Google Earth’s high-resolution imagery
Google Earth is a online program which provides imagery for different regions around the world. It is available in the form of three different licences. Almost all parts of earth are covered under high-resolution imagery. For some parts very high resolution imagery called the Bird's eye view is available.
Google Earth is one of the online virtual globes, which you can view on your computer. It is the most popular among the several similar programs by different companies. It was developed by “Keyhole, Inc”. At the time of release, it was named as Earth Viewer. However, later in the year 2004 Google acquired Keyhole, Inc and Earth Viewer. It also renamed Earth Viewer to Google Earth.
Google Earth provides images of different regions on Earth by superimposing the images provided by satellites GIS 3D and aerial photography. Currently it is available in three different types. These are as given under.
Google Earth – this is a free version. Its functionality is limited however it is ideal for the general users.
Google Earth Plus – this version is available for a subscription of $20 per year. It provides some additional useful features.
Google Earth Pro – This version is equipped with the most advanced features. It is intended for commercial. The subscription charges for this version are $400 per year.
In the year 2005 when Google renamed it to Google Earth it made some further improvements in it. Currently it Google Earth can run on personal computers having Microsoft Windows 2000, XP and Vista, Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher, Linux (which was released on June 12 2006) and FreeBSD. Moreover now Google Earth is also available as a plug in for browsers like Firefox, Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7.
Besides updating the Earth Viewer of Keyhole, Inc, Google also added data and imagery from the Earth database to their own online mapping software. Internet users liked Google Earth so much that within a period of one year, i.e. between 2005 to 2006 more than tenfold increase in media, coverage for virtual globes was recorded. The result of this was driving of public interest in geospatial applications and technologies.
An overview for Google Earth
Using Google Earth you can view satellite images of earths surface. The resolution of these images can be varied using simple controls. This makes it possible to view the things houses, trees, cars. The bird's eye view feature has such a resolution that you can also see people and their shadows in the images. The resolution varies for different regions, however for most regions around the world; at least 15 meters resolution is available. The countries like United States, Australia, United Kingdom, etc are covered under high resolution imagery.
With Google Earth you can also search for addresses in some countries. Just type in the address in the search box and then press enter, or click the search button, and you will be directly taken to that location. In the same way, you can also enter coordinates for browsing to a particular location. This way you can save your time as you will be directly taken to that location by Google earth.
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