google earth pro features

Google Earth Pro: regionation

February 26, 2015

We have recently been looking at some of the features exclusive to the now free Google Earth Pro. Today we are looking at the ‘regionate’ feature.

The regionate tool is a way to make large datasets easier to work with by limiting the number of items displayed in Google Earth at any given time. How it does this is explained in this YouTube video from the Google Earth help page:

We decided to try it out using a KML file that we found on the Geo-Wiki site that we looked at yesterday.

The file we tested with, the Geo-Wiki validations dataset from the downloads page, contains just over 58,000 features. When we opened it in Google Earth it made the application sluggish and it was quite difficult to navigate around to view the data. We used the regionate tool, and it split the KML into 6,589 separate files all linked together from a master KML file. All the data was still there, but you don’t see all the features until you zoom in, making Google Earth much more responsive. However, the regionation means that you loose the overall picture and it is no longer easy to see which areas have large clusters of points. In addition, although it would be possible to distribute the regionated files as a zip file, there appears to be no easy way to distribute the regionated data as a single file that can be loaded directly in Google Earth. So although this feature would clearly be very useful and practically necessary for very large data sets, it may not be the most suitable solution in all cases.

Before regionation, Google Earth was sluggish and the map is cluttered.

After regionation, a lot lest clutter, and Google Earth works smoothly, but large scale patterns are lost.

Measuring in Google Earth Pro

February 24, 2015

Last month Google removed the US$399 a year price tag from Google Earth Pro and released it for free. There is no longer any need to sign up for a licence key, simply login with your email address and the key GEPFREE. Recently, we have been having a look at some of the features unique to Google Earth Pro. Today we will have a look at the measuring tools in Google Earth Pro.

There are two ways to get measurements in Google Earth Pro. If you look at the properties of a path or polygon, there is a ‘measurements’ tab which displays length for paths or perimeter and area for polygons.

The area and perimeter of the newly released 3D along the southern coast of Portugal.

In addition, the ‘ruler’ tool has several tabs not present in the standard version of Google Earth. They allow you to measure the radius and area of circles, measure the length of 3D paths, and measure the area and perimeter of 3D polygons.

The Plaza de Toros de La Ribera in Logroño, Spain, has an area of nearly 10,000 square metres.

Using Google Earth Pro we could easily measure the height of the spires on Cologne Cathedral to be approximately 155m. Wikipedia says they are approximately 157m.

Measuring the approximate area of glass used on one of the facets of WTC 1 is easy.

Google Earth Pro importing addresses

February 11, 2015

Google recently made Google Earth Pro available for free. As a result, we have been having a look at some of the premium features of Google Earth Pro. So far we have looked at the movie maker, Viewshed and map making tools. Today we are looking at how to bulk import addresses into Google Earth Pro.

The bulk address import feature in Google Earth Pro allows you to import a list of addresses from a csv file and it will then geocode the addresses (look up the latitude and longitude) and create appropriate Placemarks in Google Earth Pro.

The relevant Google Earth Pro help page explains the import process. The help page incorrectly states that it only works in seven specified countries. We tried it with an address in Zambia and it geolocated it correctly. This is however dependent on Google Maps having the correct address information so don’t expect it to work flawlessly. You can also import extra columns that are added to the placemarks’ popup window, and can also be used to set various properties such as the name of the placemark, the icon and the altitude. The import mechanism also offers the option to use latitude and longitude in your import data rather than addresses.

We see this feature being quite useful for businesses with customer or supplier databases.

Google Earth Pro map making tool

February 6, 2015

Now that Google Earth Pro is fee we are having a look at some of the features it has that are not found in the standard version of Google Earth. We have already looked at the movie maker and Viewshed tools. Today, we are looking at what Google calls the map making tool.

The map making tool in Google Earth Pro is a set of advanced printing options. You can add additional features to your printout, including a title with description, a legend, and a custom HTML box that you can use to add more complex stuff, like your company logo or even a web page. All the elements are optional and can be moved around. The Google logo and copyright notices are also movable, but cannot be removed as they are required to be present by the licence agreement.

You can also print to PDF instead of to a printer. To save the view as an image, click the ‘save image’ button on the tool bar or select File->Save->Save Image from the menu. There are options to save an image much larger than a typical screen, so you can get higher resolution images than is possible via a screen shot.

One of the options is to desaturate the base imagery.

The settings are remembered for the duration of the session. If you want to keep the settings after closing Google Earth Pro, then be sure to save your print settings.

For more on using the map making tools, see this YouTube video from Google:

Google Earth Pro: Viewshed tool

February 5, 2015

On Tuesday we had a look at Google Earth Pro’s Movie Maker. Today, we are looking at another Google Earth Pro exclusive feature, the Viewshed tool.

The Viewshed tool shows the line of sight from any given placemark. The Google Earth help page lists some possible uses as:

Checking the views from a house you plan to build.
Architects can analyze the views available from a tract of land before designing buildings.
Real estate agents can evaluate views remotely, and take views into consideration when they set property prices.
Businesses can make rough estimates of cell tower coverage from a particular location.
Advertisers can try out different locations for billboards and signs.

We were impressed to discover that it takes into account not only the terrain, but also any 3D models in the scene, including the 3D mesh areas Google has been rolling out, or even models the user has in their ‘my places’.

Using the tool is very simple. Add a placemark where you want the Viewshed to be calculated from, right click on it and select ‘Show Viewshed’. Be patient, as it can take a while before it even lets you know it is calculating, and trying to do other things in Google Earth while it is still calculating the Viewshed may cause it to crash. If your placemark is at ground level, the tool will offer to automatically raise it to a usable height, or allow you to edit the placemarks altitude.

The Viewshed from a tower in Vienna, Austria. You can see the ‘shadows’ cast by tall buildings.

For more, watch this YouTube video created by Google: