Google Earth Introduction
Google Earth is a program, which provides us interactive maps of any part of Earth. These maps are actually processed from real satellite images. Thus, they are actually real photographs of different places on Earth. Thus what you see in these maps is exactly similar to what the place would have appeared, if looked from sky.
As Google Earth provides you interactive maps you can interact with them with the help of simple controls. You can fly i.e. browse across the world; you can change the resolution of these maps. When you are viewing the maps at a lesser resolution you are not able to see the minute details, but as you would increase the resolution i.e. zoom in on the maps, you will see the further details.
Google Earth is a product owned Google and it is available in three versions. It was actually developed by Keyhole, Inc, and initially it was called Earth viewer. However later Google acquired this company in the year 2004 and the next year, it renamed Earth viewer as Google Earth. Along with this Google not only updated the data sets of Earth viewer, but also added data from its own web based mapping service.
For using Google Earth you first need to download its plug in and then with an internet connection you can access and use it. You can download and use Google Earth, which is a free version; however, it has a limited functionality. Google Earth Plus (US $20) and Google Earth Pro (US$400) are the paid versions, which have some more advanced functionality. Currently it is available for computers which run Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above and FreeBSD. Linux was included in this list on June 12 2006.
Google Earth is loaded with several features with which a user can not only get to see different types of maps of earth, but also get useful data about different places. It also has several useful tools, which makes using all these features convenient and simple. Some of unique features are described below.
Plazes: Along with exploring places around the world, which is the basic purpose of Google Earth, Plazes is feature because of which you can also explore people. It is a such a social networking KML, in which users can add their own location and share their lives with others.
Trip around Asia: The KML provides users a photographic tour of Asia. These photographs and data is collected by Dan Bauer, an intrepid explorer, who spend almost thirty months travelling throughout Asia and Australasia. These photographs cover everything, from the majestic and beautiful Himalayan mountains, to the bustling spice markets in India.
World Oil consumption: As it is said that 80% of world’s data is associated with a geographical element. Therefore, John Jason Fallows has created a presentation in which he has made the use of data from CIA World Fact books to create polygons, which indicate a particular country's oil consumption. In this presentation one foot is equal to daily oil consumption per barrel per day.
Geological Atlas of USA: This is KML in which you are able to view mapping overlays produced by US Geological Survey, between the years 1894 and 1945. Every location has overlays of different types of maps, which range from topographical to economic. However note that some map overlays take minutes for downloading however they really are useful.
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