Holy Crap.
The Web-based Google Maps site, with the ability to jump back and forth between a map and a satellite image, was impressive enough. They’ve also added a Hybrid view, which combines elements of the maps with satellite imagery. But Google Earth, which uses a program that resides on your computer, is ridiculous.
You start with a 3D image of the Earth floating in space, as seen from a distance of about 4,000 miles. Type in a location - a postal code, a city name, a street address, a three-letter airport code, a geographical feature - and instantly, you zoom right to it. The images are downloaded as you scan, zoom, or tilt the landscape.
![Earth](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3979/69/400/World.jpg)
Depending on what part of the planet’s surface you are looking at, the level of detail ranges from 15-meter resolution all the way down to 1-foot (!) Many of the images date from two or three years ago, but the mapping is constantly being upgraded.
I can look at my house and see whether there was a car in the driveway when the photograph was taken. I can look at the crater of Mount St. Helens in three dimensions, or spin my way around Stone Mountain. I can bring my point of view to 50 feet above Runway 9R at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
![Stone Mountain](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3979/69/400/Stone%20Mountain.jpg)
Aside from the sheer Google-eyed wonder of it, there’s the beauty of our little planet to consider, too. Here is a random view of the Alaskan wilderness:
![Alaska](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3979/69/400/Alaska.jpg)
The only real issue I have with Google Earth is that it can become a huge time sink. It’s all too easy to get lost for hours, looking at the Big Blue Marble that is our planetary home.
No comments:
Post a Comment