Google earth

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Google earth

Google Earth lettering.svg

Google Earth Icon

Basic data

developer Google LLC ( more )
Publishing year June 11, 2001
Current  version 7.3.3
(April 21, 2020)
operating system Windows (from Windows 7 ), Linux , macOS , iOS , Android , Web
programming language C ++
category Virtual globe
License Freeware
German speaking Yes
www.google.de/earth

Google Earth is software from the US company Google LLC that represents a virtual globe . It can overlay satellite and aerial images of different resolutions with geodata and show them on a digital elevation model of the earth. The basic form of the software is free of charge and is available for the Windows (7, 8, 10), OS X (from 10.3.9) and Linux operating systems and can run on BSD derivatives.

history

Founded in 2001 by Michael T. Jones (former chief developer of SGI graphics libraries) and John Hanke , Keyhole Corp. started the software under the name "Keyhole" (based on a series of spy satellites) and developed it further under the name "Earth Viewer". 2004 published NASA with World Wind a very similar software under an open source license. On October 27, 2004, Google Inc. bought Keyhole Corp. and renamed the software Earth Viewer from June 28, 2005 to Google Earth . The port to OS X was published in January 2006, the Linux port in June 2006.

Versions

Google Earth Pro

Google Earth Pro was originally intended for professional purposes and supports additional modules such as a movie maker. At the beginning of 2015, Google Earth Pro replaced the basic version and has been offered free of charge since then. Various functions, such as the display of historical images, are only implemented in this version.

The import of the formats MapInfo .TAB, ESRI Shapefile , US Census Tiger Line Files (RT1) and MicroStation DGN is supported.

Web version

The image data from Google Earth can also be viewed using Google Maps via a web browser. However, the three-dimensional view was initially not possible. Since April 27, 2010, Google Earth has also been integrated into Maps, so that you also have a 3D view and can go underwater. As with the software, the images can also be tilted and rotated.

On April 18, 2017 (parallel to the Android app, version 9) a new, completely revised so-called web version of Google Earth was published exclusively for Google Chrome . In addition to a new design, it also includes many new functions, so Google Earth can now also find search results through indirectly formulated search queries. In addition, the knowledge maps already integrated in the Google search for the respective locations with information and photos are also available. In addition, 3D objects are built into this version.

The user interface was designed in material design .

Google Earth Mobile

Since 2010, Google Earth can also be downloaded as an application from Apple's App Store . It is also available from Google Play for Android devices.

Most of the functions of the desktop version can also be used in the Google Earth app , for example 3D images and terrain views, Street View, zooming and tilting, etc. However, you cannot add 3D models yourself with the mobile version of Google Earth.

In June 2012, Google announced that in future the three-dimensional display of complete metropolitan regions from a 45-degree bird's eye view should be possible on mobile devices.

On April 20, 2017, the Android app was updated to version 9, which brought the same innovations as the web version of Google Earth published on April 18, 2017.

Google Earth VR

Google Earth has been available in virtual reality since November 2016 . The Street View function was integrated in September 2017.

Versions no longer developed

Google earth

Google Earth is a free basic version of the software. In addition to easy navigation on the globe, a search function and a measuring tool have been integrated. The most varied of map layers can be shown and hidden via a selection menu, and you can also save your own point coordinates. From version 4.0.2735 the program supports the display of textures on 3D models. There was a winter version ( Alpine panorama ) from December 10, 2011 to April 25, 2012.

Google Earth Plus (until 2008)

Google Earth Plus was a paid version ($ 20 annually) with enhanced features over the basic version.

The following functions were also available:

  • GPS integration - reads distances and waypoints from GPS devices (with additional tool also available in the basic version)
  • higher resolution possible when printing
  • Creation of buildings possible

At the end of 2008, Google discontinued the Google Earth Plus option with program version 5.0, as the free basic version already has GPS integration and the advantages of Plus would be too few. The subscriptions purchased up to then expired. Google offered previous Earth Plus owners a one-time upgrade to Google Earth Pro for 99 US dollars (then 400 US dollars).

Functions

Google Sky

The Google Sky function was introduced from version 4.2 . With this function it is possible to travel virtually through space . These images were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope , among others . The image data from Sky is also available via a web application in the browser.

Flight simulator

With a function initially hidden from version 4.2 ( Easter Egg ), Google Earth can also be used as a flight simulator. From version 4.3 the flight simulator can also be accessed via the menu. You can take off from your current position or from preset airports with two different types of aircraft.

Gigapixel images

With version 4.2, images with a resolution in the gigapixel range can also be integrated into Google Earth.

Street View

From version 4.3 the all-round views from the streets of some areas known in Google Maps, called Street View , are also available in Google Earth.

Sun position function

As of version 4.3, Google Earth also has a function that simulates sunlight on the earth's surface at a freely selectable point in time. Any location can be displayed day , night and at dusk . The terrain model and 3D models are included in the calculation. B. also shadow slopes in narrow valleys are shown. The sunrise and sunset can also be played as animation.

Google Ocean

From version 5.0 it is possible to view underwater reliefs in 3D using the Google Ocean function. Video can be used to obtain information about the vegetation of the section just viewed or to find out about shipwrecks in the vicinity.

Time travel function

From version 5.0, historical aerial and satellite images can be displayed. These are placed over the current Google Earth interface. A timeline allows you to select the available recording times if historical recordings are available for the region shown.

Google Mars

Also of Mars can be virtually version 5.0 look. The sharpness of the satellite photos does not come close to that of the earth, but in prominent places such as the mightiest elevation on Mars, Olympus Mons , the photos remain sharp when zoomed in up to a viewing height of approx. 2000 m. By clicking on the corresponding symbols on the surface of Mars, you can get information about the research projects that are taking place or have taken place there. Using the photos taken by the Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity, individual areas on Mars can be shown in 360-degree panoramic images from the observer's perspective. The same technique is also used with Google Streetview . The satellite images of Mars can also be accessed via the browser.

Google moon

For the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing , Google Moon was made available on July 21, 2009, so that the moon from version 5.0 can now also be visited virtually.

Precipitation function

From version 5.2 it is possible to observe virtual precipitation created by weather data. In addition to rain and snow , storms are also possible. It is criticized that some of the data do not match the local forecasts.

travel Guide

The travel guide shows some pictures and the boundaries of, for example, continents, cities and countries, for which a small text for information from Wikipedia is displayed.

Historical maps

Google Earth can display historical maps that superimpose a new layer on top of the map.

Data

Google Earth uses the global geodetic system WGS84 with the EPSG code 3857 for the pseudo- Mercator projection .

Starting with a view of the globe, you can always zoom in on the details . Much of the data is also available on Google Maps as a website.

In June 2006, the database contained around 70.5 terabytes of image and 500 GB of index data. After several major updates, the size was estimated at 150 TB in September 2006, and this number has now increased further.

On June 27, 2016, a new, higher-resolution satellite image was activated for the whole world. It is based on data from the Landsat 8 satellite and for the first time - thanks to computer calculations - is cloud-free.

Image data

The quality of the recordings varies. The detailed resolution of the raster data is mostly 15 m across the board (one pixel corresponds to 15 m × 15 m), in some metropolitan areas resolutions of up to 15 cm are sometimes available. With this resolution, individual people can be recognized as such, whereby a favorable shadow cast is helpful.

  • Basic resolution
    • worldwide mostly 15 m (some islands in the world's oceans can only be seen with the very low resolution of the blue marble image.)
  • typical high resolution
    • Large areas of Europe and, in the USA, some entire states: 1 m, 60 cm, 30 cm, 15 cm. Some cities are even shown with an even higher resolution of 5–10 cm per pixel.
    • Global: high resolutions in most metropolitan areas worldwide (e.g. Baghdad ).

The image data with a coarser resolution - up to 60 cm in the best case - come from satellite images, but images taken from aircraft are used for higher resolutions. The main data source in 2006 is the company DigitalGlobe , which operates two satellites itself.

As Google has been assuring for years, the image data is on average between one and three years old; however, it can be proven that they also contain data that are ten years or older (for example, some high-resolution data for Switzerland are from 1997 and the nationwide data for Germany are dated March 4, 2000). For example, the images of some regions of Europe are blurred or out of date despite the dense population, while images of the thinly populated Greenlandic town of Nuuk are above average.

From version 4.3 the recording time, if known, is displayed on the lower edge of the window for the exact year, month or often even to the day.

Vector data

In addition to the image data (raster data), the software accesses numerous vector data sets . Country borders, localities or transport networks can be faded in. Numerous other card layers such as hotels, schools and pharmacies are available, especially in the US. In German-speaking countries z. B. Road courses and street names are displayed.

Self-created data

Since your own geodata can be saved and reloaded in Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format, numerous users provide additional data. This data can also be reloaded from the server using so-called network links. In addition to traffic data, weather information or 3D models (e.g. of the Eiffel Tower ) there are many point coordinate collections. The 3D models can be generated quite easily using Google Sketchup based on the aerial images and altitude data. Thanks to cooperation with the Panoramio .com website , which was taken over by Google, over three million user photos with local reference can now be displayed.

Legal situation

Personal use of screenshots is permitted on one's own homepages, blogs or in documents if the source is named, any commercial use, however, requires approval.

censorship

In 2005, various countries criticized the fact that the details shown by Google Earth were too precise and could help, for example, in the preparation of terrorist attacks. Criticism comes from India , Australia and South Korea , among others .

In fact, objects such as certain places and buildings in the US and other countries have already been made unrecognizable for security reasons.

However, Google has no control over the censorship of the satellite images. Google does not take the satellite image recordings itself, but buys the recordings from external providers. Google announced: "If places or buildings are displayed pixelated on Google Earth, it is because the original satellite images were already pixelated"

Objects found with Google Earth

Due to the large number of users, things were discovered in the landscape that aerial archeology had not yet found.

Roman villa in Italy

According to a report in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on September 20, 2005, an Italian named Luca Mori found a Roman villa from ancient times . To him be, while some of his computer with Google Earth, the area around his home town Parma have explored a strange shape near the small village of Sorbolo 44 ° 52 '48 "  N , 10 ° 25' 27"  O noticed. He then informed archaeologists at a museum in Parma. They followed up on the tip and actually found an ancient villa during excavations .

Relief model in China

Not far from the city of Yinchuan in China, a huge relief model on a scale of 1: 500 was discovered ( 38 ° 15 ′ 56.9 ″  N , 105 ° 57 ′ 2.3 ″  E ). The relief model, located in a military area, is 900 m long and 700 m wide. It shows the highland region of Aksai Chin, 2400 km away and claimed by India , on the western edge of Tibet , northeast of Kashmir ( 34 °  N , 79 °  E ).

Impact crater

In 2009 Vincento De Michele discovered a 45 m large impact crater in southwest Egypt near the border with Sudan . Research expeditions made meteorite finds and confirmed a geologically young and well-preserved crater. The impact crater is named Kamil crater after the nearby mountain Djebel Kamil .

Trivia

  • The ant species Proceratium google from Madagascar got its name out of the gratitude of its discoverer for the usefulness of Google Earth in his research.
  • Some fan-programmed extensions for Microsoft Flight Simulator  X access the Google Earth databases and use them to texture the landscape around the aircraft. Although this results in wonderfully detailed landscapes, the transfer rate of your own Internet connection and Google's own database restricts use. In addition, Google prevents excessive use by such third-party services and interrupts the connection after a certain time or amount of data.
  • The film Crank and its sequel Crank 2: High Voltage make extensive use of images and animations from Google Earth. B. the main character goes to a new place.
  • With the support of Michael T. Jones, an interactive "spherical globe" ( multitouch globe ) based on Google Earth was developed in Germany in 2010 . Google supplied the software extension "EarthPlusPlus" in order to supply the computer with multi-touch screen (diameter 1 m) with data. Among other things, this special computer is intended to facilitate sea navigation with extended functions.
  • A midway bug is a polygon error that prevents accurate polygons from being drawn over 180 degrees of longitude. Its continued presence is remarkable in that it has been known for several years without being remedied. The Bug takes its name from the Midway Islands , an atoll on the outskirts of the United States that is located near the date line near 180th longitude.
  • After 25 years, Saroo Brierley found his hometown in India and his birth mother with Google Earth.

See also

Competitive products:

literature

  • Martin C. Brown: Hacking Google Maps and Google Earth . Wiley, Hoboken, NJ 2006, ISBN 978-0-471-79009-9
  • Artak Mushegjan: Google Earth Quick Guide . Data Becker, Düsseldorf 2006, ISBN 3-8158-2454-0
  • Timo Roller: Bible Earth - The virtual travel guide . Hänssler, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7751-4621-0
  • Anja Sauerwald and Michael Weckerlin: Google Search & Google Earth, 2nd edition, KnowWare-Verlag, 2008, ISBN 87-91364-34-5
  • Volker Zwick: Discover more with Google Earth . Data Becker, Düsseldorf 2007, ISBN 978-3-8158-1703-2
  • Stefan Höffken: Google Earth in urban planning - The application possibilities of Virtual Globes in urban planning using the example of Google Earth . (=  ISR gray series issue 19). Institute for Urban and Regional Planning, TU Berlin, 2009, ISBN 978-3-7983-2116-8 ( description )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Announcing Google Earth Pro 7.3.3
  2. ↑ google.com: Download Google Earth Pro for PC, Mac or Linux
  3. ↑ The History of Google Earth . ( Memento from March 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Earth-dots.de, accessed on February 18, 2013
  4. ↑ Matthias Becker: Mega-Update for Google Earth: One innovation in particular is revolutionary. Chip.de, April 18, 2017, accessed April 18, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Google Earth: Soon whole cities in 3D . Netzwelt , accessed on June 11, 2012
  6. ↑ B7 Google Earth Positioning System - Tool for real-time tracking with NMEA-GP receiver
  7. ↑ How do I use the Google Earth flight simulator? Retrieved October 13, 2012 .
  8. ↑ Adding PhotoOverlays. In: Keyhole Markup Language . Retrieved March 25, 2017 (English).
  9. Jump into virtual water with Google . Allround-PC.com, February 4, 2009
  10. ↑ View historical images
  11. ↑ Storm, rain and snow on Google Earth . Netzwelt.de
  12. ↑ Historical maps in GoogleEarth , entry at GenWiki
  13. ↑ Frank Taylor: News Roundup - Google Earth Data Size, Live Local, New languages ​​coming In: Google Earth Blog . September 2006
  14. ^ Robinson Meyer: Google Maps Gets a 700 Trillion Pixel Makeover. In: The Atlantic . June 27, 2016, accessed March 25, 2017 .
  15. ↑ How old is the data? (offline)
  16. ↑ Notice from Google on the copyright of screenshots
  17. ↑ Kathrin Dorscheid: This is how blind spots appear on Google's world map . Spiegel Online , accessed January 17, 2012
  18. ↑ Italians discovered ancient villa with Google Earth . Heise Newsticker, September 20, 2005
  19. ↑ Archaeologist thanks to Google. (tagesschau.de archive) tagesschau.de, September 20, 2005
  20. ↑ Google Earth Community on the relief model in China
  21. ^ Proceratium google in the English language Wikipedia
  22. ↑ googleblog.blogspot.com
  23. ↑ sourceforge.net
  24. ↑ Cannot draw polygon / rectangle crossing longitude +/− 180 ° (“Midway bug”) on code.google.com
  25. ↑ Lina Hansen: The real hero behind the Oscar candidate 'Lion' In: wired.de, February 22, 2017.
  26. ↑ After 25 years: Indians find mother thanks to Google Earth In: Spiegel Online, April 16, 2012.
  27. ^ Saroo Brierley: A Long Way Home. A memoir. Penguin 2014 (e-book, Version_1, sine pagina).