see the new version. Further note: Not all the servers will have the new version. You may not get 4.3 when you try this! So, if you're in a hurry, click here to download old method. If you're more patient, the better way is to visit the official Google Earth download page after waiting a few hours for the servers to completely deploy.

Real quick, here is a couple of screenshots to whet your appetite. I will begin writing a mini-review of the main new features next and developing some videos. So...here is what Google Earth 4.3 looks like:

Notice new day/night lighting, new nav gadgets in upper right
Street View in Google Earth

Notice in the second shot this is a close-up view of Street Views (normally you see gold camera icons). You click on a sphere and you enter inside and can look around (or double-click a camera icon). You can then double-click on camera icons to be flown to other views (from within the sphere). This is done through the GE Photo Viewer interface, and works pretty well. Turn on the Street View layer to see the icons, and then fly to a city with the icons to see them up close.

[UPDATE - First mini review with more screenshots here]

Posted by FrankTaylor at 6:25 PM | Comments (22)

Google Releasing Google Earth 4.3 Today

[UPDATED: 0815 ET - Added features: Flash on the Mac, and faster switching to Sky]

Today Google will be releasing a new version of Google Earth: Version 4.3. The download isn't available yet, but will be sometime later today. Based on past experience, the download will be available in some areas of the world sooner than others (many servers are needed to distribute to the millions of world-wide GE users). GEB will release full details and screen shots as soon as possible. Here are some of the more notable new features expected in GE 4.3:

• Street View inside Google Earth - As rumored weeks ago, Street View will be here soon. And, yes - the images will be viewed with the Photo Viewer. That answers that question.

• Imagery Dates - You will now be able to easily see the dates when imagery was taken for most imagery (but, not all - simply because the date data isn't always available from the many imagery providers delivering to Google).

• New navigational controls - New features enabling better ways to look around at 3D buildings and 3D terrain using new navigation gadgets and your mouse or keyboard.

• More 3D buildings, faster loading - Faster loading 3D building models, and faster rendering as well. New photo-textured cities (it will be interesting to find out how they were made, where they came from, and how many new cities are included).

• Day/Night Lighting - Real-time sunlight lighting option. Time slider control of the sun position. Expect a more realistic looking view of Earth from space. This has been done before by others, but now will be available built-in and supported by Google.

• Flash Support for Mac - That's right, you'll now be able to play YouTube videos and put other flash apps inside Google Earth placemarks just like on Windows. There may be a couple of caveats though from reports I have. More on this later.

• Switching to Sky Faster - Switching between Sky and Earth modes will be much faster.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 3:01 AM | Comments (13)

April 14, 2008

Google Earth's KML Now International Standard

The file format developed initially for Google Earth to exchange geographic information and mapping presentations is now an international standard. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) will now take control over the KML standard. Here's Google's comments on the KML file format:

KML was originally created as a file format for Google Earth, allowing users to overlay their own content on top of our base maps and imagery. It's since become something much larger -- KML has become the HTML of geographic content, the dominant way to share user-created maps online. There are now tens of millions of KML files available online, hosted on more than 100,000 unique domain names. KML is supported by a large and growing number of vendors and products, and can no longer simply be described as Google Earth's file format. Because it has transcended Google Earth in scope, and even outgrown Google itself, we have decided to give it away.

I know the Google team have been working hard to develop KML features and documentation, and working with the OGC over the course of the past few years to make this a standard. It's a testament to their hard work, the support of millions of users of KML, and the support of many companies participating in the OGC that this standard has been accepted.

via Google Lat Long. Also, see CNET news article.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 1:45 PM | Comments (2)

Advanced Photo Placement in Google Earth

The other day GEB mentioned a research project called Viewfinder which is attempting to greatly simplify the process for placing photos in the precise orientation the photos were taken for viewing with Google Earth. When version 4.2 was released last August, Google added new KML features and a Photo Viewer mode which lets you share and see photos the way they were taken - in 3D position. The photos can be normal snapshots, panoramas or complete 360 spheres as well (see this helicopter example). Not only that, but you can also have super-high resolution photos where more details are brought in as you zoom (see the Gigapxl photos for example, found under the Gallery layer folder).

If your photo shows terrain or 3D buildings which happen to be modeled in Google Earth, you can match your photo to the background for comparing your photo to the Google Earth world. The Viewfinder video demonstrates the results of this really well.

You can actually enter your photos using the built in Google Earth interface for adding a photo (see user guide tips). However, it can be a bit tricky to place the photos correctly. I've created a short video on how to do it. First, I found some photos by turning on the Geographic Web layer. Good candidates are photos with 3D terrain - so, I chose one at Yosemite National Park. Watch this short video for a quick tutorial on adding a photo aligned with background terrain:

(Click here for higher quality version)

Keep reading for more details and advanced photo techniques for Google Earth.

You can add your own photos, or find photos on other sites like I've done in the video from Panoramio. Here's a link to the resulting KML file for the photo of the Mirror Lake shown in the video (photo by 'andybandi' at Panoramio). And here is another photo of the Grand Canyon in Google Earth (photo by 'DJR' at Panoramio). You can use your scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom in/out.

Not all the terrain in Google Earth is such an exact match. Google has been gradually adding terrain with higher resolution (for examples, see here, and here). Places with high resolution terrain include: the US, parts of western Canada, Swiss Alps, New Zealand, and Portugal.

Advanced: See the tutorial by GELessons on using DigitalUrban's Photo Overlay Creator tool for processing very high resolution photos. Also see DigitalUrban's tutorial. There are also details at the Google Earth site about adding photo overlays. One More Tip: the process of moving around to adjust photo position when adding a photo is greatly enhanced if you use a SpaceNavigator.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 8:42 AM | Comments (4)

April 11, 2008

Links: GE/SketchUp Classes, Sea Ice Update, Bergen Terrain, Waldo

• Google Earth and SketchUp Classes Available - Alex Oliver of school (which does great SketchUp Training DVDs and samples on their site - see GEB review), has written to let me know they are the first Google Authorized Training Center (ATC) in the US. They now offer live training classes for SketchUp and Google Earth! The Google Earth class is currently being taught in 17 locations around the country and more being added each week. Here is the schedule of classes available. More details on the classes are on this page.

• Sea Ice Update - The folks at the Snow and Ice Data Center have updated their Sea Ice Extent KML file. This file shows a time animation of the extent of ice at both poles. There is a magenta colored line which shows the average ice extent for comparisons. The new file not only includes the new March data, but also has a new option to turn off the layer when not in use. This makes it easier to keep the network link in your Place pane. See the GEB review of the Sea Ice Extent file. NOTE: there's also a new "Greenland Annual Surface Ice Melt" file at their GE page.

• Bergen Terrain - Here's an interesting tip. A GEB reader from Norway named Ove Daae Lampe wrote to let me know the recent upgrade to the data layers included a high resolution terrain map for Bergen, Norway. This is very high resolution terrain - possibly from LIDAR? So high that buildings were captured and show up as bumps in the terrain. However, overall, the terrain looks very good, and makes me want to visit Bergen someday! The bumps in the terrain from the buildings will make it interesting when they go to put 3D models of the buildings. According to Mr. Lampe, they will soon have 3D buildings for the entire city as well.

• 

  Waldo - An artist in Vancouver, Melanie Coles, wrote me an E-mail last week about her efforts (along with other art students) to place a huge 55' tall "Where is Waldo" character on the top of a building (see the blog). The idea being it would be caught by a satellite (or aerial photo) and placed in Google Earth someday. To help things along, they took their own aerial photo of it. I was able to find the location where they did it based on the photo, and I've added their photo as an image overlay in Google Earth . Their photo was taken at an angle (not straight down), so it isn't stretched properly over the scenery. But, you get the idea. Turns out her project has grabbed the attention of the media. Unfortunately, Google recently updated the imagery for Vancouver (although I've had reports they used four or more year old imagery). So, I have no idea how long it will be before they get new imagery. Hopefully someone will get a decent straight-down shot for Google to include. This isn't the first time Waldo has appeared in Google Earth.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 10:01 AM | Comments (7)

Impressive Upgrade to Virtual Earth 3D

Well, Microsoft has been working hard. Last night they released a major upgrade to Virtual Earth that includes some impressive new features. Here's an excellent summary of the new features by Microsoft Steve Lombardi. NOTE: you will have to install the new version when you go to visit the Virtual Earth site - virtualearth.com and click on the 3D option. Let me summarize the key new features I see from a Google Earth perspective:

1. 

   Improved 3D buildings - Virtual Earth 3D already had more buildings with consistent quality textures (compared to GE). But, the texture resolution was low. They've now upgraded the texture resolution, increased the range of coverage to suburb areas, AND are now rendering trees as well! So far, only Las Vegas, Dallas, Denver and Phoenix have this new "version 2" upgrade. But, they promise hundreds of cities by the end of the year. Here's my initial impression: Models for the first city I tried took a while to load, but not terribly slow. Textures definitely look better, although not a huge increase in resolution. For some reason anti-aliasing is not working on my computer so edges on models look jaggy. The trees look really good - at least in Las Vegas. If they are automatically rendering trees from photogrammetry, I'm really impressed! [UPDATE 1030 ET: Steve pointed me to a new blog post, by Jerry Skaw of Microsoft, sharing more details about the 3D rendering. And the trees are automatically generated - and it matches my guess at how they would do it. See the post for more details and screenshots.]

2. Export to KML - Microsoft has added the ability to export collections (their equivalent of placemarks) to KML, GPX, and GeoRSS. This means you can now save collections to files and use them in other things like Google Earth, or put placemarks on your GPS. Another step in improving functionality for practical use.

3. 3D Modeling Improved Also - Steve also mentions that their 3D modeling tool, 3DVidia, was also upgraded. I'll have to look at it, but the earlier version didn't seem as good as SketchUp.

4. Bird's Eye Enhanced - You can now see street/map labels inside Bird's Eye views. This is a cool trick in projection since the photos are taken at different angles. It makes Bird's Eye much more useful as well. Cool feature!

5. MapCruncher integration - MapCruncher is Microsoft's application that lets you place maps and photos over a location very accurately. They've now integrated this with Virtual Earth 3D. I haven't tested this yet. But, since VE3D was missing a way to put image overlays into their world, this is a step in the right direction. I just wonder how hard it will be to use. GE has a very easy and intuitive interface for adding image overlays. But, it doesn't have the ability to accurately project them into other than rectangular overlays.

6. Explore Collections - Steve called this GeoWeb Explorations. It's kind of like dynamically searching for user content as you move your view. Something I think Google Earth should be doing as well. You find the option in VE3D under the "Collections->Explore" option in the upper right. They have added the ability to filter your searches by KML, or other tags that appear in your scene. And, you can filter based on photos, OR 3D models. I'm guessing Microsoft has developed their own equivalent of 3D Warehouse with a few models. I haven't found a lot of models available in this mode yet.

7. Movie Capture - Microsoft has a new capability to make movies and even claim the ability to capture up to HD quality movies. Google Earth Pro does not do a good job of capturing movies at higher frame rates (probably due to using the built-in Microsoft video codec). But, I use Fraps and can capture HD for GE anyway.

8. Real-time Traffic - Microsoft has a new traffic application called ClearFlow that allows it to predict traffic patterns based on other traffic data. This sounds like impressive stuff. See the NY Times article, and Mickey says some good stuff about it at Digital Earth Blog. Mickey also notes what they really need is a mobile version - which I'm sure will come eventually.

9. Improved KML Support - Steve says they can support KML files with a new "&mapurl=" parameter - meaning you can add the URL of a KML file without having to load it inside the app. He notes this means you can view a Google Mays MyMap inside Virtual Earth. Interesting! I tried this, but it is a little tricky. Steve gives example URLs for how to use the new parameter. You then look for the "View in Google Earth" inside your Google MyMaps and copy that link as your URL.

Overall - I would say this is a significant upgrade to Virtual Earth. The new features have some impressive capabilities. I'm obviously a big fan of Google Earth, so my opinion may be slanted. But, I still feel the Virtual Earth 3D interface is not as friendly or smooth as Google Earth. It will be interesting to see whether the inclusion of MapCruncher makes it easier for people to add content like image overlays. The enhancement to the 3D buildings is welcome, as is the slick addition of labels for Bird's Eye imagery. The 3D buildings (and trees!) and Bird's Eye imagery are still the main two attractions for me to use Virtual Earth 3D. But, not enough for me to use it every day.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 8:38 AM | Comments (15)

April 10, 2008

Links: Viewfinder, KML in the North, GE Pro Address Trick, Boy Finds Home

• ViewFinder - A project at the University of Southern California (USC) has been published which describes research into ways to improve the way photos can be placed in Google Earth. Last August Google added a new photo capability that lets you place photos as they are taken (completely in 3D including zoom, height, angle, etc.). Once a photo is aligned, you can compare it to the 3D data in Google Earth. They put together a great video showing what this looks like in Google Earth You can read the results of their project at the site. Lucky for them, the New York Times wrote about it, and yesterday Boing Boing as well. Here's the video:

• KML in the North - John Bailey wrote me to say they are having a Google Earth presentation in Fairbanks on April 23rd. They even have one of the GE team members up to give a talk.
  

• GE Pro Address Trick - I didn't know it could do that!
  

• Boy Finds Home - The Times of India writes about a young man who was displaced from his home as a young boy, but searches Google Earth to rediscover where he lived.
  

Posted by FrankTaylor at 9:15 AM | Comments (1)

More Global Awareness Layers: ARKive and WaterAid

Last year, when the Google Earth Outreach program was announced, I predicted there would be a wave of new content once Google began working closely with all the non-profit organizations to develop Google Earth content. Well, during the last week, we have definitely see the first wave of new content. There are another two new layers added to the Global Awareness layer folder (read about the new process when layers are added):

• ARKive - ARKive is a "unique collection of thousands of videos, images and fact-files illustrating the world's species." Clever name! They have chosen to share a subset of their collection in Google Earth focused on endangered species. You can find the layer under the Global Awareness folder at: ARKive: Endangered Species. Each placemark contains a photo of the species, description of the species, and what is threatinging them. There are also links to the ARKive site for images and movies of the species.
  
  
  

• WaterAid - WaterAid is an international charity whose mission is "to overcome poverty by enabling the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education." This layer shows water drop placemarks in places where the organization is working to help with these water problems. Each placemark has a photo, description of the project, and link back to the main site for more details. This layer can be found under the Global Awareness layer folder under WaterAid

Stefan Geens at OgleEarth points out that the Tracks4Africa layer, which shows GPS tracks and points of interest for areas not well mapped in Africa, has been substantially updated and now also includes photos from people contributing. This layer can be found under the Gallery layer folder under Tracks4Africa.

[UPDATE 1310 ET: Richard Treves blogs that he attended the Outreach event at the Google London offices where these new layers were announced.]

Other layers introduced in the last week:

• Greenpeace
• US Holocaust Memorial Museum - World is Witness
• Unicef: Water and Sanitation
• United Nations Refugees

Posted by FrankTaylor at 8:11 AM | Comments (0)

April 9, 2008

Google 3D Warehouse Supporting Street View

The Google 3D Warehouse has recently added a new feature. If you are viewing a 3D model of a building where Street View pictures are available, you get a "tab" at the top which shows the Street View mode for that location. You can move around as with other Street View API applications. There was already a tab for Google Maps views for 3D models which have been tagged on the map. But, this new tab is an excellent example of Google using their own tools in a smart way!

Below is an example of a 3D Warehouse model of shopping center in Boulder, Colorado. If - after you visit the page - you click on the tab at the top called "Street View" you get an interactive panoramic view of the location for that model that looks like this:

Unfortunately, in some cities the Street View photos are limited in their ability to look up and down. So, if it's a tall building you sometimes can't see the upper stories, only the street-level view. For example, look at the John Hancock Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Anyway, kudos to the Google Earth team for "eating their own lunch" and using Street Views for 3D Warehouse!

Posted by FrankTaylor at 4:55 PM | Comments (2)

April 8, 2008

New Google Earth Layers Process - April 2008

During the last week, Google has slowly rolled out several new layers for Google Earth. One notable thing about this is that they have changed the way they introduce layers to Google Earth. It used to be they would roll out several new layers all at once during a bi-monthly layer update process. Now, Google seems to have changed the process so they can add new layers on a daily basis if needed. This makes it possible to spread out the news on important new layers and keep new content coming to Google Earth on a regular basis.

When a new layer is added, if you re-load Google Earth, the new layers are automatically turned on. Either through the Preview layer under the Geographic Web layer folder, and/or directly in the layer folder the new layer belongs. Also, they have re-organized some of the layers during these deployments. The Terrain layer is now at the bottom of the list, and some of the other layers changed position slightly. Now, I just wish Google would improve the interface for the layers in Google Earth. A new version of GE with the ability to search layers is needed.

In addition to the other layers already mentioned, Google also rolled out a new layer for the "Every Human Has Rights" campaign. This layer is designed to highlight human rights and is another Google Earth Outreach effort which now has a default layer under the Global Awareness layer folder called The Elders: Every Human Has Rights. Stefan Geens of OgleEarth helped with the creation of this layer, and has more details.

Other layers introduced in the last week:

• Greenpeace
• US Holocaust Memorial Museum - World is Witness
• Unicef: Water and Sanitation
• United Nations Refugees

Posted by FrankTaylor at 1:12 PM | Comments (4)

New UN Refugee Information in Google Earth

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has released, with help from Google Earth Outreach, new Google Earth content which documents UN projects involving Refugee camps. The announcement was made today in Geneva where the UN world headquarters are located. Google Earth Outreach Director Rebecca Moore was on hand for the announcement as were several notables of the United Nations.

The new content for Google Earth can be found at a special web page for the UNHCR here. Or, you can simply follow this link to download the file for Google Earth. Once loaded you zoom in to different areas of the world to get placemarks with information on UN Refugee projects. The placemarks are categorized with different icons representing different types of information (as shown in the legend on the left). Some of the placemarks contain YouTube videos showing the camps, or interviews with refugees. And, there are photos and stories, with links back to their web site. There is also support for other languages.

Presumably the layer will be updated periodically with new information, and possibly it will be added to the Google Earth Global Awareness layer. This is one of several new layers introduced recently by the Google Earth Outreach team. Last week we had the Greenpeace layer introduced in Hamburg, Germany; two more layers from UNICEF and US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

Space Navigator for Notebooks Reviewed

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the 3D Mouse from 3DConnexion called the SpaceNavigator. It is my favorite way to move around in Google Earth. You use it in combination with your regular mouse, but it gives you control over your 3D scene like no other device (see video). But, until today, the new lighter version called the SpaceNavigator for Notebooks was under wraps. I was fortunate enough to be given one for testing a few weeks ago, and I've been enjoying carrying this new version in my laptop case (see below for my comments). The new version comes with a stylish black-leather carrying case, perfect for storing in your laptop case. Here's a comparison shot of the new smaller version to the standard size model most of you have been using (or wanted):

As you can see, the new version is almost half the weight, but is only a little smaller in size. Both units have a steel bottom to help keep it still when you are pushing and pulling to get the desired 3D movement. Since the new version is lighter, you will sometimes find yourself lifting it off the table top (especially if you use the regular model). But, I find it gives me the desired motion and doesn't bother me at all when I sometimes lift it off the table. You can also hold it in your other hand for more intense movement requirements, but I rarely find that necessary. For precise work, I just hold the base with thumb and pinky finger and move the knob with the other fingers - the size and shape of the new version is perfect for this. At least for my hand size.

The original Space Navigator only costs US $59 for the Personal Edition (for educators and personal use), and $99 for the Standard Edition for professionals (same unit just a different license). The new portable Space Navigator for Notebooks has a suggested retail price of $129. If you are a serious user of 3D applications like Google Earth, Second Life, SketchUp, etc. - and you do a lot of travel - the higher cost will definitely be worth the lighter weight.

If you haven't used a SpaceNavigator, you really should try one out. They plug into your USB port, but the unique capability is its ability to simultaneously control multiple axes of motion. You feel like you are a cinematic camera operator while driving Google Earth (or other 3D applications). Or, when you're flying over ground, you feel like an expert helicopter pilot. Most of the videos I've made demonstrating Google Earth features were made using a SpaceNavigator.

Keep your eyes open (or your news feed tuned) to Google Earth Blog for a future giveaway of one or more of these beauties. If you already have a Space Navigator, you'll love the new Space Navigator for Notebooks! (Note: 3DConnexion advertises on my blog - but, that isn't the reason I use mine every day, nor why I encourage people to get them).

Posted by FrankTaylor at 8:25 AM | Comments (2)

April 7, 2008

New York Times in Google Earth

Google and the New York Times have worked together to release a real-time news feed for Google Earth (see the announcement). Although several news organizations have experimented with KML feeds of news for Google Earth (the best current example being CBS news), this is the first time Google has supported a news layer in the built-in layers of Google Earth.

The New York Times layer (or NY Times for short) is a network link which automatically updates with the latest geographically tagged stories. Click on an icon to get a summary of articles available for that location. Click on an article to get a short summary of the story, Click on "Read more at NY Times" for the full article on your web browser.

As expected, the system is set up to be as automated as possible. It appears stories not tagged by the author are scanned for location information (towns, cities, countries) and it takes a guess for the location. In addition to different cities getting a summary, each country with news also has a summary icon which holds all the news for that summary location. Most of the stories look properly located. However, I saw a story about a French yacht stolen by pirates in Somalia, but the placemark for it is "France". I would have preferred to know the location where the yacht was stolen. At this point, I'm just conjecturing, but I hope news writers will be allowed to submit more exact location coordinates for their stories so we can get the reporter's best information. If the whole system is automated, the value of this layer will be reduced in my opinion.

There are two ways to find the New York Times layer:

1. Turn on the Geographic Web layer - which contains previews of many of the built-in layers. Zoom in until you see one of the NY Times icons (with the gothic "T") and click on one. Then, in the upper left, click on "Show this layer" to turn on all the currently available news placemarks. You can turn off the Geographic Web layer if you want to reduce the number of icons. But, the photos, Wikipedia placemarks, and GEC placmarks in the Geographic Web layer could be useful for getting a better perspective on each location.

2. Or, you can go to the Gallery layer folder, open it up, and look for the New York Times layer to turn it on/off. As seen here:
   

Posted by FrankTaylor at 2:05 PM | Comments (3)

April 4, 2008

Big Google Earth News Roundup - April 4th, 2008

The month of April has started off with a Big Bang of Google Earth and related news. Already GEB has covered: huge April imagery update; Google Earth April Fools Joke (see the video) by Google and by others; New Layers (here and here); 2008 Olympic Torch Relay; new contour lines in Google Maps terrain; and the cool new Seero live video mapping site. But, that's not all - read on for a number of other interesting Google Earth-related news stories:

• Spacenavigator in Second Life - My favorite 3D mouse device for Google Earth - the 3D Connexion Space Navigator - is now going to be supported by popular 3D virtual world Second Life. Space Navigator has already been supported by many other 3D applications like Virtual Earth, SketchUp, etc. (see the official list of supported applications). The support by Second Life has been a much anticipated capability, and I'm anxious to try it out. Stefan Geens has already blogged a mini-review and has also tried the beta release of the driver for Second Life. He also shared a video showing Space Navigator being demoed with Second Life.

• StreetView in Google Earth - Rafe Neeleman of Webware posted an unsubstantiated report from an unnamed source that Street View is coming to Google Earth. This wouldn't surprise me at all, as this is an obvious direction to go with the great Street View content. See a post by GEB in February where I discuss the possible ways this could be done. It could be done either in a flash application inside a placemark, or as a Photo Overlay placemark inside Google Earth, or both. via DigitalEarthBlog.

• Google Earth Community over 1 Million - The Google Earth Community recently crossed over 1 million registered subscribers. Given that there's typically 20 times as many anonymous readers as there are registered readers at any given moment in the forums, this barely describes the number of people who read it. But, it is a very significant milestone. If you look at the main forum list page at the GEC, at the bottom of the page are the statistics.

• LoadMyTracks 1.1 - This free Mac OS X application has been upgraded and includes even more features for uploading and downloading GPS tracks between your device and the Mac. And it includes good Google Earth support. Stefan at OgleEarth says it's his GPS utility of choice for the Mac.

• Google Earth 3D Chip Design - TechOn has an interesting article describing how a company called Gem Design Technologies is using Google Earth to visualize chip designs in 3D. I suggest they not only do that, but also make their models SketchUp compatible and they can choose GE or SketchUp and use a Space Navigator to really view their models.

• NOAA Marine Charts - Peio contacted me by E-mail to let me know about his demonstration of taking NOAA marine raster charts (image scans of charts) and creating a Google Maps mashup to view the charts. As you zoom in you get increasingly detailed charts for all the US coastlines and other areas covered by NOAA. The mashup also lets you adjust the transparency levels for the maps and labels. Peio also is working on a KML/Google Earth version - he shared a video demonstration of this. GEB previously wrote about the really great vector marine charts created specifically for Google Earth by EarthNC. Having the raster versions could prove useful as another way visualize the data, but I think the vector data is more powerful since you can choose what data you want to view. Plus, EarthNC continues to grow a vast amount of capabilities for live chart tracking with GPS, current weather overlays, buoy data reports, live vessel tracking, and more. But, the more information the better!

• 3D Warehouse Additions - the Google 3D Warehouse has received some recent refinements. You can now do Advanced Searching for models; you can now share collections (look at a collection you own and there is a new "Share" link); and you may get a "You might also like" recommendations for models you're looking at.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

Seero Releases Live Video with GPS Following for Google Earth

Seero - the new live geo-located video broadcasting site, which GEB mentioned two weeks ago went out of beta, has now released some KML content for their site that has interesting implications. First, they have KML files for each broadcaster which show placemarks for locations of each video they have at Seero. See for example, Craig Stanton's video content in a KML who has lots of videos from a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, and is currently starting a hike across Japan. Craig is using Seero to show live videos which are GPS tracked as well. With Seero this means you can follow along the position as a video is being taken on a mobile journey. See the Seero demo of this in Google Maps here. What is really neat is that with Seero you can either view these live video broadcasts in Google Maps at their site, or now view them in Google Earth. Here is a link to the Seero Live KML network link showing all live broadcasters through Seero. If you manage to catch a live one where the person is using a GPS, the placemarks will move along as the person is moving, and you can watch the Video in the placemark description. David Rothchild, Chief Creative Officer of Seero, shared with me that Dan Rummel, technical lead at Seero, just gave a tech talk at Google explaining how this was done (see the Google Tech Talk video here). I haven't watched it yet, but Dan told me last week he planned to share some of the technical challenges and solutions they addressed in getting their placemarks to stay visible while live updating the placemark positions.

Since Seero is so new, there aren't a lot of live broadcasts yet. But, as more people become aware of this new capability - and more phones get built-in GPSes, video capability, and unlimited Internet connectivity - you can expect a lot more live video geoblogging to occur through Seero. This has exciting implications for all kinds of social networking applications. You will be able to watch live broadcasting of events and get that geospatial context that can be so important. I expect this to add to the impetus of news broadcasters providing maps with locations or even geo-tagging their news content.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 2:58 PM | Comments (1)

Google Earth Imagery Update for April - Official Details

The imagery update which was released this Tuesday was pretty big. In fact, the official list just released is quite lengthy. Google has just posted the answers to their little riddle post, and the details which I'll repeat here for your enjoyment. Oh, and it's not only imagery, but also new higher resolution 3D terrain in Montbeliard, France; Antarctica; Portugal; and Fort Saskatchewan, Canada. Thanks to all the GEB readers who contributed to the list I was updating this week to help people find new imagery! Also, note that there are several new countries with Spot Image 2.5 meter (medium resolution) data - Like North Korea and near its border in China. You're going to love exploring all this new imagery.

Here's the official - and lengthy - list of new coverage and updates for this release:

New high resolution:
Americas:
- Canada: British Columbia, Catham (ON), London (ON), Guelph (ON), Meadford (ON), Thornburry (ON), parts of Division 15 and 6 (MB), Peterborough (ON), Catham (ON), Vancouver Island (BC), Sainte-Marie (QC)
- USA: Sitka (AK), Warren County (TN), Dayton (OH), Greenville (SC), Kingsport (TN), Lufkin (TX)
- Mexico: Tehuacan, Poza Rica, Cordoba, San Cristobal, Tulancingo, Comitan, Guanajuato, Texmelucan, Valle Hermoso, Etzatlan, Ocotlan, Bernal
- Bolivia: Camiri, Monteagudo, Paracti
- Cuba: El Cobre, Puerto Padre, Santa Lucia, Trinidad, Manicaragua, Placetas, Rodas, Guines, Artemisa, Guanajay, Consolacion del Sur
- Colombia: Barrancabermeja, Cartaga, Magangue, Piedecuesta, Ipiales, Plato, Pajuil, Pitalito,
- Costa Rica: Manuel Antonio, Cartago, San Ramon
- Brazil: Santa Maria, Taubate, Angra dos Reis, Alagoinhas, Garanhuns, Santa Cruz do Sul, Catolina, Cruz Alta, Congonhas, Rolandia, Leopoldina, Itaqui, Panambi, Rio Pardo, Piraju, Santa Quiteria, Ibirama, Orleans, Cristalina, Garanhuns, Arapiraca, Armacao dos Buzios, Peruibe, Vacaria
- Guatemala: Puerto Barrios, Coban, Iglesia, San Marcos, Soloma, Chiquimula
- Honduras: Puerto Cortes, Tela, Catacamas, Santa Rosa, El Progreso
- Nicaragua: El Viejo, Bluefields, Boaco
- Panama: Puerto Armuelles, Boquete, Santiago, Gatun
- Paraguay: Horqueta, Sapucai
- Argentina: Junin, Zarate, Gualeguay, Mercedes, Balcarce, Purmamarca, Esquina, Baradero, Justo Darat, Aguilares, Alvear
- Chile: 2.5m imagery for the northern half of the country

Europe, Middle East & Africa:
- Spain: Guadalajara, Almunecar, Almagro
- Italy: Trani, Corato, Pizzo, Artena
- Portugal: Costelo Branco, Ovar
- Wales: entire country
- Norway: Kristiansand
- Finland: Muurame
- France: Bourdeaux, Istres, Montbeliard
- Sweden: Angelholm, Sodertalje
- Romania: Lasi, Brasov, Ploiesti, Bralia, Hunedoara, Deva, Lugoj
- Russia: Belovo, Anapa, Novgorod
- Serbia: Subotica, Novi Pazar
- Hungary: Szeged, Tiszaujvaros, Kecel, Kiskoros
- Greece: Janina, Lamia, Kavala, Makri, Pilos, Monemvassia, Kastro, Astipalea, Leros, Symi
- Poland: Swarzedz, Lapy
- The Ukraine: Poltava, Kerch, Feodosiia, Torez, Khotyn, Chernihiv
- Belarus: Dzerzhinsk, Smorgon, Borisov, Ivanovo, Barslaw, Miory
- Bulgaria: Velingrad, Peshtera, Chirpan, Rakovski, Omurtag, Kotel
- Croatia: Metkovic, Sibenik
- Estonia: Tartu, Viljandi, Voru, Pechory, Jovega, Poltsamaa, Johvi, Rakvere, Keila
- Lithuania: Pabrade, Pakruojis
- Latvia: Talsi, Gramzda
- Slovenia: Trebnj
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Capljina
- Cape Verde: almost entire country
- Turkey: Trabzon, Diyarbakir, Eskisehir, Samsun, Adapazari, Sivas, Turgutlu, Anamur
- Tunisia: Jamnah, Arhir, Taguermess, Gabes, Sfax, Chebba, Bekalta, Kasserine, Metlaoui, Tozeur
- Somalia: Eyl
- Sudan: Umm Ruwabah, Sinjay, Shuwak
- Syria: Idlib, Manbij, Ariha, As Suwayda
- Moldova: Chisinau, Rybnica
- Algeria: Constantine, Annaba, Tindouf, In Salah, Tiaret, Collo, Jijel, Guelma, Tlemcen, Kenadsa
- Central African Republic: Iawa, Goubali
- Chad: Sarh, Mongo, Ati, Oum Hadjer
- Niger: Agades, Ayorou, Tassessat
- Angola: Kuito
- Oman: Muttrah
- Siera Leon: Bo, Daru
- Malawi: Blantyre, Zomba
- Morocco: Oujda, Kenitra, Beni Mellal, Larache, Berrechid, Oualidia, Sidi Slimane, Midelt, Khenifra, Ifrane
- Mauritania: Atar, Terjit, Chinguetti, Oualata
- Mali: Kolondieba, Yanfolila, Sikasso, San, Segou, Dire
- Guinea: Kankan, Kouroussa, Faranah, Dabola, Dinguiraye, Labe
- Ethiopia: Weldiya, Wikro, Debark
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: Mwene-Ditu, Kananga, Mweka, Mbanza-Ngungu, Buta
- Djibouti: Obock
- Libya: Banghazi, Tobruk, Darnah
- Faeroe Islands: Hvalba, Sumba, Gjogv
- Eritrea: Keren, Tessenei
- Mozambique: Tete
- Burinka Faso: Garango, Kaya, Djibo, Orodara, Gorom-Gorom
- Benin: Dijougou, Dassa-Zoume, Kouande
- South Africa: 2.5m imagery for the entire country
- Namibia: 2.5m imagery for the entire country
- Botswana: 2.5m imagery for the entire country
- Zimbabwe: 2.5m imagery for the entire country
- Lesotho: 2.5m imagery for the entire country
- Swaziland: 2.5m imagery for the entire country

Asia & Oceania:
- Japan: Mt Fuji, Sasayama, Mukaigatao, Biei, Tochigi
- Taiwan: Chia-li, Ma-tou
- Thailand: Hat Yai, Ubon Ratchathani, Pattani, Warin Chamrap, Mukdahan,
- Kazakhstan: Shakhtinsk, Kulsary, Saran, Atbasar, Kokchetav, Aksay
- Laos: Wat Phou
- Armenia: Abovyan, Kirovakan
- Thailand: Nai Muang, Ban Dong Tong
- Georgia: Sukhumi, Khashuri, Kareli
- China: Three Gorges Dam, Guiping, Chin-men
- Vanuatu: Port-Vila
- Azerbaijan: Agdam, Agdzhabedy, Gobustan, Kuba, Kusary, Sheki, Zakataly
- South Korea: Euijeongbu, Cheonan
- North Korea: 2.5m imagery for the entire country
- Australia: 2.5m imagery for New South Wales & part of Western Australia

Updated Imagery:
Americas:
- Canada: Vancouver (BC), Sarina (ON), Brantford (ON), Birmingham,
- USA: Seattle, Dallas, Chicago, part of New York City, Round Rock (TX), Marble Falls (TX), Polk County (FL), Mecklenburg County (NC), Montgomery County (OH), much of eastern PA
- Mexico: Zacatecas, Aquascalientes, Durango, Merida
- Guatemala: Guatemala City
- Honduras: Tegucigalpa

Europe, Middle East & Africa:
- England: Brixham, Paignton, Oxford, Nottingham
- Spain: Malaga, Marbella, Zaragoza
- Italy: Genoa, Rimini, Palermo
- Greece: Kalamaria, Messolonghi, Patra
- Bulgaria: Plovdiv
- Moldova: Chisinau, Beltsy
- The Ukraine: Dnepropetrovsk
- Morocco: Tanger, Fes, Meknes, Rabat, El Jadida, Safi, Agadir
- Guinea: Conakry
- Somalia: Mogadishu

Asia & Oceania:
- China: Beijing, Haikou, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing
- South Korea: Daegu

Updated Terrain:
- Montbeliard, France
- Fort Saskatchewan, Canada
- Portugal
- Antarctica

Posted by FrankTaylor at 1:43 PM | Comments (18)

Another Two New Layers: USHMM GeoBlog, UNICEF

Google introduced two other layers yesterday, in addition to the Greenpeace layer, to the Global Awareness layer folder as a result of the Google Earth Outreach program. I'm guessing Google will have posts about these today.

• 

  USHMM: World is Witness - The US Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) has a new layer under the Global Awareness layer folder called "USHMM: World is Witness". This layer, like the very well known "Crisis in Darfur" layer (introduced last year), contains disturbing stories of human abuse and genocide. The new layer is designed around a geoblog (a blog which describes information tied to a location with a mapping application - read about the first geoblog here). USHMM has taken great care to present quality placemark information with excellent photos, links to podcasts, videos, other KML layers, and other content on the web site and at Facebook. The initial posts to the Geoblog are of a trip through Rowanda and nearby Congo areas where refugees have escaped. You can see the World is Witness geoblog itself here which also uses a Google Maps interface to show the location. There you can get the RSS feed to follow this blog as more information is posted. Michael Graham, who was a leader in developing Crisis in Darfur, is also a leader in the World is Witness program. You'll see his name in the posts to the new geoblog.

• 

  UNICEF - This layer, also found under the layer folder called Global Awareness is called "Unicef: Water and Sanitation. The layer shows placemarks mostly in third world countries describing projects where Unicef is working on water and sanitation problems. Unicef works around the world supporting child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. The placemark descriptions contain information and pictures describing each picture. There is also an innovative "tab"-like feature showing more information in what appears to be the same placemark. Stefan Geens at OgleEarth noticed this first.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)

April 3, 2008

Follow the Olympic Torch Relay in Google Earth and Maps

Google has announced the 2008 Global Torch Relay maps they have developed to help everyone follow the Olympic Torch as it makes its way around the world on its way to Beijing, China for the opening of the Olympics in August. You can visit their web site at http://maps.google.com/torchrelay where you get a special Google Maps mashup which shows the current position of the torch, and "slider" buttons that let you go to each city/location the torch visits. Or, better yet, you can load the 2008 Torch Relay network link in Google Earth and get a much more dynamic view of the location (including 3D terrain, 3D buildings, Panoramio photos of the cities, etc., etc.). Double click on the "2008 Torch Relay" network link to be flown to the current city (today it is Istanbul). Open the city placemark to see information on the city. Click on the Previous City or Next City links to see where the torch goes. The date the torch is in each city is shown in the title of the placemark.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 5:41 PM | Comments (1)

Google Earth April Fools Joke Video

On Tuesday, April 1, 2008, Google added an April Fools Joke into Google Earth. Basically, when you zoomed out from Google Earth, the continents merged into Pangea - the theoretical merging of the continents into one giant continent hundreds of millions of years ago. As far as I know, very few people got to see this feature in Google Earth while it was live on Tuesday. I posted about it late in the day with a screenshot. Fortunately, I managed to capture a short video clip of it in action. If you didn't see it, here's what it looked like:

(Click here for higher quality version)

By the way, for a full animation showing the merging of the continents on Google Earth, check out this cool paleogeographic time animation by Valery Hronusov.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 3:25 PM | Comments (2)

New Greenpeace Layer in Google Earth

Google has just added a new layer under the Global Awareness layer folder by the environmental activist organization: Greenpeace. The layer in Google Earth is focused on the climate and forests. I discovered this because of the Preview sublayer in the Geographic Web layer - the Greenpeace icons are quite noticeable. Then I discovered that this new layer was announced by Google Earth's Outreach Director Rebecca Moore in Hamburg Germany thanks to a blog post by Brian Fit.

The video in the placemark found in southwest Argentina showing a glacier is a really cool commercial by a guy who ages as he talks and the glacier behind him melts. You can see it here on YouTube. Also, one of the placemarks has a photo of a bunch of naked people - I'm not kidding!

Posted by FrankTaylor at 11:10 AM | Comments (2)

New Contour Lines in Google Maps

Google has announced a new feature to the terrain relief maps they added last November to Google Maps. Now when you zoom in closer, the terrain shows contour lines to give you an even better feel for the lay of the land. These types of maps are the type most hikers use to plan their trips. Unfortunately, the degree of resolution at this point is not quite good enough for hiking, and the trails aren't shown by default in Google Maps. But, the enhancement is a really nice feature that enhances the understanding of the terrain and it looks excellent. I just wish they would add these terrain relief maps as a layer for Google Earth. See for yourself how they look in Google Maps - here's an example of some mountains I was just skiing in Utah:

View Larger Map

Google Earth is a great tool for planning a hike. See a recent post by John Gardiner of Google on using GE for hiking plans. And, see an example of overlay USGS topo maps and a GPS track to illustrate a hike, and also adding photos later to the track.

Also, if you want to include better topographical contour maps onto Google Earth, there's a tool which will overlay USGS topographical maps automatically for your current view. You can read about it here.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 9:34 AM | Comments (11)

April 2, 2008

Updates: New Imagery, April Fools

Just a post to let you know the stories from last night have been updated:

1. Google Earth April Fools Joke - screenshot is all that remains

2. New Google Earth Imagery - updated list

Posted by FrankTaylor at 10:48 AM | Comments (1)

April 1, 2008

Google Earth April Fools Joke

Well, it turns out there is an April Fools Joke in Google Earth today after all! If you turn on the "Geographic Web" layer and then zoom all the way out (38000+ miles away from Earth) the Earth's continents merge into the theoretical Pangea (the way the continents may have appeared hundreds of millions of years ago). Here's a screen shot:

UPDATE April 3rd: Google took down this little joke on April 2nd. So, a lot of people didn't get to see it. Fortunately, I managed to capture a little video clip of it in action. Here's your chance to see what it looked like:

(Click here for higher quality version)

By the way, for a full animation showing the merging of the continents on Google Earth, check out this cool paleogeographic time animation by Valery Hronusov.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 7:31 PM | Comments (4)

New Imagery Update for Google Earth - Not an April Fools

Probably the only Google Release today that wasn't an April Fools joke: Google Earth has new imagery! I've just gotten off a mountaintop from a full day of skiing. So, I don't have all the details yet. Google has announced the update along with their usual hints in the form of little riddles. They also mention the release includes new imagery for all seven continents, touching over 86 different countries. But, no details - until tomorrow probably. One GEB reader, Barry Hunter, mentioned to me that most of Wales is now in high resolution. From the clues, I immediately recognized Mt. Fuji in Japan got an update. I'll start a list here and update it as I get more information. If you know other areas that received an update, please leave a comment to this post.

Areas updated in this imagery release [UPDATED Apr 4th at 1345 EST]:

Google has just released the official list - read my new post with the official list here.

Now unofficial list:

• Wales
• Mount Fuji, Japan
• Havana, Cuba
• McMurdo, Antarctica
• Three Gorges Dam, China
• Canada: London and Guelph in Ontario; British Columbia - Wells Gray National Park, Anderson Lake, Manning Provincial Park; most of Montreal; Quebec City's outer suburbs
• Dayton, OH
• Seattle, WA
• Vancouver and Vancouver Island
• Dallas, TX
• Preston County, WV
• Parts of Estonia
• Parts of Moldova
• Bordeaux, France
• Bratislava, Slovakia
• Australia: New South Wales and Western Australia, also areas NW of Melbourne
• Southwest Pennsylvania
• Chicago, IL
• Guanajuato, Mexico
• Argentina: Cerro Acncaugua, Mendoza, Rosario
• Romania: Cara Severin, Iasi, Braila, Galati, Iasi, Ploiesti (eastern Romania), Brasov - south west
• China - North Korea border area
• British Columbia: Wells Gray National Park, Anderson Lake, Manning Provincial Park
• Azores: Flores, Corvo
• Panama: Tabogo Islan, Punta San Blas
• Poland: near Poznan
• Catalonia/Spain: Barcelona - MoRimini ntjuic Castle now appears (previously censored)
• Italy: Rimini, Palermo
• Zimbabwe - DG strips
• Croatia: Rijeka county (mountains), Šibenik and county, Island Pašman, Zagreb
• Kazakhstan: Some cities, and Semipalatinsk Test Site
• Algeria: Constantine
• Brazil: Santa Maria, Sao Francisco de Paula; Nova Petropolis; Armacao de Buzios.
• Parts of Botswana
• Parts of Namibia

NOTE: this list is based on input from GEB readers. I have not had time to verify every item. Some of these may turn out to be updates from earlier releases. Currently Google Maps does not yet have this imagery release, so you can verify by clicking on the "View in Google Maps" button in GE to see whether the imageery is new. Check back here later to see what other places were updated in this imagery release, and for the official report when Google releases the list.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 7:00 PM | Comments (58)

April Brings Interesting Google News

[UPDATE: there was a Google Earth joke after all - read this post for the details.]

There's always some interesting news at the beginning of April. Here's a few interesting stories GEB readers might enjoy:

• Project Virgle - Google released a press release today about their plans to work with Virgin Galactic's Richarch Branson to come up with a Plan B for the human race. They have revealed elaborate plans to colonize Mars. You can read the full details at their new Project Virgle web site. See the Reuters story based on the press release.

• Google Earth X-Ray Imagery - GoogleSightseeing.com releases news late last night that based on an anonymous tip from a Googler, Google is planning to release new imagery layers allowing views of both X-Ray and Thermal Infrared imagery so you can see inside buildings. The imagery will come from space satellites, so Google says there is no legal ramifications to the new data. To prove this they have released a sample showing the Pentagon with X-Ray and Thermal Infrared imagery.

• Open Source Google Earth Imagery - Chad at Earth Is Square blog shares a press release someone gave him saying Google will be releasing its Google Earth imagery to the public domain so programs like World Wind will be able to use its imagery. Something WW users have long wished for.

• Singapore Plans to Ban Google Earth - According to SinGeo blog, Google is violating Singapore Land Authority (SLA) copyrights due to no longer having a license to use the real Singapore landscape. According to SinGeo: "The dispute centres over SLA’s allegation that the satellite images available in Google Earth are direct copies of real geographic features in Singapore and infringe SLA’s copyright." Not only that, but Google Earth's data shows "errors" that "were placed in the geography of Singapore to trap infringers". Read the full story for details.

This post will be updated later today if other major news like this comes out.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 9:05 AM | Comments (5)

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