Links: Hurricane Ike, GeoEye Launched, Aviation Maps, McClendon in Kansas

Hurricane Ike – Hurricane Ike is hitting Cuba right now, and it is currently forecasted to pass across the Gulf of Mexico and is headed for Houston. Check out Hurricane Ike in Google Earth using storm tracking weather tools.

GeoEye Launched – As mentioned last week, GeoEye satellite launched successfully on Saturday mid-day from Vandenburg AFB in California. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin watched the launch in person. Google has bought the exclusive rights to online viewing of this satellite’s imagery. Let’s be clear, because other sites are mis-interpreting the facts, the imagery will still be available for sale by GeoEye for other commercial or personal applications. It just means other mapping sites like Microsoft’s Virtual Earth won’t have access to this imagery. via CNET.

Aviation Maps Update – Matt Fox has made a substantial update to his collection of aviation sectional charts for the US – KML File . He says the data has been merged into one mosaic, and the quality of the scans have been improved. And, other maps and data have been added. Also, as mentioned at the end of July, he has a Google Earth plugin version of the charts which makes it handy.

McClendon in Kansas – Brian McClendon has long been one of the chief engineers behind Google Earth – dating back to Keyhole before Google bought it. He heads up the engineering for the Geo Team now at Google. A little bit of trivia: when Google Earth first came out it defaulted to a view over Lawrence, Kansas. The reason? Because Brian McClendon grew up there. In fact, last week Brian visited Lawrence to speak at a fundraiser for Community Education. He spoke to encourage the education system to use more technology in the classroom. The breakfast lecture helped raise $49,000 for the Lawrence Schools Foundation. Read more at LJWorld.