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Viewing California emissions in Google Earth

August 23, 2012

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) collects a lot of data on greenhouse gas emissions in California, and has just released a new system that allows of easy visualization of that data. By putting the data in Google Earth, you can quickly visualize the emission levels for any of the 625 facilities in the state.

carb.jpg

You can view the data for yourself using their Facilities and Emissions Visualization Tool. While I’ve seen examples over the years of solid data being shown in 3D for no apparent reason, this is an excellent use transforming their data into a 3D map. By quickly glancing at the state, you can get an excellent feel for which areas are emitting the highest level of gases.
There is quite a lot of data in these maps, and they’ve built a short tutorial video to show you all of the features available.
From their news release:

“Knowing the exact quantity of greenhouse gas every major source pumps into the atmosphere is the foundation of an effective cap-and-trade program,” said Mary D. Nichols, ARB Chairman. “Thanks to our rigorous reporting program we know the amount of greenhouse gases each source emits down to the ton. This new application provides an easy way to pinpoint those sources on a map, and allows everyone to see at a glance how it compares to other facilities in the same county, or throughout the state.”

The new application links ARB’s database of the state’s largest sources of greenhouse gases with Google’s mapping technology, including satellite photography that shows details of each facility. The Google Earth module features a graphic representation of the relative size of each facility’s annual greenhouse gas emissions in relation to others throughout the state.

The application allows viewers to choose which sources they wish to see by sector (such as only choosing cement manufacturers, refineries, or power stations) and also displays specific counties, air basins and air districts. The application also shows six out-of-state facilities that provide some of the electricity imported into California.

(via treehugger and +Google Earth)

Filed Under: Environment, Sailing

The voyage of the Titanic in Google Earth

April 12, 2012

This weekend marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s collision and subsequent sinking in the North Atlantic Ocean. Today we’ll take a look at the journey that led to the iceberg, and tomorrow we’ll explore ways to view the ship as she sits today at the bottom of the ocean.
GPSed.com has a great track of the voyage of the ship. You can view it on their site or download this KML file to see it in Google Earth.

titanic-journey.jpg

3D Warehouse users ‘DannyDijk’ built a nice 3D model of the ship while it was beginning to sink. The elevation seems a bit off (the ship is floating in air), but the model is very well-done and is worth checking out. You can view it in Google Earth by using this KML file.
titanic-3d-above.jpg

The best model I’ve seen is likely from user ‘fsmdf’. His model is only available for download to SketchUp and can’t be viewed directly in Google Earth, but he created a video to show how it was created and it’s nothing short of amazing.

At the end of the voyage, of course, the ship broke into two pieces and sank. James Cameron went to great lengths to portray the sinking the ship as accurately as possible in the 1997 Titanic film, but has since discovered some errors. While he is not going to correct them in the 3D remake of the movie, he’s released a revised CGI animation that is thought to be the most accurate rendering of how the ship went down.

There are two major differences in the new rendering from the original movie. The first is the angle of the ship when it breaks. It’s now thought to have been just 23 degrees, but was shown at a considerably higher angle in the movie. The other change is the way the bow of the ship sank; in the movie, it stands straight up and holds for a few seconds, then begins to sink. The new rendering is similar to that, though it doesn’t quite go vertical and certainly doesn’t hold in that position. All in all, it’s a very interesting way to view the sinking of the ship.

Filed Under: 3D Models, Sailing, Sightseeing, Video

Captain James Cook’s exploration of Australia

March 6, 2012

A few months ago, we showed you Colin Hazlehurst’s excellent tours of James Cook exploring New Zealand and South Island, New Zealand. Colin is back with a new presentation and it’s simply amazing.
This time his presentation covers Cook’s exploration of Australia from April 18 – August 23, 1770. The presentation contains over five hours of animation with audio accompaniment, and is split into 17 tours. You can load the KMZ file here, but be aware that it may be somewhat slow to load each segment due to the detailed models and large audio files.
Below is a quick look at what is contained in the file, as written by Colin.
Approaching Australia on 18Apr1770

1 Approaching Australia on 18Apr1770.jpg

On the 18th of April, 1770, the crew of Endeavour saw Pinatado birds, a good indication of the nearness of land. Their navigational instruments also showed them to be to the west of Abel Tasman’s longitude of Van Diemen’s Land (present day Tasmania), so they couldn’t be far from a landfall. The following day Lieutenant Hicks was the first to sight land and Point Hicks is named in his honour. Cook’s plan, agreed with the other officers, was to explore the coast of New Holland (present day Australia) to the northward. He was very keen to determine whether or not New Holland was connected to New Guinea, a point of much discussion among geographers.
First attempt to land on 28Apr1770
2 First Attempt To Land.jpg

On 28th April, some people were seen on the beach and an attempt was made to land and communicate with them. However, the people ran off into the woods and Cook was further frustrated by finding the surf too powerful for him to land safely. The following day, Endeavour arrived off a large bay in which Cook decided to anchor. The first name of this inlet was Stingray Bay but Cook later amended this, writing in his journal: The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place occasioned my giving it the name Botany Bay.
First landing on Australian soil on 29Apr1770
3 Landing Place Botany Bay.jpg

The crew of Endeavour stepped ashore on 29Apr1770. They stayed about a week, resupplying the ship with wood and water, and fishing in the bay. The first interactions with the aboriginal people of Australia were not happy; darts were thrown and muskets were fired.
On leaving Botany Bay, Endeavour worked her way northward with Cook surveying and charting the prominent features as they sailed. One thing he wasn’t aware of was the presence of the Great Barrier Reef and the way that it grew closer and closer to the land the further north they sailed.
Whitsunday was on 04Jun1770
4 Whitsunday Passage.jpg

Cook was impressed by the number of safe anchorages there seemed to be in Whitsunday Passage, the strait of water they discovered on 04Jun1770. Beyond this point, the sailing still seemed to be straightforward; the ‘knowable unknowns’ became known to the north of Cape Tribulation, named by Cook: ‘because here began all our troubles’. He directed the ship to sail offshore in order to avoid some islands ahead. They narrowly missed hitting the Pickersgill Reef, but an hour later, at about 11pm on 10Jun1770, they ran aground on Endeavour Reef.
Aground on Endeavour Reef (10Jun1770)
5 Endeavour Reef.jpg

It was fun for me to animate the ship running aground and the attempts heave her off, but less fun for the men on board who were divided into two teams – one working full time on the pumps and the other throwing heavy items overboard (over 50 tons were ditched in the oggin) and heaving on anchor chains in an attempt to pull her off the reef. The story is one of calmness and bravery under extreme stress.
Once hauled off the reef, two high tides later, the ship was fothered, a process that involves treating a spare sail with oakum and wool (and other items like sheep’s dung or ‘other filth’), and passing the sail under the hull, using ropes to position it over the hole. In this way the ship was patched up temporarily and they were able to sail along the coast to find a place for more permanent repairs. They found this in an estuary to the north, which Cook named Endeavour River.
Beached in Endeavour River on 22Jun1770
6 Beached in Endeavour River.jpg

In the tour, I couldn’t resist flying to the same viewpoint as this engraving by Johann Fritzsch (1786). Either Fritzsch has his Vertical Exaggeration set to 2.0 or the scale of the model in the tour is too great.
Endeavour remained in this anchorage until 05Aug1770, following which they sailed cautiously northward. They were surrounded by shoals and reefs and advanced very slowly. Cook estimated that they travelled over 1000 miles with a man in the chains, sounding, or with one or more of the smaller boats ahead seeking out the safe channels.
They made a decision to try to get outside the reefs which surrounded them. They could see the Pacific ocean swell pounding on the outer edge of the reef and throwing up huge breakers, and longed to be in that deeper water.
Cook’s Passage near Lizard Island
7 Cook's Passage.jpg

They finally achieved their aim by sailing through Cook’s Passage, an opening in the outer reef near Lizard Island, on Monday, 13Aug1770. They stood off north-east until daylight the following morning, and then headed north-west and west. Cook was determined not to miss the northern extremity of New Holland.
A few days later they were in serious trouble. In an area where the currents were strong it fell quite calm, and a sailing ship without wind is at the mercy of the currents. They found themselves being carried ever closer to the reef – a shear wall of coral rock – with nothing to prevent them being smashed to pieces. Again, calmness under pressure was required. The smaller boats were deployed to pull the ship’s head to the north, and with the help of the tides and a few very light airs they managed to find a way back inside the reef system, calling the opening they found Providential Channel. Cook wrote:
‘It is but a few days ago that I rejoiced at having got without the reef; but that joy was nothing when compared to what I now felt at being safe at anchor within it.’
Providential Channel (16Aug1770)
8 Providential Channel.jpg

The new plan was to stay inshore and dodge all the shoals and reefs they they were becoming expert at negotiating. By the end of the following week, Cook had found the northern extent of New Holland (Cape York) and a passage through to the Indonesian seas which is now called Endeavour Strait. By this, he had demonstrated to his own satisfaction that New Guinea was an island.
“I could see no land between south-west and west-south-west.” (Endeavour Strait on 22Aug1770)
9 Endeavour Strait.jpg

Filed Under: 3D Models, Sailing, Science, Tours

The Costa Concordia 3D tour is now stunningly realistic

February 8, 2012

A few weeks ago we showed you Peter Olsen’s 3D tour of the Costa Concordia. It was a very impressive file, showing a 3D model of the ship as it progressed through its fateful voyage.
Peter has been hard at work since then, and we simply had to show you the file with his latest updates. He has rebuilt the ship model from scratch, added much more data to the timeline, built 3D lifeboats (which slowly descend into the water), and even a 3D helicopter to show how the rescue operation unfolded!

boats.jpg

As you may recall from Peter’s work on Stone Mountain and the MLK Memorial, his attention to detail is incredibly high. If you’re curious where he got some of the data used in this animation, here is a list:
• The general conversation between ship and harbour master and times is from here.
• The specific conversation between the captain and coastguard is here. (his version is slightly abridged)
• Some of the timeline is from here.
•The AIS track data is from here.
• The list of dead and missing came from here, which is now a dead link, as well as here.
•The chaotic way the lifeboats departed is from here.
• The helicopter is an exact replica of the real one used in the rescue – call sign VF-57. It is an Agusta Bell ab412SP Air Ambulance, based on the Bell 412. It was manufactured under license by Agusta for the Italian Rescue Service. The photo at the end just before the list of names shows the actual helicopter hovering over the ship. The general line of Bell helicopters of the family, including the Agusta’s is here.
• The Bell 412, with size specifications, is here.
• The shape of the helicopter is here.
• The actual VF-57 helicopter is here.
• A video of an identical model (call sign VF-67) is here.
To see it for yourself, you can download the file from the 3D warehouse or watch the video below:

Filed Under: 3D Models, Sailing

An amazing 3D tour of the Costa Concordia

January 27, 2012

Last week we showed you the fresh satellite imagery and tour of the wreck of the Costa Concordia. It was a great file that helped to show what happened, but now Peter Olsen (who just days ago unveiled the excellent Terra Nova models) has built an incredible 3D tour of the wreck, with the entire journey animated!

costa.png

The speed has been increased to save time, so you don’t have to wait 2-1/2 hours for it to finish, but it’s otherwise as accurate as possible. To see it for yourself, simply visit the Costa Concordia Disaster Animation page in the Google 3D Warehouse and choose the “View in Google Earth” link.
If you’re not familiar with using Tour files in Google Earth, simply click the “Double-click me!” text on the left to get it started, then click the play button at the bottom to step through the introductory slides, as seen here:
tour.jpg

Fully animated tours like this are a great way to recreate events, and Peter is one of the best around at creating them. A similar example you might want to check out is his recreation of the 1977 Tenerife Airport disaster from a few years ago. Great job, Peter!

Filed Under: 3D Models, Sailing, Tours

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