Google Earth for Professionals
We normally think that Google Earth is generally used by users like common man who is not expert in his/her geographical knowledge and usually uses Google Earth for small works/projects or just to fulfill his/her curiosity. But, this is not the case. Even epidemiologists, meteorologists find Google earth very useful for their work. We will see now how Google earth is useful to them.
Google Earth’s position marker feature is very useful according to them. Geologists have already used markers to label number of volcanoes. Epidemiologists can use this feature for cases of bird flu etc. Clicking on the markers open a window containing images, information and even a camera shot. Even maps having features such as population density can be layered.
Computers have long been capable of processing geographic data. There are special programs that can create all kinds of maps. And unlike Google Earth, which is used to display data only, these programs, experts call them geo-information systems, or GIS are useful in analysis. But operating the programs is very cumbersome. The biggest drawback is that they spit out numbers of maps without providing a look at the whole. They don't provide a digital globe rotating in front of us.
Google Earth's popularity among users is changing the entire industry. Google Earth gives geographical data in a very straightforward manner. It is very useful to researchers who were previously frustrated by real GIS software.
The geo-information program, though, can't do everything. Experts need special software to analyze the data more closely and embark, for example, on excursions into past biospheres to study the spread of the grasshopper warbler and web spider before the Industrial Revolution to discover how human has affected the environment in which he lives.
Google Earth's globe would be too basic for environmental models. But the Google has already announced coming improvements. The company apparently finds that the more the scientists use digital maps in their work, the more attractive it becomes for the general public.
This kind of thinking has given impetus to the established makers of GIS programs. The California-based firm Esri, plans to launch a completely revised version of its ArcGIS program in a nearby future. The new version will feature a virtual globe accessible through the Internet. It allows you to fly around wherever you wish, just like with Google Earth. But we've also built in all kinds of tools for researchers. For example, before embarking on a virtual flight over Seattle, the program can add data, such as ground water statistics.
Skyline, a US firm, has announced a new planet model that's also capable of processing moving images. The model, Skylineglobe inserts live video images into its panoramic views from space, offering a novel experience to the cyber traveler. As one flies over a soccer stadium, an aerial view opens up of a match currently undergone. A camera mounted on the stadium roof delivers the images, while the program adjusts the camera angle.
Our life has begun to appear on the globe, allowing users to observe their own planet. Although the technology is currently limited to traffic cameras, it shows the direction digital globes are taking. The point is not to display more and more data in refined way. At the same time, the artificial globe is becoming less and less complicated. One day, it will be identical with the world it depicts.Google, Google Earth, Google Earth features, Google Earth pro, Earth pro features,
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