The World On Our Desktops

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The World On Our Desktops

• A Look at Virtual Globes
  Free 3D Geospatial Viewers

Presented by Kevin Remington- USC Campus GIS
Coordinator, Center for GIS Remote Sensing
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Topics

• ?Introduction to Virtual Globes
• ?Feature/Performance Comparison
• ?Information Sharing GIS Integration
• ?Datasets

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Virtual Globes in the News

• Many media outlets showcased the geovisualization
  capabilities of Google Earth during the Hurricane
  Katrina disaster

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Neal Stephensons Snow Crash

• The CIC uses a piece of software called Earth
  to keep track of all of assets, maps,
  architectural plans, weather patterns, and
  real-time satellite surveillance data

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Early Versions had Limited Functionality
Limited Data Availability

• ?Access limited to local data sources
• ?Bandwidth limited data delivery
• ?Graphic-intensive application crippled many
  desktop computing environments

This has all changed
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SINTEF Virtual Globe

• ?Released in 2001
• ?First online virtual globe with high-res
  terrain/elevation datasets satellite imagery
• ?Basic visualization capabilities only

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And that was just the Beginning

• Google Earth
• NASA WorldWind
• SkyLine TerraExplorer
• GeoFusion GeoPlayer

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Features of Modern Virtual Globes
Multiple datasets Street map overlay
Restaurant, hotel, transportation ...
guides Satellite and aerial image overlay Weather
map overlay Real-time traffic report
GPS-integration 3D graphics 3D building
models Terrain models Sea-floor
models Planetarium Day/night views Views of other
planets Online community user input Wikipedia
integration Cross-platform support
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Focus on Google Earth
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Google Earth- The New Search Engine?
Googol?
The word Googol is a mathematical term, coined
by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American
mathematician Edward Kasner, for a 1 followed by
100 zeros. Google's play on the term reflects the
company's mission to organize the immense amount
of information available on the web. With GE,
Google has taken this mission one step further,
integrating this information with location and
place, allowing for the dissemination of this
information by the most fluid and natural
interface yet conceived- our earth. Its all
geography, right? -excerpt from Google
Earth A Primer Introduction


by Kevin Remington, USC Campus GIS
Coordinator Dept. of Geography, Center for
GIS Remote Sensing
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Geography to Learn Other Things
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National Geographic Integration
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Google Earth
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User Community Input
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Sharing Information via Google Earth
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User Developed Interpreted Applications
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ArcGIS Integration
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Additional Functionality
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Google Earth Enterprise
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Google Earth Fusion
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Google Earth Server
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Google Earth Enterprise Client
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NASA WorldWind
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NASA WorldWind
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User Community Input
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User Developed Interpreted Applications
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User Developed Compiled Applications
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User Developed Compiled Applications
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Additional Global Models
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SkyLine TerraExplorer
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SkyLine TerraExplorer
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User Developed Compiled Application
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GeoFusion GeoPlayer
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GeoFusion GeoPlayer
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Available Datasets Comparison
Google Earth- most extensive database, contracts
with private satellite imaging companies (Digital
Globe), privately chartered aerial missions for
urban areas, SRTM terrain models (or better), 3D
urban building models (select locations),
extensive user-community contributions (most
publicly available imagery datasets) NASA
WorldWind- NASA Blue Marble NG imagery, LandSat
7 Visible Pseudo Color imagery, RapidFire MODIS
imagery, USGS 1M BW Orthos, USGS Topos, USGS
Urban Area Color, SRTM terrain models, extensive
user-community contributions (i.e. OneEarth,
ZoomIt projects), WMS-capable SINTEF Virtual
Globe- NASA BlueMarble 1km imagery, NOAA
TerrainBase, USGS GTOPO30, SRTM terrain models,
LandSat imagery SkyLine TerraExplorer- NASA
BlueMarble 1km NG(0.5 km) imagery, LandSat
imagery, SRTM terrain models, limited QuickBird
coverage (select areas), limited sub-meter
orthophotography (select areas), developer
contributions (EarthSLOT) GeoFusion GeoPlayer-
NASA Blue Marble NG imagery, lease extensive
database (GeoFusion is primarily a
development tool)
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How to Get Started
?Download Install Several Free Virtual
Globes! ?Explore Included Datasets and
Functionality! ? Explore Associated User
Community Forums Sign Up! ? Develop Shareable
Datasets Contribute! ? Learn More!
http//www.cas.sc.edu/gis