Environment Archives
January 10, 2012
Track Sea Turtle migrations in Google Earth
Over the years, we've seen some great ways that Google Earth can be used to track the migration of various animals, including birds in Russia and Osprey.
Today's tool is used for tracking a single animal - Jklynn, a female Hawksbill sea turtle - as she makes her annual migration.

WIDECAST, the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network that is a 2011 Google Earth Outreach grant awardee, tracks Jklynn via a transmitter and plots her location on a map. They've also turned it into a game ("The Great Migration Game"), encouraging students to try to predict where Jklynn will end up after nesting season.
Thanks to the transmissions of her location, they were able to capture video of Jklynn's first hatchlings on Klein Bonaire, seen here:
If you wish to follow Jklynn's journey, you can also track her via Twitter or Facebook. Be sure to also check out the other various organizations on the Google Earth Outreach site.
(via Google Lat Long Blog)
Posted by mickmel at 8:15 AM
| Comments (1)
January 9, 2012
Wave mechanics in Google Earth
As you know, Google Earth contains a staggering amount of high-resolution imagery. Thanks to this, it provides a great opportunity to study interesting things such as wave mechanics.
Fabrizio Logiurato at Trento University in Italy has been studying wave mechanics in Google Earth and is finding it fascinating. He's cited a number of examples in his paper, including these below:
Interference on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand | KML![]()

Diffraction and the reflection of circular waves at Port Elizabeth, South Africa | KML![]()
(Use the historical imagery from 11/7/2006 to see the image below)

Wave diffraction at the opening of the port of Alexandria in Egypt | KML![]()

Google Earth can be used for an amazingly wide variety of things, and this research by Fabrizio is another great example of that.
(via Technology Review)
Posted by mickmel at 8:00 AM
| Comments (1)
December 29, 2011
Volcano forms a new island in the Red Sea
Earlier this month, a volcano erupted in the Red Sea with fisherman reporting the lava fountains reaching heights of up to 30 meters! The imagery of the eruption, captured by NASA's EO-1 ("Earth Observing-1) satellite, shows an amazing plume of ash and water vapor.

This volcano erupted in an area of previously unbroken water, and apparently caused the formation of a new island, seen here:

You can read more about this on NASA's Earth Observatory site or see it in Google Earth by using this KML file.![]()
Posted by mickmel at 9:08 AM
| Comments (1)
December 26, 2011
North American power plant emissions
A few months ago we told you about Enipedia, a wiki-based source for energy information. It's an amazing site, but Jeff told us about another one that has a few new features that we haven't seen before. The KMZ file
from the CEC (Commission for Environmental Cooperation) lets you choose which contaminants you want to visualize; the balloons provide info and emissions profiles for each power plant.

While their tool isn't global (they focus on North America), they look at each of their 3,144 plants with more depth. They provide detailed emissions info for 8 different contaminants, including Mercury, which is a big issue right now because of EPA's new regulations on coal-fired power plants.

Google Earth is an amazing tool to display this kind of information, and the data provided by the CEC is an excellent example of that. Much more information can be found on their site at: www.cec.org/powerplants
Posted by mickmel at 9:22 AM
| Comments (1)
December 15, 2011
Increasingly high-resolution imagery in Antarctica
As Google has continually improved the quality of their imagery across the globe, one area always seemed to stay low-res -- Antarctica. Thanks to the help of the Polar Geospatial Center (PCG), that's beginning to change.
A great example of that is the Mackay Glacier Tongue, located in Granite Harbor, seen here:

You can see it for yourself, as shown in the article, using this KML file
.
So far, the PGC has helped Google update nearly 1,000,000 square kilometers, with another 275,000 square kilometers added every three months. While it will take a while to get the entire continent updated (more than 14,000,000 sq km), they're certainly making great progress.
Along with updating the quality of the imagery, they're also working to improve the accuracy of the location of the imagery. The PGC's Paul Morin will be heading down to the Antarctic Peninsula soon to help improve the imagery from being off by as much as 30 meters to being accurate within a single meter.
The full article at The Antarctic Sun is quite interesting and well worth your time to read. We all enjoy the constantly improving imagery quality in Google Earth, and the PGC is just one of many companies working with Google to help move things forward.
(via @OgleEarth)
Posted by mickmel at 7:43 AM
| Comments (3)
More entries for this category:
- New visualizations of African dams - November 29, 2011
- Exploring the earth with NASA and Google Earth Portable - November 21, 2011
- Tracking wave-powered robotic gliders across the Pacific - November 18, 2011
- Exploring Mauna Loa in Google Earth - November 17, 2011
- Fresh imagery from the flooding in Thailand - October 28, 2011
- Responding to the Thailand Floods - October 18, 2011
- Sea Ice Extent Animation updated for 2011 - October 12, 2011
- Animated flooding in London - October 10, 2011
- Google Earth used to prove illegal mining in Goa, India - October 7, 2011
- Visualizing 50,000 power plants in Google Earth - September 20, 2011
- Imagery from the wildfires in Texas - September 12, 2011
- High Resolution African Animals in Google Earth - August 22, 2011
- The Japanese Tsunami created some massive icebergs - August 10, 2011
- Watching trees grow in Google Earth - July 12, 2011
- Mapping the World's Sea Turtles - July 7, 2011
- Exploring Virtual Kenya - July 6, 2011
- Shenandoah National Park turns 75 - June 27, 2011
- Exploring the deserts with Google Earth - June 24, 2011
- The Tallest Mountain to the Deepest Ocean Trench - June 23, 2011
- Imagery from the Nabro Volcano eruption in Africa - June 22, 2011
- Google finally drops more 3D trees into Google Earth - June 13, 2011
- An amazing tour of the new U.S. Green Building Council headquarters - June 10, 2011
- Disney's Worldwide Conservation Fund - June 9, 2011
- View new high-resolution underwater terrain to celebrate World Oceans Day - June 8, 2011
- Saving the Tigers of Sumatra - May 23, 2011
- New false color image of the Morganza flooding - May 20, 2011
- Blue Marble in the year 3000 - May 19, 2011
- A panorama from the top of Mount Everest - May 18, 2011
- Imagery from the Louisiana flooding - May 17, 2011
- LiDAR views of the Carolina Bays - May 16, 2011
- The Morganza Spillway in Google Earth - May 15, 2011
- The damaged rainforest in Sarawak - May 11, 2011
- Geospatial Revolution: Episode Four Released - May 3, 2011
- Using Google Earth on Earth Day - April 22, 2011
- Great enhancements to the mountains in Google Earth - April 11, 2011
- Great collection of resources for the Fukushima power plant - April 7, 2011
- Diving deep with Richard Branson - April 6, 2011
- The World's Nuclear Reactors in Google Earth - April 1, 2011
- Visualizing the vast problem of marine debris - March 23, 2011
- Google Earth resources for the Japanese Earthquake - March 11, 2011
- The Sargasso Sea Expedition - March 3, 2011
- Follow the Mission Blue expedition to Salas y Gomez - February 24, 2011
- Resources for the latest Christchurch earthquake - February 22, 2011
- Imagery from the landslides in Brazil - February 8, 2011
- Stunning imagery of Tropical Cyclone Yasi - February 3, 2011
- Flooding Google Earth - January 24, 2011
- Predict how much solar power your house could generate - January 20, 2011
- Hunting for the Megalithic Stone Circle in Morocco - January 19, 2011
- The WaterAid Point Mapper, helping find fresh water - January 17, 2011
- The 2011 GSA Penrose Conference - January 14, 2011
- Mission Blue: Tracking the gulf oil spill recovery effort - January 13, 2011
- Simulate forest fires with ForeFire - December 23, 2010
- Google Earth Engine, an amazing tool for scientists and researchers, released at COP 16 - December 3, 2010
- Geography Awareness Week - November 16, 2010
- Panoramio is now adding photos from the Ocean - October 28, 2010
- The Berlin Solar Atlas project - October 26, 2010
- NASA captures amazing image of Hurricane Paula - October 15, 2010
- Three decades of watching life recover at Mt. St. Helens - October 13, 2010
- Sea Ice Extent Animation updated for 2010 - October 12, 2010
- 8 things to do with Historical Imagery in Google Earth - October 6, 2010
- Geospatial Revolution: Episode One Released - September 27, 2010
- Fresh imagery from the Four Mile Canyon fire in Colorado - September 17, 2010
- A ton more data from the Pakistan flooding - September 13, 2010
- Christchurch Earthquake Visualizations - September 6, 2010
- Tour of the proposed Belo Monte Dam Complex - August 31, 2010
- Hurricane Katrina, Five Years Later - August 30, 2010
- More imagery from Pakistan flooding - August 20, 2010
- Imagery of the flooding in Pakistan - August 13, 2010
- Google still seeking map data for the Pakistan floods - August 10, 2010
- The Tempe Town Lake Drain - August 9, 2010
- The Decade Volcanoes - August 6, 2010
- EPA data now featured in Google Earth Outreach - August 2, 2010
- One of the youngest craters on Earth - July 26, 2010
- Interactive multi-layered Google Earth map of 4 degree temp rise - July 23, 2010
- Tracking Hurricanes with Google Earth - July 1, 2010
- EPA releases KMZ with tons of info about the Deep Water Horizon oil spill - June 21, 2010
- Imagery from Nashville flooding released via "historical imagery" - June 18, 2010
- Use Google Earth to prevent looting? - June 14, 2010
- Comparing the Gulf oil spill to other historic spills - May 14, 2010
- Soil Moisture Animations - May 13, 2010
- A beaver dam that's visible from space - May 11, 2010
- Lisbon in 3D and a great oil spill visualization tool - May 7, 2010
- Google offers a ton of info about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill - May 6, 2010
- General Motors Education Project - May 3, 2010
- NASA releases updated imagery from the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico - April 30, 2010
- Image overlay of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - April 28, 2010
- Using Google Earth on Earth Day - April 22, 2010
- New imagery from the Qinghai earthquake - April 19, 2010
- Imagery of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland - April 16, 2010
- Ocean layer is now a default for all users - April 8, 2010
- Searching for gold in Google Earth - March 17, 2010
- The world's highest mountains - February 10, 2010
- A Climate Change Tour of Cold Places - February 2, 2010
- Resources for Haiti - January 18, 2010
- Imagery Layer for Haiti Earthquake has been released - January 13, 2010
- Links: Burj Dubai, Historical Imagery Updates, Updated EveryTrail App - January 5, 2010
- Deforestation of the Amazon is uncovering Geoglyphs - January 4, 2010
- The year 2009 in Google Earth - December 30, 2009
- Links: GeoVation, Greenhouse gas world graph, Tiger Woods home - December 18, 2009
- Links: Audi A8 with Google Earth, Liquid Galaxy, Deer Hunting, StreetView in the snow - December 10, 2009
- Climate change with Gov. Schwarzenegger - December 3, 2009
- Tracking the migration of Osprey - November 30, 2009
- Links: Trikes in South Africa, 10K museums, 10 things to know - November 24, 2009
- A closer look at Africa - October 28, 2009
- Outreach and the heroes of Google Earth - October 27, 2009
- Links: New Panaramio app, Thematic Mapping, ARsights, Disaster Relief, First Pics from WorldView-2 - October 21, 2009
- Links: Race My Race, Random Hacks of Kindness, WorldView-2 - October 13, 2009
- Better Parks Layer Info, Rio 3D Terrain Enhancements - October 12, 2009
- Google releases more tours to highlight climate change - October 6, 2009
- Data visualizations in Google Earth - October 5, 2009
- Find ways to help those affected by Tropical Storm Ketsana - October 3, 2009
- Loop Links, Biodiversity and the Law of the Sea - September 30, 2009
- Climate change tools for Google Earth - September 22, 2009
- Station Fire in California in Google Earth - August 31, 2009
- Links: Alphabet Soup, 3D Models movie, Fire tracking - August 24, 2009
- Non-profit's Guide to Using Google Earth/Maps - August 20, 2009
- Kaisei Project - Researching the Plastic Vortex - August 5, 2009
- NASA/Japan Release Terrain Data - Google Earth's is Better - July 1, 2009
- Links: Muggers Caught, Tehran Imagery, Ocean Celebration, UNHCR Donation - June 24, 2009
- Gimme Shelter Campaign via Google Earth - June 18, 2009
- World Oceans Day, 3D Design Competition, Britain Archeological Site, New Imagery Tour Idea - June 8, 2009
- US Drought Conditions in Google Earth by NOAA - June 5, 2009
- Huge Waste of Energy Visible in Google Earth - June 2, 2009
- Links: Geography Bee, Developer Marketplace, Monetize your Maps - May 21, 2009
- Google Earth Outreach Upgrade - May 20, 2009
- Links: Non-Profit Resources, Featured Modelers, Poet Recognized, 3D/4D Quake Analysis - May 7, 2009
- Two Collections: US Coast Guard and Right Whales - April 28, 2009
- Largest Proposed Urban Solar Power Plant in the US - April 23, 2009
- Use Google Earth on Earth Day - April 22, 2009
- Links: Ocean Now, Michigan Earth Day, Goldman Prize, Convention Center, Queen Mary - April 21, 2009
- Wilkins Ice Shelf Collapse in Google Earth - April 17, 2009
- L'Aquila, Italy Earthquake in Google Earth - April 8, 2009
- Glacier Melt Survey in Google Earth - March 24, 2009
- Google Earth Layers - March 22, 2009
- Google Earth Historical Imagery Update - 16-March-2009 - March 16, 2009
- US Solar Jobs Map - March 11, 2009
- Upside Down Earthquakes - March 9, 2009
- Satellite Collision Debris Tracking in Google Earth - February 23, 2009
- Google Earth 5 Released - 3D Ocean and More! - February 2, 2009
- Big Google Earth Announcement with Al Gore and More - January 26, 2009
- New View of Ocean Floor in Google Earth - January 17, 2009
- Urban Tick - Research Results in Google Earth - January 8, 2009
- Ocean Biogeographic Maps in Google Earth - November 25, 2008
- Carolina Beach Inlet in Google Earth - November 4, 2008
- Links: Bioneers, Science Apps, Ogle Catchup, Google Ocean, GreenPeace, Geocoding - October 24, 2008
- Fires in California - 2008-October - Google Earth/Maps - October 14, 2008
- Worldwide Marine Protected Areas in Google Earth - October 7, 2008
- Modified Mars Add-on for Google Earth - September 22, 2008
- More Detailed Arctic Ice Melting Animation in Google Earth - September 19, 2008
- Google Earth News Roundup - September 5, 2008
- Links: Panoramio Contest, Lunar Challenge, Fire Detection - August 28, 2008
- Google.org Visualizes US Geothermal Data in Google Earth - August 21, 2008
- Watch Arctic Ice Melting in Google Earth - August 11, 2008
- Google Goes to the Amazon - July 27, 2008
- More Bad News on Coral Reefs - NOAA's Google Earth Data - July 10, 2008
- Nice Range Map for Important Animals in Google Earth - July 4, 2008
- Links: Outreach Birthday, Bullit Chase Scene, NIN Downloads, KMLWiki - June 30, 2008
- California Fires - June 2008 - June 29, 2008
- Popular Science Highlights Scientific Applications of Google Earth - June 20, 2008
- Disappearing Forests Google Earth Visualizations - June 12, 2008
- Climate Change Data for Google Earth - May 20, 2008
- Links: Science Uses, Compass, GM vs VE, Healthy Planet, and more - April 28, 2008
- Google Earth For Earth Day - April 22, 2008
- Links: GE Lesson, GETools, Microsoft KML, 3D Bridges, Royal Australian 3D, EPA Award - April 18, 2008
- Links: GE/SketchUp Classes, Sea Ice Update, Bergen Terrain, Waldo - April 11, 2008
- More Global Awareness Layers: ARKive and WaterAid - April 10, 2008
- New Greenpeace Layer in Google Earth - April 3, 2008
- Wilkins Ice Shelf, Sea Ice Extent Animation - March 28, 2008
- Global Temperature Trends for Google Earth - March 24, 2008
- Buy a Tree for the Rainforest - Get a KML - March 21, 2008
- Links: Outreach Showcase, Spreadsheet mapping, Geo Test, KML Lesson Talk - February 26, 2008
- Big Update to Google Earth Outreach - February 13, 2008
- Links: Star Viewer, Green Screen, World Hockey, European Pollution, Golden Shadow - January 29, 2008
- Water Bodies in Google Earth - See Australia's! - January 28, 2008
- Links: KML Wrap-up, New Orrery, Zip Scribble, South China Sea - January 23, 2008
- Top 25 Stories of Google Earth 2007 - December 27, 2007
- Montserrat Volcanic Island in Google Earth - December 17, 2007
- Outreach Showcase - December 14, 2007
- Google Earth and Santa Claus - December 7, 2007
- Population Maps for Google Earth - December 5, 2007
- Links: EPA Air Quality, DigitalGlobe, Bolivia Protected Areas - November 27, 2007
- Arctic Ice Melting Animation in Google Earth - November 26, 2007
- Links: WSJ Article, Tornado History, Google Sky Exoplanets - November 15, 2007
- Links: Russian Oil Spill, KML Screen Overlay Maker, Android Demo - November 13, 2007
- San Francisco Oil Spill in Google Earth - November 12, 2007
- DOE Energy Efficient Buildings in 3D Google Earth - November 9, 2007
- Google California Fires Master Layer - October 26, 2007
- California Fires - Satellite photos, Fire Data in Google Earth - October 23, 2007
- San Diego, California Fires - See Smoke in Google Earth - October 22, 2007
- Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails in Google Earth - October 15, 2007
- Hurricane Followspot Animations in Google Earth - October 4, 2007
- Links: GE for scientists, Human body, Burma, Census Explorer, Virtual Earth, Cleanup Weekend - October 2, 2007
- Sierra Club Wants to Protect 52 Places in the US - See in Google Earth - September 28, 2007
- Google Earth Outreach Enhancements - September 16, 2007
- Back to School - Educational Uses with Google Earth - September 11, 2007
- News Roundup: Flight Sim Tips, Clouds and Weather, KML 2.2, Google Solar Panels, Pollution - September 10, 2007
- Greece Fires in Google Earth - August 28, 2007
- News Roundup: Peru Earthquake, Virtual Earth Update, Stefan's Alps Hike - August 16, 2007
- Scientific Ocean Drilling Database in Google Earth - August 14, 2007
- Virtual Globes at AGU 2007 - Call for Papers - August 8, 2007
- Rising Water Effects for Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro - July 31, 2007
- Energy Production Information for Western US - July 17, 2007
- Live Earth Concerts in Google Earth - July 6, 2007
- Quasi-global Near real-time Rainfall in Google Earth - July 3, 2007
- June Layers Additions/Updates for Google Earth - June 29, 2007
- Google Earth Outreach Announcement Video - June 28, 2007
- Notes from the Google Earth Outreach Announcement in NYC - June 27, 2007
- Introducing Google Earth Outreach - New Global Awareness Layers - June 26, 2007
- News Roundup: Google Earth Nonproifts Initiative, Giant Earth Screen, Pollmapr, Conferences, - June 22, 2007
- Google Earth Helping Amazon Indians - June 19, 2007
- ISDE Day 3 Summary - June 8, 2007
- Google Earth More Realistic with Better Terrain - June 6, 2007
- International Symposium on Digital Earth - Day 1, Part 1 - June 5, 2007
- Google Releases High Resolution Terrain - Western US and Canaries - June 2, 2007
- Rising Water Effects for NYC in Google Earth - Part III - May 25, 2007
- Rising Water Effects for NYC in Google Earth - Part II - May 18, 2007
- New Google Earth Layers Update: Amsterdam 3D, Forest Service, Taiwan Roads - May 17, 2007
- News Roundup 1 - Education, Clean Cruising, Magnalox, NASA UAVSAR - May 6, 2007
- See the Googleplex Solar Panel Plan in 3D - May 1, 2007
- News Roundup - Chile Border Crisis, Caribou, Gumball Rally, Emotions - April 30, 2007
- Maverick Waves Explained - Illustration in Google Earth - April 23, 2007
- New California Marine Protected Areas in Google Earth - April 20, 2007
- New Google Earth Layers for April: Darfur, Trimble, and more - April 9, 2007
- Animation Roundup: Rising Sea Levels, Filling Grand Canyon, Global Clouds - April 6, 2007
- Utah Geo Sightseeing in Google Earth - April 4, 2007
- Historical Maps of Tornado Paths in the US - April 3, 2007
- The Awesome Victoria Falls in Google Earth - March 24, 2007
- Super High Resolution Photos in Google Earth - March 18, 2007
- Google Highlights New Layers - March 13, 2007
- Major Layer Update for Google Earth - March 10th - March 10, 2007
- New Snow and Ice Data for Google Earth - March 5, 2007
- Happy International Polar Year! Google Earth Presentation - March 2, 2007
- World Oil Consumption - 3D Charts in Google Earth - February 27, 2007
- NASA Releases More Earth Data for Google Earth - February 22, 2007
- National Geographic on Elephant Poaching - Google Earth Presentation - February 20, 2007
- News Roundup - FreeGeoTools, Sprol, Subsurface, conferences, Magnalox - February 12, 2007
- Google Earth Critical Tool in Fight Against Logging Plan - February 6, 2007
- Discovery Sunrise on Google Earth - January 29, 2007
- Daily NASA MODIS Satellite Imagery for Google Earth - January 20, 2007
- NOAA Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) Weather Feed for Google Earth - January 13, 2007
- NOAA Releases Estuarine Bathymetric Data for Google Earth - January 12, 2007
- Upper Green Valley Environmental Issues Illustrated with Google Earth - January 10, 2007
- New Imagery Update for the Holidays - Awesome! - December 17, 2006
- Virtual Globes Sessions at AGU - Day 1 - December 13, 2006
- NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab Publishes Google Earth Content - December 8, 2006
- View Melting Glaciers in Google Earth - December 3, 2006
- Maplecroft Risk Analsysis Global Maps in Google Earth - November 22, 2006
- Protecting Rainforests in Victoria, Australia Using Google Earth - November 21, 2006
- Amazon Indians Using Google Earth to Protect Tropical Forests - November 15, 2006
- Earth on Fire - November 4, 2006
- End Mountain Top Removal Campaign with Google Earth - October 15, 2006
- UNEP's New Environment Layer in Google Earth - September 21, 2006
- Back to School - Educational Uses with Google Earth - August 29, 2006
- New Environment and Conservation Forum for Google Earth Community - July 17, 2006
- Map of Projected Sea Level Rise Effects on Vancouver - May 8, 2006
- USGS Releases Geologic Maps for Google Earth - April 25, 2006
- Earth Day - Google Earth Style - April 22, 2006
- NOAA's Coral Reef Watch Adds Google Earth Data - April 13, 2006
- State of Our Ecology in Google Earth - April 12, 2006
- Sierra Club Shows Public Land Sale Proposal in Google Earth - March 17, 2006
- More Satellite Environmental Data in Google Earth - January 31, 2006
- Global Fire Data in Google Earth - January 26, 2006
- Arctic and Antarctic Ice Floes in Google Earth - January 25, 2006
- Environmental Groups Leveraging Google Earth - January 16, 2006
