Google Earth News

Google Earth Update – Version: 7.1.7.2600

September 1, 2016

Google has released an update to Google Earth and Google Earth Pro. This is a bugfix / maintenance update with no new features. Having said that, it does fix some of the worst bugs, including crashes and installation problems and its release confirms that Google has not given up on Google Earth.

The release notes say:

Issues fixed in this release of Google Earth Client

Removed menu items for Google Maps Engine and the Google Earth Community.
New Google and Google Earth logos.
Crashes from rearranging items in My Places.
Earth Pro: Removed registration dialog as Pro no longer requires a license.
Windows: “1603” installer error caused by attempts to re-install Earth 7.
Linux: Font dialog and other crashes.
Linux: Cache data inconsistency between 32 and 64-bit builds.
Linux: RPM installer problems with permissions in directory “/usr/bin”.
Mac & Linux: Updated driver support for 3Dconnexion controller devices.

We get quite a lot of email regarding problems installing Google Earth, so we hope those are now a thing of the past. We also used to experience the crash when rearranging placemarks, which was particularly annoying as it typically meant redoing a lot of work, as My Places is only saved when Google Earth is closed properly. It seemed to be placemarks with links that were particularly troublesome.

Another crash that occurs when you try to search for something while Google Earth is still loading is still there.

For most people, there should be no need to do anything and Google Earth should update automatically. If you installed Google Earth using the ‘offline installer’ then you may need to manually update to get the new version, which you can do by going to the standard Google Earth download page. We actually recommend that everyone consider switching to Google Earth Pro as it is free and has more features than Google Earth. There are, however, no differences in the actually imagery. Google Earth and Google Earth Pro share the same ‘myplaces.kml’ (where saved placemarks are stored) so switching does not loose any data. You can have them both installed at the same time and use whichever you like, but you cannot run them both at once. As mentioned in the comments, Google Earth Pro is not available on Linux.


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Google Earth gets a makeover!

June 28, 2016

Google Earth has just had a makeover. Google has refreshed the global mosaic imagery that you see when zoomed out with newer, better quality imagery. When you zoom in, Google Earth transitions to higher resolution imagery where available, but in places where it is not available, the global mosaic remains. When Google Earth was first released it looked like a patchwork of imagery – essentially the same as it does today when you switch to ‘historical imagery’. Then, in 2012, they released ‘Pretty Earth’ a global mosaic derived from Landsat data which made Google Earth look a lot better. As far as we know, this is the first refresh to the global mosaic since then. The first mosaic was produced using Landsat 7 data. Landsat 7 has faulty instrumentation, which resulted in stripes in the imagery at some locations.

Read more about the new global mosaic on Google’s Lat Long Blog.

Landsat 8 was launched in 2013 and the new mosaic incorporates imagery it has gathered. However, we believe we can still detect, in places, the characteristic stripes of Landsat 7 data, suggesting that the mosaic is not exclusively from Landsat 8.

A location in Venezuela. The squares are roads. The broader, nearly horizontal stripes in the vegetation are almost certainly due to a Landsat 7 image being used.

Also see the Vatnajökull Glacier on Iceland for another location where the Landsat stripes are visible.

Overall, the contrast is higher in the new mosaic and in parts of the US you can see a distinct checkerboard pattern:

The checkerboard pattern is real, being a consequence of the Jefferson Grid.

The mosaic is created by carefully selecting cloud-free and snow-free sections of imagery from the catalogue of Landsat imagery. The resulting, largely cloud-free and snow-free view of the world is actually quite unrealistic. In some cases, such as some mountain ranges and the poles, it has proved impossible to find completely cloud-free, snow-free imagery.

Some clouds are visible in the Falklands.

The northern coast of Greenland hasn’t fared too well with the update, but that is because this is outside of Landsat’s coverage.

Overall, we think the new mosaic is a significant improvement, but without the old one to compare it with, it is difficult to make an accurate comparison.

As far as we know, Sentinel imagery is freely available under similar conditions to the Landsat data. In addition, it is higher resolution than Landsat data. We wonder whether Google has looked into incorporating Sentinel data in the global mosaic.

To find the locations mentioned in this post in Google Earth download this KML file.

Explore Mars in Google Earth

October 2, 2015

This has been a big week for Mars with the new NASA discovery of flowing water on the red planet, and the release of a blockbuster movie “The Martian” based on the New York Times best seller of the same name by Andy Weir and starring Matt Damon. An excellent book by the way! So, this is a good time to remind everyone that Google Earth also can portray Mars just like it does for the Earth. Mars in Google Earth has a fantastic archive of data from NASA (and other sources) from orbital imaging platforms, and Mars landers including 3D terrain, global imagery, high resolution orbital imagery, lander photos, and even lander 360 panoramas. The lander locations and tracks can be viewed, as well as their last known positions. Most of the data is current showing even the latest position of Curiosity and Opportunity. Mars for Google Earth only works in the desktop application (not on Google Earth for mobile).

To get started, you simply look for the little planet icon at the top center of Google Earth and click on it for a list of options including Mars (you’ll see there are also versions for Sky and Moon). Click on Mars, and the Earth globe will turn into Mars. Mars was released in February 2009 (see original Mars review).

See below for my original video review of what Mars for Google Earth is really like:

You can spend hours exploring Mars and the layers Google created to explore the data from the various landers and orbiters. I especially enjoy the panoramas by Opportunity and Curiosity. An important tip if you want to explore the panoramas is that you might need to expand the time slider selectors that appear in the upper left so they show the full time span. Otherwise the panoramas may load up invisible until you find the time when it was taken.

And here’s a cool trick even long-time users of Google Earth might not have discovered. Fans know that Google Earth has a built-in flight simulator (read more), well you can also use the flight simulator on Mars! Kind a fun to fly around the crater at the top of Mons Olympus, or through the huge canyon of Valleris Maneris. Just look for the menu choice “View->Flight Simulator”. I recommend the F-16 for faster flying. You’ll need to learn the flight simulator a bit to fly well. Here’s a view of flying on Mars.

I’m planning to see the movie this weekend. Can’t wait to see it!

New Content for Google Earth’s 10th Anniversary

June 29, 2015

Google blogged today about Google Earth turning 10 and announced some new content in celebration. This announcement brings out some revelations about the future of Google Earth as well. So, we are very excited by the announcement here at Google Earth Blog.

First, let’s talk about the new layer Google announced. If you start up Google Earth today, you get a new layer in the layers panel on the lower left called “Voyager” and you will soon see they are calling it “Edition 1”. Future editions will update the content and possibly add even more features. The layer is intended to help show you the locations of all the most recent imagery and data available in Google Earth in four main categories:

Street View highlights
EarthView landscapes – desktop background suitable pretty places
3D Cities – locations of high-resolution 3D city maps
Satellite/Aerial imagery – locations with the latest imagery

The layer also has a “Highlight tour” that literally flies you around the Earth to highlight samples from each of the new layers. Just to give you a taste, I’ve created short YouTube video that demonstrates the new layer and the tour.

More Details from Google’s Post

Today’s Google blog post was by Sean Askay who has been written about many times on Google Earth Blog. In the early days after Google Earth was released, Sean used the program for his Master’s studies. He later created some amazing stories using Google Earth and he was so innovative that Google ended up hiring him. He went on to create even more content, but also created the Tour mode in Google Earth that is actually a great resource for doing self-guided demonstrations (including the new Voyager layer). My favorite was the one he did with Astronaut Buzz Aldrin for the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon in 2009.

In Sean’s post, he not only announced the new Google Earth Voyager layer, but also a larger collection of beautiful Earth Views for the popular Chrome extension, and a slick new Earth View web application that shows not only the views, but also a little animated globe mapping the location of each shot.

Interesting Hints at the Future of Google Earth

Google made it very plain in their blog post, and in the new layer, that they look forward to seeing Google Earth for another ten years. Considering our fears of the possible demise of our favorite app, for the last couple of years, this is really good news. But, it gets even better. According to a recent interview on Wired, Sean is now the lead engineer overseeing future work on Google Earth. That’s particularly good news since two of the most important guys that built the original Google Earth have recently left Google (Michael Jones is now CEO of Wearality, and Brian McClendon is now going to Uber). In the Wired interview, Sean, and Google Earth Outreach manager Rebecca Moore, made some interesting comments about future plans for Google Earth which indicate a lot of thinking about leveraging the vast array of data Google has developed to create even more dynamic databases for new versions of Google Earth. And hints at uses of VR and AI technologies.

So, for the millions of fans of Google Earth out there, this really is a good cause for celebration. The future looks much brighter for Google Earth. Thank you Google for maintaining your commitment behind one of your greatest products!

Ten Years of Amazing Google Earth Visualizations

June 29, 2015

Google Earth was first released on June 28, 2005. Now, in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Google Earth’s release, we would like to share just a few examples of the best user applications of Google Earth over the years. As any regular reader of this blog can tell you, Google Earth is a fantastic way to share content and tell stories about the Earth (and other planets and places). The desktop versions of Google Earth (GE) include a lot of features for annotating the map including basic placemarks, GPS tracks, image overlays (for maps, weather satellite photos and more), photo placemarks, time animations, 3D models, and much more. After over a billion downloads of Google Earth, millions of people have shared a vast array of content, and continue to do so after 10 years of the world’s most accurate 3D globe. Google also added many powerful features to GE over the years to allow people to create applications via their browser-based plugin and API, time animations, and even a scripting tour mode inside Google Earth.

Millions of people have found all kinds of strange and interesting sights when viewing Google Earth imagery. A few examples include: marriage proposals on roofs, heart-shaped lakes, guitar-shaped pools, African animals, bizarre hidden military objects, and many more. Thousands of people have found planes in flight and there’s a huge collection curated by the Google Earth Community.

Google Earth is a great way to tell stories in a geo-spatial context. Want to read about the harrowing tale, and see the locations, of explorers in the early 1900s whose ship was trapped in ice in Antarctica and the successful rescue by their daring captain who managed to get help from thousands of miles away? Want to see and hear the places and stories from a famous book called “Sailing Alone Around the World” by Joshua Slocum?

Did you know Google Earth has a built-in flight simulator? Very few people realize just how fluid you can move inside the program. You can fly while looking at the world’s most complete and current model of the Earth. In fact, back in 2007 when I produced a cool demonstration of the first detailed terrain model of the Swiss Alps, by mimicing a video of a Swiss Figher Jet through the mountains, it impressed Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt (now Chairman) so much that Google decided to produce the flight simulator mode. An even better way to fly in Google Earth is with a 3D mouse called SpaceNavigator which gives you the ultimate control.

The time animation feature, which Google added a year after it was first released, empowered all sorts of dynamic content and data visualizations. For example, one guy produced an animation of the clouds of Jupiter in motion. Another classic example was a visualization of Hurricane Katrina showing just when it grew the strongest and shows satellites views as it approached and struck New Orleans.

The advent of the browser plugin version of Google Earth enabled developers to create applications using Google Earth. One of my favorite scientific applications is one that helps you visualize eclipses when the Moon and Earth dance with the Sun. Google produced a cool demonstration of the plugin with Monster Milktruck. But, my favorite is a game which lets you play like you are doing a lunar landing of the NASA Apollo 11 Eagle on Tranquility Base – complete with sound (see video).

One of the most important uses of Google Earth has been to help raise awareness of issues facing humanity and the Earth’s environment. Google formed Google Earth Outreach with a team of top Google engineers to help organizations use Google Earth to create tools and visualizations to highlight issues such as environmentally destructive coal mining, effects of massive deforestation, dangers and conditions of coral reefs, and human genocide. In 2009 Google introduced the Google Earth Ocean layers to help raise awareness and explore the Ocean and highlight issues like overfishing, climate change, and pollution.

Google Earth has been a fantastic tool used throughout the world for a multitude of purposes. It has been used in schools countless times to help teachers educate the minds of the young about the Earth. And Google Earth is the best way to explore and learn about places you may never reach otherwise, or to help you plan your own travels to those places. Google Earth has been one of the most popular applications on Earth. We hope Google will continue to develop and further advance this fantastic tool for everyone.