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The photorealistic atmosphere in Google Earth 7.1

April 24, 2013

The release of Google Earth 7.1 brought with it a number of nice enhancements, including the new starry sky, but the best-looking might just be the new experimental “photorealistic atmosphere” option, seen here:

atmosphere

(screen capture submitted by Dimitris Manias)

It looks amazing!

The new feature is still being tested and may be a bit buggy, but can be enabled on your computer right now if you go to [Tools] –> [Options] –> “Use photorealistic atmosphere rendering“.

To get a view similar to the image above, you need to do a few things.  First, of course, enable the photorealistic atmosphere.  Next, you’ll need to turn on the sun by using the [View] –> “Sun” option (or by clicking the sun icon at the top of the screen).  Lastly, to enable the sun to reflect on the water you’ll need to have the water surface enabled by going to [View] –> “Water Surface“.

Here are a few more screenshots taken using the technique above.  Wow!

About Mickey Mellen

Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. He runs a web design firm in Marietta, GA, where he lives with his wife and two kids.

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Filed Under: Google Earth Tips, Sightseeing Tagged With: 7.1, ocean, photorealistic atmosphere

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PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.

Comments

  1. Dan says

    April 24, 2013 at 7:05 am

    Amazing. Looks great. I live in the UK so would probably need a few more clouds 🙂

    • Mickey Mellen says

      April 24, 2013 at 7:06 am

      Dan — That’s the great part about it; turn on the “weather” layer to get the clouds, the “sun” to show dark/light, and suddenly things are looking remarkably realistic.

  2. Steven Ho says

    April 24, 2013 at 8:34 pm

    This reminds me of my last year’s work,share to you!
    http://gemvg.com/taiwanFlyover/sunrise/SunriseOnGE.kmz

  3. Greg Angevine says

    April 26, 2013 at 2:17 am

    It would be interesting to hear some feedback on how different hardware configurations are dealing with the increased demands of the new lighting and atmospherics in Earth 7.1, there is certainly more overhead involved with running these enhancements. It’s been a long time since Google updated their recommended system requirements…

    • archangelmichael2 says

      April 26, 2013 at 4:44 am

      Correction. It would be interesting to hear some feedback period!

    • Frank Taylor says

      May 1, 2013 at 5:35 am

      That’s part of the reason why Google put a disclaimer on the new photorealistic atmosphere effects – because it might not work on some configurations.

  4. archangelmichael2 says

    April 26, 2013 at 4:43 am

    Why are there no night time pics? Does night time look incredibly fake and not trying to scare anybody away?

    Also will Google earth within 5 years have real time weather like Microsoft Flight Simulator X does that uses data from the nearest airport and possibly Personal Weather Stations that are hooked online?

  5. bucky says

    April 26, 2013 at 6:28 pm

    what does the sky look like in Beijing in GE 7.1? =p

  6. Wroman says

    April 26, 2013 at 6:45 pm

    Google Earth ya no es un Mapa, ya es un “Simulador Global”. Solo falta las nubes en 3D

  7. bigbrifirst says

    April 28, 2013 at 1:14 am

    If conditions are clear can you see the green flash at sunset over the ocean?

  8. SebastienP says

    August 6, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    I’ve made a quick test to see how good this photorealistic atmosphere is. If you look at the two pictures below, you’ll see a view from GE and below, the same view from a plane in the alps. The two pictures are from the very same place in the alps, from the same distance:

    http://i38.servimg.com/u/f38/15/04/82/62/realit10.jpg

    original picture from Michael Jago: http://michaeljago.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/swiss-alps1.jpg
    I find that the atmosphere is too ‘blue’! How do I report this to the developer team?

    • ilias stravakos says

      June 2, 2015 at 11:32 am

      hi, is it possible to provide kml of above photo please?

      • Sebastien says

        June 2, 2015 at 3:15 pm

        Here it is: http://www.cjoint.com/doc/15_06/EFctlq4og4B_Swiss%20Alps.kmz
        And go to the Tool menu, then options, to check the box for the realistic atmosphere. The large field comes from the kmz.

        • Sebastien says

          June 3, 2015 at 1:59 pm

          I realized that the fov isn’t saved in the kmz.

  9. Ewen says

    June 25, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    How can you keep the photorealistic atmosphere option enabled so when you restart application it’s on from start up? I have to keep enabling it everytime I start Earth. I know it’s still experimental and all, but I hope there is a way of keeping it on always as I don’t have any crashes or problems with it enabled.



PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.

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