The author of the Topographical Maps Archive, Matt Fox, who had released some pretty cool Google Earth files I wrote about last month, has just announced the release of a new web site called Google Earth Library. His new web site is kind of a blog focused on Google Earth content (not news, or simple placemarks), with an emphasis on education, environment, or science visualizations. He has also opened up his blog to allow people to register and submit their own content on the site. For the past few weeks he has been populating, and categorizing, the site with dozens of example content (many of the examples are written about here at Google Earth Blog, but not all of them). It is definitely worth browsing through his posts over the last two weeks. He has picked some really good examples of Google Earth content.
In celebration of the grand opening, Matt has released at least two new Google Earth files: One that provided a new Moon overlay for Google Earth using high-resolution satellite photos from the NASA Clementine mission. And another which provides overlays for GE for showing Mars imagery from the Mars Digital Image Mosaic at 64 pixels per degree produced at the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona. Both of these were created using the region layer capability in GE 4 to allow high resolution tiles to be viewed as you zoom in closer. As Matt recommends in the instructions after you download the files, you should turn off most (or all) of your layers (so you don’t see Earth-based information while viewing these planets). And, I recommend turning off the View->Atmosphere as well.
Congratulations to Matt for creating another resource for viewing Google Earth content. I look forward to writing about these and other interesting content he manages to find or create.
Related:
- Google Jupiter – Clouds in Motion
- Google Saturn – this uses a 3D model for the clouds, also done by ‘barnabu’
- Space Atlas for Google Earth
- Blue Marble 2.0
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.
I help run a Micronational (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/micronation) Mapping society, and we have a map of a ficticious planet named Micras, i was wondering how could i do a full earth overlay from this:
http://www.micromaps.org/maps/maponly.png
please and thank you.
-Dr-spangle
That’s an easy one. Just open this with Google Earth.
http://www.gelib.fox-fam.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/maponly.kml
Your map is not a true cylidrical projection so gets messed up a little bit at the poles.
Very cool… we knew it would get distorted at the poles.
Errmm why is their weird stuff round boarders and coasts though? is there any way we could remove it?