Google Earth Library

MODIS Satellite Gallery

topomatt — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000

UPDATE 1/16/2011 – Gallery updated to include almost all of the images posted by NASA through the end of 2011.

The MODIS Satellite Gallery collection from the MODIS Rapid Response Project at NASA/GSFC contains about 3,300 satellite images obtained from NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites overlaid onto Google Earth. These satellites capture natural color . . . → Read More: MODIS Satellite Gallery

United States National Atlas

topomatt — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:07:24 +0000

The National Atlas of the United States displays several hundred layers of GIS data for the United States. The data is organized into the following categories.

Agriculture (Information about Farms, Livestock, and Crops) Environment (Information about hazardous sites) People (Information about crime rates, economy, food stamps, jobs, mortality rates, population density, etc.) Biology . . . → Read More: United States National Atlas

Seamless Topographic Maps for Google Earth

topomatt — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:53:35 +0000

I have had many requests over the years to add a USGS topographic Map overlay without the map borders. This is a huge project and I have finally decided to move forward with it.

These maps will be made available in downloadable bundles. Each Topographic Map Mosaic . . . → Read More: Seamless Topographic Maps for Google Earth

New Zealand Topographic Map

topomatt — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 05:52:47 +0000

Land Information of New Zealand has made available a great set of 1:50,000 scale Topographic Maps. I downloaded all 455 of the maps covering the main island of New Zealand and coverted them to a seamless Google Earth overlay. The quality and resolution of the source images has been retained, so they . . . → Read More: New Zealand Topographic Map

USGS National Map Historic Quadrangle Scanning Project

topomatt — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:17:25 +0000

The USGS has announced a schedule for release of over 100,000 historic topographic map quadrangles covering 32 states by the end of 2011. This is an amazing resource for anyone interested in studying the history of an area in the United States.

Kansas is the first state in the release . . . → Read More: USGS National Map Historic Quadrangle Scanning Project

90 Meter Global Terrain Map

topomatt — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 15:45:34 +0000

Last year I created detailed terrain maps of several countries and US states by combining elevation and texture data from several different sources. Since then, I have had numerous requests to create high resolution terrain maps of other countries and regions. Instead of continuing to create individual custom maps, I have decided . . . → Read More: 90 Meter Global Terrain Map

Hawaii Aerial Photographs

topomatt — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 05:04:26 +0000

Digital Orthophoto Quads

In 1976/1977, the USGS completed an aerial photograph survey of the six main islands (Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai) of Hawaii. The aerial photographs were orthorectified and grouped into 127 orthophoto quadrangles. Someone (I’m not sure who) scanned the original paper maps at 400 dpi, and . . . → Read More: Hawaii Aerial Photographs

World Cities At Night From Space

topomatt — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:16:13 +0000

The NASA Astronauts have been taking photographs of various world cities at night from the Space Shuttle. These images are a great way to visualize urban growth and transportation networks of cities. They also provide some insight into how cities in different countries develop. Some cities are constructed on a nice grid . . . → Read More: World Cities At Night From Space

Castles of Italy

topomatt — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:00:05 +0000

Edujoser has a website dedicated to European castles, and has created a collection of placemarks showing the locations of 100s of castles in Italy. According to Edujoser, the collection includes all medieval military constructions (castles, towers, ruins…) built before XVI Century (inclusive) or more recent ones with defensive features (forts, citadels…). Newer . . . → Read More: Castles of Italy

NOAA Real Time Atmospheric Global Data

topomatt — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:00:29 +0000

Gerardo64 at the Google Earth BBS has created a file containing global overlays of several datasets available from the NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory. The data used to create the maps is collected by satellites and is updated every day.

The following layers are included.

Land Surface Temperature Sea Surface . . . → Read More: NOAA Real Time Atmospheric Global Data

Flooding in Queensland

topomatt — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:52:25 +0000

Here is a satellite image acquired January 7, 2011, showing the flooding at Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. The flooding from the Fitzroy River can be seen throughout the city and adjacent countryside. You can barely make out one of the runways at the airport as the rest of the airport is shown underwater.

. . . → Read More: Flooding in Queensland

GE Map Overlays

topomatt — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:00:17 +0000

GE Map Overlays will add 18 additional sources of map data to Google Earth, including Google Maps, Bing Maps, Open Street Maps, and several others. In order to use these overlays, you must first login at the Google Earth Map Overlays website so the developer can control the resources used by the . . . → Read More: GE Map Overlays

Ancient Greek Places

topomatt — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 16:00:40 +0000

Apollonius at the Google Earth BBS has compiled a list of over 300 places related to ancient Greece. This list spans the Minoan and Mycenaean periods up to the end of the Hellenistic age.

Most of the places have ruins or other features that are visible in Google Earth.

. . . → Read More: Ancient Greek Places

SoilWeb

topomatt — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:00:16 +0000

The United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service has compiled detailed soils data for approximately 95 percent of the counties in the United States. The soils data contains information such as the texture, drainage, depth, and chemical characteristics of the soil. This data can be accessed by reviewing hard copy . . . → Read More: SoilWeb

Aviation METAR Weather

topomatt — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:00:37 +0000

The ac network weather blog has created a Google Earth layer to display current METAR weather conditions from NOAA for many regions throughout the Earth. Just find the location of interest and click on the dot. The pop-up balloon contains a link to a website with additional information about the station/airport.

. . . → Read More: Aviation METAR Weather

GlobCover 2009 Land Cover Map

topomatt — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 18:29:13 +0000

The GlobCover Land Cover Map was created by the European Space Agency GlobCover Project. The map displays land classification information for most of the Earth’s surface at a resolution of approximately 20 acres (~9 hectacres) per pixel. Each pixel is color coded to represent one of 22 different land classifications, which are . . . → Read More: GlobCover 2009 Land Cover Map

Global Forest Height Map

topomatt — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:03:12 +0000

These maps show forest canopy heights throughout the Earth and the United States. The data was obtained from NASA’s ICESat, Terra, and Aqua satellites and processed by Michael Lefsky. The shades of green show the height of the forest canopy from 0 to 230 feet. For any patch of forest, the height . . . → Read More: Global Forest Height Map

Geologic Map of North America

topomatt — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:50:47 +0000

The Geologic Map of North America was published in 2005 by John C. Reed, Jr. (USGS), John O. Wheeler (Geological Survey of Canada), and Brian E. Tucholke (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). This is an amazing piece of work that covers the entire continent of North America at a scale of 1:5,000,000. The . . . → Read More: Geologic Map of North America

Microsoft SeaDragon Maps

topomatt — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:33:29 +0000

I stumbled across a new (to me anyways) website from Microsoft Live Labs called SeaDragon which will process huge image files and make them available in such a way that they can easily be viewed online.

So far I have been able to get it to process a map as . . . → Read More: Microsoft SeaDragon Maps

Terrain Maps

topomatt — Sat, 22 May 2010 18:06:46 +0000

**UPDATE 8/13/2011** – I have made a couple important updates. First, I have released a global version of the very popular 90-meter terrain map. I have also relaxed the licensing restrictions to allow for commercial use. See below for more details on both of these changes.

There are many ways . . . → Read More: Terrain Maps