Google Earth's 3-D Earth Browser Lets You View Hi-Resolution 3DMaps and Directions of the Entire World From Space!
What is Google Earth?
Google Earth is a free, downloadable program that allows you to view the entire Earth from orbit with amazing high resolution color. It maps the entire earth as a 3D Globe by pasting together images obtained from satellite imagery and aerial photography. You can zoom and glide over stitched together satellite photos of the world.
Use Google Earth to find driving directions, find nearby restaurants, measure the distance between two locations, do serious research, or go on virtual vacations. The Google Earth Program comes as part of the Google's free “Google Pack”. It is quick, easy, and a free download. Download Google Earth and the Google Pack for Free.
What kind of things can I do with Google Earth?
Once you download google earth, you can check out featured places and virtual tours here .
You can also check out Frank Taylor's EarthBlog and download all kinds of cool KML files. KML files are Keyhole Markup Language which can be used for storing geographic features such as images and places of interest. .
Google runs an Official Google Earth Blog where you can read blogs from google and even comment on other people's posts.
Finally, you may wish to join the Official Earth Community by clicking Here
History and Background of Google Earth
Google Earth was originally called the Earth Viewer developed
by Keyhole, Inc which was acquired by Google in 2004. The engineer in
charge of creating Google Earth
was Brian McClendon who graduated from the University of Kansas – Go
Jayhawks! We suspect that this is the reason that when a user opens the
Google Earth browser that it opens to Lawrence, Kansas. One year later,
Google renamed the product Google Earth. Google Earth is
currently available for use on personal computers running Microsoft
Windows 2000 or XP, Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later versions, and a Linux
version is expected this year. Besides releasing a client based version
(instead of a browser based version) Google stitched together satellite
imagery from the Google Earth product and integrated it into Google Maps. While Google Earth
has been criticized for being US-centric, many major metropolitan as
well as other densely populated areas are available in extremely high
resolution. In many areas you can see individual buildings, houses, and
even cars. Outside of the United States, the capitals of major cities
such as London and Paris as well as places of interest such as the
Pyramids of Egypt and Forbidden City in China are extremely high
detailed. Google Earth designed their interface so that are
multiple ways to find what you are looking for: addresses, latitude
& longitude coordinates, or simply by dragging your mouse along the
planet to find what you are looking for.
How did Google put together all of this data?
NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is the basis for the Google Earth's digital model terrain data. Because of this, one can view Mount St. Helen's or Niagra Falls in 3D while other mapping programs render these maps in 2D.
What are Google Layers?
Google Earth
has a function called Layers. The Layer functionality allows a user to
add various 'Layers' to the map. A layer can be a 3D building, major
roads, schools, parks, hospitals, shopping, and historical points of
interest. Right now 3D buildings only exist in densely populated
metropolitan areas. We believe that Google's goal is to eventually
render the entire world with 3D imaging from a building level. Another
benefit is that people are able to create applications applications
that interface with Google Earth which benefits the entire user community.
How much does Google Earth cost?
Google Earth comes in three versions:
1. Google Earth Free - Google Earth
comes in a free version for personal use. The local search allows you
to search for hotels, restaurants, as well as driving directions. It
can be used for trip planning, directions, finding housing, apartments,
local businesses, or just exploring exotic locations around the world.
2. Google Earth Plus is available for a $20 upgrade fee – In addition to the Google Earth's
free version functionality, Google Earth Plus has faster performance,
higher resolution printing, the ability to import GPS data, the ability
to annotate animations that can be shared via KML and e-mail customer
support.
3. Google Earth Pro is available for $400
– In addition to Google Earth Plus's functionality, Google Earth Pro
has the fastest performance, printing and saving capacity up to 4800
pixels, improved annotation tools, the ability to make movies, as well
as chat and phone support.