[UPDATED May 9th: Google and other organizations have released many Myanmar visualizations for Google Earth including storm tracks, flooding data, and before/after satellite imagery. This post is being updated with the latest.] Over the weekend, Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar as a category 4 storm with winds greater than 115 knots. The storms caused terrible flooding as well, and thousands of lives were lost. The UN Institute for Training and Research Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) regularly creates maps to track disaster situations and has released a visualization for Google Earth showing the track and strength of the storm and the extent of flooding which resulted. via Google LatLong Blog.
Also, here are a couple of NASA satellite photos of the storm before it struck and as it was over Myanmar. via GEarthHacks and NASA.
Google provided a new KML showing an animation of Cyclone Nargis from the Naval Research Laboratory’s satellite imagery. You have to wait for each set of images to load (it takes a minute or two) before the animation plays smoothly. Also, adjust the animation speed for smoother playback (click on the clock icon on the left of the time slider). Google also linked to an NRL KML which shows more details during the timeline of the hurricane. via Google LatLong Blog. HurricaneMapping.com sent me a Nargis KML which shows the track of the storm along with wind swaths, and details at various stages of the path.
Google has posted a new KML file which shows a variety of before and after Cyclone Nargis imagery of Myanmar. The imagery comes from a variety of sources including NASA, DigitalGlobe, and GeoEye/CRISP Singapore. You can clearly see the tremendous flooding which has caused the worst of the damage and fatalities from this storm.
As an aid to workers in Myanmar, Direct Relief International has released this KML fileshowing all of the Myanmar Ministry of Health facilities (over 700 sites) using data from the WHO 2002 Global Health Atlas survey. They used the spreadsheet mapper tool to make the collection.
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.
