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June 29, 2010
Were Carolina bays created by the Saginaw Impact Manifold?
If you spent much time in the Google Earth Community, you have have come across a post by Michael Davias about the Saginaw Impact Manifold.
The basic idea behind this theory is that a cosmic impact struck the eastern part of what is now known as Michigan, which spread debris across the country and created many of the Carolina bays that are out there. The impact itself carved out Saginaw Bay, creating the mitten shape that the state currently resembles.
Because this idea is still just a theory, Michael is using Google Earth to try to determine the validity of it. Most of his data can be found in this KMZ file
or via the Google Earth plugin, the results of which are seen here:
Here are his words regarding the data above:
The kml file has placemarks with annotations that function as an index to the ~180 "fields" of bays being researched. This was done to minimize the memory hit from the collection of LiDAR images being used. Each placemark's pop-up presents a small jpg of the LiDAR image, and has a link to the actual LiDAR data as a network-linked kmz file. The LiDAR imagery was created in Global Mapper, using their KML generation output feature, and typically contains several levels of increasingly-higher resolution imagery, revealed as the user zooms in. They are big, seveal as large as 10 MB.
For more on all of this, I highly recommend you view the full thread in the GEC. He's taken a lot of data into account, and done a great job of using Google Earth to present it.
Posted by mickmel at 9:19 AM
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June 22, 2010
Easier management of your 3D Warehouse models
With great tools like Google SketchUp and Building Maker at your disposal, many users are generating a lot of models for the 3D Warehouse. Google has now introduced a few simple tools to help make it easier to manage them.
Specifically, you can now filter your models by a handful of options:
- All Models
- Models in Google Earth
- Pending Google Earth Models
- Not Accepted Google Earth Models
- Draft Google Earth Models
Here's how it looks in action:
It's certainly not a huge change, but for users that have a lot of models in there it will likely prove to be quite useful.
Posted by mickmel at 8:38 AM
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June 21, 2010
EPA releases KMZ with tons of info about the Deep Water Horizon oil spill
Late last week, the EPA released a large amount of data via KML related to the oil spill in the gulf. Thanks to GEB reader 'Bill' for letting us know about it.
You can download the KMZ file here, which includes:
- View EPA air, surface water, sediment and waste sampling locations in Google Earth, which are linked to explanations and information throughout this site.
- See EPA air monitoring locations and results for total Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Particulate Matter (PM).
- Link to EPA data, aerial photography and other information collected by our air sampling plane, the ASPECT.
- Get National Geospatial - Intelligence Agency's (NGA) map of boom locations and daily tracking updates of the oil spill.
- See aerial photography and satellite images from NASA, NOAA and the European Space Agency's satellite ENVISAT.
For more information, visit the official BP Spill page on the EPA website.
Posted by mickmel at 9:12 AM
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June 18, 2010
Imagery from Nashville flooding released via "historical imagery"
As part of the new imagery that Google released a few days ago, they've also added some fresh historical imagery.
In particular, they've added imagery from Nashville, TN and the flooding that struck the area in early May. You can access this imagery by using the "historical imagery" tool while viewing the Nashville area. Simply click the clock icon at the top of the screen, then scroll to the date you're interested in, as shown here:
The imagery is quite stunning and it really shows the extent of the flooding. Here are a few examples that Google has put together:
Posted by mickmel at 6:35 AM
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June 17, 2010
More about Google Earth 5.2
Now that you've had a few days to play with Google Earth 5.2, we thought we'd share some other tidbits about the release that we've discovered.
One neat thing (that I first saw mentioned by Paul van Dinther) is that that the camera clipping has been fixed. In previous versions of Google Earth, you were unable to zoom it very tight on high altitude objects. This could be the top of buildings, or even planes in flight. As you zoomed, the camera would "clip" them and they'd disappear. Paul mentions that his "ships" and "helicopters" games are both improved as a result of thing change. Here's an example of a tight zoom on a 3D plane, made possible by Google Earth 5.2.
The Terrain layer toggle has moved. Google has decided that it didn't need to take up space in the main "layers" area, since most people leave it enabled all the time. However, if you need to disable it for any reason (slow computer, etc), you can find it under [Tools] --> [Options] --> "3D View".
For those of you that use Google Earth Pro, Google has written up a detailed blog post with info about all of the new features available to you.
The main features in Google Earth Pro 5.2 are the premier data layers, support for processing large data set and enhanced measurements. Here is a great video that shows off the new layers that are now available for Pro users:
If you've found any other noteworthy changes in Google Earth 5.2, leave a comment and let us know!
Posted by mickmel at 7:03 AM
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June 15, 2010
New Google Earth Imagery - June 15
Hot on the heels of the release of Google Earth 5.2 and Google Earth 3.0 for iPhone, Google has just pushed out another imagery update. Thanks to GEB reader 'Chris' for letting us know!
[Update, 18-June -- The official KML file has been updated.]
As is often the case, you can use Google Maps to determine for sure whether or not a specific area is fresh. This new imagery isn't in Google Maps yet, so you can compare Earth vs. Maps to see what's new; the fresh imagery is already in Google Earth, but the old imagery is still in Google Maps. If you compare the two side-by-side and they're not identical, that means that you've found a freshly updated area in Google Earth!
[UPDATED -- 16-June, 7:52am EST]
- Netherlands: Various cities -- thanks 'Maarten' and 'hhgygy'
- United States: Orange County and Los Angeles County, CA and most of Washington State -- thanks 'Chris' and 'Munden'
If you find any other updated areas, please leave a comment and let us know!
Posted by mickmel at 1:02 PM
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Google Earth 3.0 for iPhone released; includes native support for iPad
Google Earth's iPhone application has just been updated to version 3.0. The changes in the iPhone version are fairly minor (road layers finally available), but the big news is a native version for the iPad. Rather than having to stretch the iPhone view to see it on the larger screen, you now get a beautiful version that looks stunning on your iPad.
As ReadWriteWeb puts it, "it's almost as if Google Earth was originally designed for the iPad".
If you've used Google Earth on the iPhone, you'll find the iPad version to be quite similar in terms of features and controls. It's a beautiful way to use Google Earth, and it's a must-have for all iPad users.
Neither version supports the "tracks" and "elevation profiles" that were unveiled yesterday with Google Earth 5.2, but they're expected to be added in a future release.
You can download it from the iTunes Store here.
(via Ogle Earth)
Posted by mickmel at 12:49 PM
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June 14, 2010
Google Earth 5.2 Released
Google has just released the newest version of Google Earth -- version 5.2. This version is largely dedicated to supporting outdoor athletes and their GPS devices (hikers, bikers, runners, etc), but comes with a few other Goodies as well.
You've long been able to import GPS data to Google Earth, but 5.2 improves the way that it is handled and displayed. There are two main features that have been added to this version:
1. Tracks: Up to this point, GPS data had to be entered as either a series of line strings or hundreds of points. This new KML extension is a much smoother alternative, and is perfect for importing a GPS track. It contains all of the GPS data from your device; time stamps, lat/lon, heartrate, etc. The playback is similar to the "hundreds of points" display from before, but with a much smoother playback and a less cluttered KML file (both in the code and in the "my places" display).
In the past you've been able able to generate tours from your linestrings and point collections, and you'll be able generate them from your new "tracks" as well.
2. Elevation Profiles: As part of this, you can now pull up an "elevation profile" of your track. This allows you to see the elevation gains/losses throughout the duration of your GPS track. If you want, you can zoom into a particular point in your track and just view that data (when climbing a large mountain, for example). Even better, the elevation profile can be generated from any linestring so you can use this feature on your existing KML files if you'd like.
In addition to those changes, there are a few other goodies included:
Improved embedded browser. It's based on webkit (similar to Google's Chrome browser), and slides in smoothly from the side of your screen when you click a link that requires it.
There are a few new enhancements to Google Earth Pro, including a better GIS import (improved UI, KML 2.2 compliant code, auto-regionation) and some cool new Pro-only layers such as US parcel data, demographic data and traffic count data.
Lastly, the new version comes with an updated version of the Google Earth Plug-in. This new update to the plug-in includes support for the new Tracks feature, but does not yet offer the Elevation Profile. That's expected in a future release, but no timetable has been given.
You can download Google Earth 5.2 from earth.google.com.
Posted by mickmel at 3:43 PM
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Use Google Earth to prevent looting?
Archaeology Magazine recently wrote an interesting post about the the vast looting of Iraq's archaeological sites. It's a sad tale, with many of historical sites being simply destroyed by looters.
Elizabeth Stone, an archaeologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, has made extensive use of satellite imagery to determine the extent of the looting. Her work (and a subsequent speech at Stanford University) gained the interest of Daniel Contreras. He couldn't afford to purchase expensive satellite imagery, but soon found that Google Earth imagery did the job. He started by studying looting in Peru, à la Stone, and published the results in a recent issue of Antiquity.
This led Heather Pringle, the Archaeology Magazine article author, to ask Daniel a question:
I asked him whether this might be the beginning of a much larger project, one that enlists the sharp eyes of the Google Earth community and anyone else with an interest in archaeology to keep an eye on the world's looting hotspots. Could archaeologists crowdsource the monitoring of the our collective archaeological heritage?
His answer:
"Definitely. The technology is all there, it's just a question of how to administer it. And I think this would make people a little more aware of the problem of looting, as well as providing a tangible source of documentation for archaeologists."
While this won't directly help prevent looting while it's happening (Google Earth imagery isn't fresh enough), it could help highlight areas that have been recently looted and (as Heather said in the comments to her own article), "it gives archaeologists the necessary data they need to lobby hard for policy and legislative changes needed to crack down on looting."
Posted by mickmel at 9:14 AM
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June 11, 2010
3D Public Art in Google Earth
GEB reader 'Will' recently discovered that some cool 3D art is his hometown is available as 3D models in Google Earth.
I thought you might be interested in this Google Earth 3D public art I found in my hometown (Brighton, UK). "The Kiss" is a locally famous piece that refelects Brighton's passionate past. "The Donut" in the background is more relevant than you may think - it is a model of the Earth in the form of a torus with deep holes in the shape of each continent.
As an aside you can also see the funfair at the end of Brighton Pier in the images - there is an excellent 3D model of this in GE - have a look!
As you can see in the images below, the Google Earth rendering of "The Kiss" is remarkably accurate to the real-life version.
You can see these two sculptures in Google Earth with this KML file.
This reminded me of the iconic monument to Joe Louis that you can find in downtown Detroit. It's a stunning 24', 4 ton statue of his fist, but the Google Earth model is a rather simple rendering of it (KML). Hopefully someone can add more detail to this structure in the future.
You can also check out Chicago's "Silver Bean" (KML), or revisit the upcoming 9/11 memorial in New York City.
There are certainly hundreds of other candidates for a post like this, so let us hear from you. What are some of your pieces of public art?
Posted by mickmel at 9:04 AM
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June 10, 2010
New 3D buildings in Rotterdam, Catalunya, Boulder; also at MIT
Google's Cities in 3D program is doing a lot of great things. They've helped a number of cities develop some nice 3D buildings, including Fredericton, Canada and McMinnville, Tennessee.
Now some additional buildings have been added to a few cities: Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Catalunya (Spain) and Boulder (Colorado, US).
Sadly, most (if not all) of these new buildings are the grey, untextured kind. Still, they're certainly better than nothing, and I'm sure we'll slowly see them gain texture over the coming months.
If you're looking for some nicer-looking buildings, check out the new models at the MIT (Massachusetts Institiute of Technology) campus. Browse them in the 3D Warehouse, or use this KML to fly directly there. Concept3D built the models, and did a great job with them!
If you've recently had some noteworthy 3D models published in Google Earth, leave a comment below or contact us and let us know about them.
Posted by mickmel at 7:56 AM
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June 9, 2010
Session videos from Google I/O 2010 now available
If you were unable to attend the Google I/O conference this year, Google has now posted videos from virtually all of the sessions and speeches during the event. In particular, they've just released all of the session videos for the Geo-related items. Here they are:
Stepping up: Porting v2 JavaScript Maps API applications to v3
Daniels Lee
Where you at? Connecting your users with the places around them
Marcelo Camelo, Chris Lambert, Dave Wang (Booyah)
Moving beyond markers: Advanced Maps API customization
Jez Fletcher, David Day
Fireside chat with the Geo team
Thor Mitchell, Peter Birch, Matt Holden, Ben Appleton, Bart Locanthi, Thatcher Ulrich
Mapping in 3D: Tips and tricks for Google Earth API and KML
Josh Livni, Mano Marks
Map once, map anywhere: Developing geospatial applications for both desktop and mobile
Mano Marks
Unleash your map data: Cloud computing for geospatial applications
Tom Manshreck
The SketchUp 3D API: Working with 3D geospatial data
Matt Lowrie
How Maps API v3 came to be: Tips, tricks, and lessons learned in developing a cross platform desktop and mobile API
Susannah Raub, Marc Ridey
If you're looking for more, you can find all of the videos on this page.
Posted by mickmel at 9:16 AM
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June 8, 2010
2010 World Cup in Google Earth
The StreetView update yesterday gave us an inside look at all of the stadiums that will be used in the upcoming World Cup and an imagery update in early April gave us fresh aerial imagery of each stadium. In addition, Google has been publishing a lot of new 3D buildings for various cities in South Africa throughout the first part of this year (March 12, March 26).
Now Google is showing off the 3D models that are in place for all 10 stadiums and they're quite stunning!
To view them all, simply download this tour and check them out for yourself.
It can also be fun to view the historical imagery for these sites, since some of them were built very recently in preparation for the Cup.
If you'd rather just watch a video, here is a well-produced one that Google created to highlight the stadiums:
For more, check out Google's "Explore the South African stadiums in 3D" blog entry today.
Posted by mickmel at 8:57 AM
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June 7, 2010
New StreetView imagery - June 7
Google has released a bunch of new StreetView imagery in South Africa, just in time for the world cup. As Google Maps Mania points out, the imagery not only captures the outside of the stadiums, but it goes inside them as well!
Inside of Soccer CityThe new imagery seems to be contained to South Africa, but we haven't heard for sure. If you notice any other new areas (parks, etc), please leave a comment and let us know!
Don't forget that while you can browse StreetView using the normal Google Maps interface, you can also use StreetView inside of Google Earth.
Posted by mickmel at 9:18 PM
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Golfing with Google Earth
Since the beginning, Google Earth has been a useful tool for golfers. Not only can it help you locate courses in your area, but you can get a great overview of the course layout.
Of course, the great thing about Google Earth is that you can use various layers to add data and enhance your experience. Here are a few sites that combine golfing with Google Earth in great ways:
Golf Nation -- With the loss of the "golfing" category from the default layers, the Golf Nation network link is probably your best bet. It's currently US only, but has info for virtually every course. In some cases, like with the Bobby Jones Golf Club in Atlanta, you can get hole-by-hole info as seen below:
Golfworld.fr -- If you need course data outside of the US, this site provides a
KML file that shows all of the courses in France.
Google Earth Hacks: Golf Courses -- If you're looking for a course that isn't in the US or France, the GEH golf course collection is the only other resource I know of (though it's far from comprehensive). If you know of a better resource, please let us know in the comments.
Golf Google Earth -- This site uses a combination of the Google Earth plug-in and video clips to show off a handful of courses.
Using Google Earth as a Golf Tool -- This is a neat article with tips on using Google Earth before your round. They suggest using Google Earth to measure distances, elevations, etc.
Do you know of any other great Google Earth golf resources? Share them in the comments below.
Posted by mickmel at 8:21 AM
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June 4, 2010
Space Shuttle Atlantis over the Canary Islands
During his stay aboard the International Space Station, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi sent back many amazing photos from space via his Twitter account (@astro_soichi). A great example was just after the earthquake in Chile back in February; Soichi provided some of the first aerial photos of the damage.
Soichi landed safely back on earth earlier this week, but we thought we'd share one more of his photos. On it's final flight, Soichi captured Space Shuttle Atlantis as it prepared to dock. Far off in the distance you can see the Canary Islands, just off the northwest coast of Africa.
Google Earth Hacks user 'Googlestar' then took the file and created a proper image overlay of it (as seen above). You can download the KML file here.
Soichi posted hundreds of amazing photos during his journey in space, and I encourage you to check them out. You can view them all by browsing his Twitter account, but the easiest way is to simply visit his Twitpic page and view away. Enjoy!
Posted by mickmel at 8:12 AM
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June 3, 2010
Flexible screen from Toshiba allows you to "bend to zoom" in Google Earth
I'm a big fan of interesting ways of interacting with Google Earth. My favorite input method is still the SpaceNavigator, but there are some other neat ways to use it. I find the iPhone interface to be particularly user-friendly, and Frank did a fairly comprehensive round-up of other methods a few years back.
Now comes a very creative interface for Google Earth that uses Toshiba's new flexible LCD screen technology; bend to zoom!
Flexible displays aren't here yet, but they seem to be getting closer. This prototype seems to work remarkably well and hopefully it will arrive in a device in the near future.
If you were to combine this input with the multi-touch controls in the iPhone version of Google Earth, you might really have something! You could pan/rotate/tilt with your thumbs, and zoom by bending the screen. It'll be interesting to see if anything comes of this.
What is your favorite interface for Google Earth?
Posted by mickmel at 8:17 AM
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June 2, 2010
New GPS Satellites Launched
Every day, we rely a little more on GPS satellites for both work and pleasure. Along with items like your car GPS navigation system, many items in Google Earth (such as these ships, real-time air traffic or following Frank) require GPS to enable us to see their current location.
Last week, the U.S. Air Force launched a new satellite (the GPS IIF SV-1), the first in a series of launches aimed at replacing all 24 existing satellites over the next 10 years.
These new satellites offer a variety of enhancements over the existing ones. The most important part of this project is to simply replace them. Numerous reports are concerned that the existing network may begin to fail due to age. This will obviously remedy that.
In addition, these new satellites will provide a stronger, more accurate signal. Rather than the roughly 20 foot accuracy that you currently receive, the new ones will allow for accuracy down to about 3 feet. In addition, the stronger signal will help more GPS units to function properly indoors, which could be a big boost for various augmented reality tools that are beginning to find their way into the marketplace.
You can view the launch of the IIF SV-1 (aboard the Delta IV rocket) below:
The launch of the next satellite (GPS IIF SV-2) is scheduled for November, 2010.
Posted by mickmel at 6:46 AM
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June 1, 2010
Simulating Iron Man with Google Earth
Google Earth has been used for some interesting simulations, and some folks at the 2010 Kinnernet camp built an Iron Man simulator with Google Earth at the core.
According to their site, the ingredients included:
- Small Crane
- Hang glider harness
- UAV wings (unmanned aerial vehicle)
- large propeller
- Virtual Reality goggles
- FPV Ground Station
- WiiMote
- GlovePIE
- Google Earth Flight Simulator
- one brave experimenter
Each of the 250 participants at the event were invited to try it out, though not many did due to the time it takes to get all of the equipment in place.
The Wii Remote underneath the rider was used to control the Google Earth Flight Simulator, which was being shown to the rider. In the past, we've shown a few (1, 2) ways that you can use the Wii Remote to control Google Earth.
They had the user fly above Kineret Lake, Israel, which is where the convention was being held.
For more you can check out their Flickr photoset, or watch the video below for a demonstration of how it all worked:
Posted by mickmel at 8:37 AM
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