« Updates: New Imagery, April Fools | Main | New Greenpeace Layer in Google Earth »
April 3, 2008
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 April 3, 2008 9:34 AM
Comments
Posted by: Anthony Cartmell at April 3, 2008 11:42 AM
Hmmm... Seems this layer does not show with Bernard's network link:
http://bernhard.sterzbach.de/googlemapsoverlay.html
Posted by: Pete at April 3, 2008 11:45 AM
I would love to see this kind of view in Google Earth...
Posted by: Mathias at April 4, 2008 5:07 AM
It would be great to see this in Google earth along with the ability to switch off the photography when required. I would love the ability to see a vertical long section route planner option within google maps.
Posted by: John at April 4, 2008 11:02 PM
Why not they add this feature to Google Earth? Besides, it would be better if contour lines included in satellite view.
Posted by: yoyos_geb at April 7, 2008 2:06 AM
Y'see. I asked if this was possible on the GE forums a year or so ago and was basically slated for asking, as "3D modelling was better than contours for showing elevation."
*rolls eyes*
Some people...
Posted by: Jim at April 7, 2008 5:35 AM
Would like to see it used in combination with a higher standard of universal resolution for the entire globe.
Posted by: Rich at April 7, 2008 9:09 AM
Fantastic, I will love if they manage to do the same thing with Water textures, like depth of potential dive sites, etc. BRilliant
Posted by: Gab at May 1, 2008 1:48 AM
What is the original digital data source used for the contours? Is it in vector format?
Posted by: Bryan at May 16, 2008 1:00 PM
Adding contour lines to Google Earth so that they could be viewed without having to connect online would be of great help in a classroom setting. Not all computers in a school have internet access.
Posted by: Edward at July 14, 2008 4:23 PM
Elevation of Ground does not shown in Google Earth in my computer. what is promlem?
Posted by: Bharat Singh at November 8, 2008 6:05 AM
Post a comment:
NOTE: Please use English. Comments are moderated.
Now we just need a switch to optionally change the contour heights from feet to metres... :)