-
Alphabet Soup – GEC member ‘thomasdebruin’ did some painstaking work identifying an entire alphabet (plus punctuation) in the aerial/satellite photos in the Netherlands. You can download the placemarks in GE here
. This is just one of several similar efforts out there. My favorite trick with satellite “alphabets” is GeoGreeting.com which lets you send a message with an aerial/satellite imagery alphabet using Google Maps. Maybe they could do a localized version for the Netherlands now.
-
3D Models Movie – The Google SketchUp team has put together a nice movie touring many of the better Google Earth 3D models out there. Watch it here (I recommend hitting the “HD” button and going to “fullscreen”:
-
Fire Tracking – Discovered this collection of Google Earth files showing up-to-date fire information on a global basis based on data from NASA’s Modis satellite system. The work is done by the University of Maryland’s FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management). The link shows a page where you can select different regions around the Earth. You can choose 24 hour, 48 hour, and a time series for 48 hours (a time animation). They also have a network link for the whole world. Very handy way to find out where the fires are. Watch out for the Africa fire files though…there are LOTS of fires there!
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.