Download the Google Earth KML File:

Google Earth Library Browser

The Google Earth Library Browser is a single network link that contains all of the files available here at the Google Earth Library.  In other words you can browse all of the files directly from within Google Earth, instead of having to download each KML file individually.  Once you install the Google Earth Library Browser, you’ll see a new entry under your Places folder on the left side of Google Earth.

The files in Google Earth are sorted into Category folders, which match the Categories assigned to each post on the blog.  Whenever you start Google Earth or refresh the network link, you will automatically have access to any new maps or data that I’ve added so there is no need to download the main network link again.

Some of the data sets are quite large and may take a minute or two to load, depending on the speed of your computer and internet connection.

Detailed Instructions (if needed)

1. Download the KML file above, then look in your Places folder in Google Earth for an entry called "GE Library Browser". 
2. Open the Category folder you are interested in, and click the circle next to the map/data you would like to view. 
3. Click on the "About" link next to each item in Google Earth will open up a browser window to the applicable Google Earth Library Blog Entry, or the source of the original data.
4. If you are browsing the blog and find a post you would like to view in Google Earth, simply determine which category the post is in (shown right beneath the post title), then go to that Category folder in Google Earth to find the corresponding map/data.
5. Click on the border between the Places folder and the main Google Earth view, and drag it to the right if you can’t see the entire line.

Under Placemark Collections Category in the GE Library Browser:

Google Earth BBS Discussion:

World Wide Panorama

Collection of several 1,000 placemarks to Quicktime VR panoramic photographs that are linked via placemarks in Google Earth.  The photographs are sorted into various categories such as Gardens, Transportation, Water, etc.  Each image must be opened in a browser window for viewing.

Original Data and KML Content By:

The World Wide Panorma

Screenshots:

Under Geology Category in the GE Library Browser:  

California Groundwater Aquifers

Polygon overlay of groundwater aquifer locations in California. Based on data from the California Department of Water Resources.

Special Instructions

CTRL-Click on a colored area to see the name of the Aquifer and Sub-Basin. The file is about 5 megabytes so it might take a minute or two to load.

Original Data From:

California Department of Water Resources

KML Content Created By:

Matt Fox

Screenshots:

Under Aviation/Transportation Category in the GE Library Browser:  

Structurally Deficient Bridges

 This placemark collection contains data for approximately 70,000 bridges throughout the United States derived from the National Bridge Inventory Database 2006. The following fields were extracted from the database and are included for each placemark in the collection:

• State Code
• Route Number
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Year Built
• Kind of Material/Design
• Type of Design/Construction
• Condition of Deck
• Condition of Superstructure
• Condition of Substructure

This placemark collection only contains information on bridges with a status of "Structurally Deficient".  For a better understanding of the data, I suggest reading Coding Guide for the Structure Inventory and Appraisal of the Nations Bridges.

It’s a big file so give it a minute or two to load.

Google Earth KML File:

Bathymetric Map of Hawaiian Islands

Highly detailed bathymetric map overlay of the Hawaiian Islands. I masked out the actual islands so you don’t lose the aerial photography data in Google Earth.

Original Data By:

The Hawaii Coastal Geology Group

KML Content Created By:

Matt Fox

Screenshots:

Google Earth KML File:

Google Earth BBS Discussion:

Zillow Labs Neighborhood Boundaries

Database of nearly 7,000 neighborhood boundaries in the largest cities of the US from my favorite real estate website.

Please DO NOT email me about errors or omissions in this data.  The dataset was created by Zillow.  If you want to learn more about how they created the data, check out their blog post on the subject.

Special Instructions

Simply download the KML file at the top of this post. Then select the state for which you’d like to view the neighborhood data. These are network links and will load the data when you select the state. Some (TX, CA, etc) will take longer to load than others. Texas is the largest, at around 8 megabytes.

Original Data From:

Zillow Labs

KML Content Created By:

Matt Fox (with the help of Shape2Earth).

Licensed under the Creative Commons License.

Screenshots:

Google Earth KML File:

Google Earth BBS Discussion:

This collection contains approximately 900 15-minute historic USGS Topographic Maps covering almost the entire states of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.  Most of the maps are dated between 1890 and 1910.

There is a long history to these maps and how they ended up on my server and the role I played is but a very small one. My understanding of the story is that Christopher Marshall took a laptop and a scanner to various libraries and created the original scans, which consisted of 4 scans for the four corners of each map. JPGs from the original scans can be downloaded from http://historical.maptech.com/ and http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm. The next chapter to the story occurred a few years ago when Richard Utter took about 900 of the maps, stitched together the four pieces of each map and georeferenced them. Then finally, last week I received an email from Russell Nelson saying that he had all of Richard’s georeferenced maps on a couple DVDs and that he would be happy to send them to me. Now here we are a few days later and I have converted all of them to Google Earth SuperOverlays and uploaded them to my server. So I would like to personally thank Christopher, Richard and Russell for their contributions in making this possible.

This collection does not have all the topo maps that are available from the University of New Hampshire and Maptech websites. Richard appears to have scanned one revision of each 15′ map. Maybe someday I will find the time to add multiple revisions and the maps that are available in other scales. But that’s an enormous undertaking so probably won’t happen any time soon. Because there is only a single version of each map, I went ahead and removed the collars to create a seamless overlay for each state.

This collection has been added to my main Historical Topographic Map collection that has 1,000+ other historical topos. If you already have that Network Link in your Google Earth Places folder, then you should see the New England Maps appear automatically. If you don’t have it, simply download the KML file at the top of this post.  Choose a state, and then zoom down close enough for the maps to appear (the point where about 9 maps at a time will be within view). It may take a few seconds for the map tiles to load, especially when you first select PA or NY or have a slow Internet connection. An index is provided which shows the name and date of the map. If a map appears to be missing, see if it’s associated with the adjacent state. There are a few missing, especially in northern Maine.

KML Content Created By:

Matt Fox

Screenshots:

Google Earth KML File:

Google Earth BBS Discussion:

Puget Sound Bathymetry

Very detailed bathymetric map of the southeastern part of the Puget Sound in Washington State.

For educational and personal use only.  Not to be used for real world navigation.

Original Data By:

Finlayson D.P. (2005) Combined bathymetry and topography of the Puget Lowland, Washington State. University of Washington,

http://www.ocean.washington.edu/data/pugetsound/

KML Content Created By:

Matt Fox

Screenshots: