Lab 10: Exploring the World with Google Earth

Outline

1. Purpose
2. Preliminary steps
3. A tour of the world with Google Earth
4. To turn in

1.0 Purpose

In this lab we will take a tour of several locations on the earth as a way to explore the functionality of a geobrowswer, Google Earth. Along the way, you may also learn some interesting aspects of current social, political and environmental Geography!

2.0 Preliminary steps

Step 1. If you are working off-campus, then install Google Earth v4.3 if needed. This lab was designed with Google Earth 4.3.7284.3916 (beta), Build Date: July 8, 2008.

Step 2. Open Google Earth. Here is a general overview of the application.

1. Search panel - Use this to find places and directions and manage search results. Google Earth EC may display additional tabs here.
2. Overview map - Use this for an additional perspective of the Earth.
3. Hide/Show sidebar - Click this to conceal or the display the side bar (Search, Places and Layers panels).
4. Placemark - Click this to add a placemark for a location.
5. Polygon - Click this to add a polygon.
6. Path - Click this to add a path (line or lines).
7. Image Overlay - Click this to add an image overlay on the Earth.
8. Measure - Click this to measure a distance or area size.
9. Sun - Click this to display sunlight across the landscape.
10. Sky - Click this to view stars, constellations, galaxies, planets and the Earth's moon.
11. Email - Click this to email a view or image.
12. Print - Click this to print the current view of the Earth.
13. Show in Google Maps - Click this to show the current view in Google Maps in your web browser.
14. Navigation controls - Use these to zoom, look and move around (see below).
15. Layers panel - Use this to display points of interest.
16. Places panel - Use this to locate, save, organize and revisit placemarks.
17. Add Content - Click this to import exciting content from the KML Gallery
18. 3D Viewer - View the globe and its terrain in this window.
19. Status bar - View coordinate, elevation, imagery date and streaming status here.

Step 3. In depth information on the application can be found in the Google Earth User Guide. Start by reading the section in the user guide on Navigating in Google Earth . Spend some time learning how to zoom in and out, move the view in different directions, swivel the view aspect, and tilt the view angle.

The basics of the Navigation controls are listed below...

Clicking this button resets the view so that north is at the top of the screen. Click and drag the ring to rotate your view. Use the Look joystick to look around from a single vantage point, as if you were turning your head. Click an arrow to look in that direction or continue to press down on the mouse button to change your view. After clicking an arrow, move the mouse around on the joystick to change the direction of motion. Use the Move joystick to move your position from one place to another. Click an arrow to look in that direction or continue to press down on the mouse button to change your view. After clicking an arrow, move the mouse around on the joystick to change the direction of motion. Use the zoom slider to zoom in or out (+ to zoom in, - to zoom out) or click the icons at the end of the slider. As you move closer to the ground, Google Earth swoops (tilts) to change your viewing angle to be parallel to the Earth's surface. You can turn off this automatic tilt (Tools > Options > Navigation > Navigation controls; Mac: Google Earth > Preferences > Navigation > Navigation controls).

There is also a good summary video on the navigation controls on You Tube.

Step 4. In the Layers window, turn off all layers, except for "Terrain", by clicking the check box next to each folder. Your Layers window should look like this:

You are now ready to begin exploring the earth!

3.0 A tour of the world with Google Earth

Location 1 . Place a place mark with the placemark button. You should see a yellow pushpin appear somewhere in Google Earth.

In the Placemark properties window, click on the View tab. Enter the following information for name, latitude, longitude and range. You can just copy and paste this information from this lab webpage into the corresponding boxes in the properties window. (Remember: CTRL-C is copy and CTRL-V is paste).

Click the "Center in View" checkbox. Your window should look like this:

Click OK when you are done. The placemark will appear in the Places window on the left. Notice that it is in the My Places folder.

If your view has not already shifted to the new coordinates and view height at 5000m (range), then double-click the placemark in the Places window. You should now have a view focused on a boat in the ocean, similar to that below.

Use a combination of your zoom and pan tools to observe the mainland of this region. Answer the following question.

Location 2. Now we will visit another location. Make a placemark once again, anywhere in the view is fine, and this time enter the following information. Remember to enter the information in the View tab, not in the latitude/longitude boxes below the placemark name.

Your view should now swing to a now location covered by forest. In the Layers window, turn on the WWF Conservation Projects layer in the Global Awareness category. WWF is a global conservation non-profit organization.

Zoom out a bit and pan south to find a WWF icon with a panda bear, located in a small island in the river. Click on the icon. You should see a description of the WWF project with a "Read more..." link.

Turn off the WWF Conservation Projects layer by unchecking the box next to the layer.

Location 3. Make a placemark for the following location.

In the Layers window, turn on the Wikipedia layer in the Geographic Web category and the National Geographic Magazine layer in the Gallery category.

In the Layers window, turn on the Populated Places layer in the Borders and Labels category.

In the view near the placemark, look for the Wikipedia and National Geographic placemarks (see legend for the symbology for these placemarks) to find more information about this location. You will need the Ruler tool to answer part of the following question.

Close the ruler and turn off the National Geographic placemarks.

Location 4. Make a placemark for the following location.

In the Layers window, turn on the Photorealistic layer in the 3D Buildings category.

This turns on SketchUp 3-dimensional models that have been placed in Google's 3D Warehouse by the Google Earth user community. Be sure to use the zoom, tilt and view aspect controls to get a good view of this 3D model!

In the Layers window, check the Map Finder layer in the Rumsey Historical Maps folder, within the Gallery category.

Pan north from the stadium and click on the San Francisco 1853 historical map icon.

A window will pop open. Click the link to "To Overlay the Map on Google Earth". The map should overlay over the Google Earth base image. Close the information window for the map.

You can use the transparency slider in the Places window to change the transparency of the map image overlay.

Turn off the Rumsey maps. Turn off the 3D buildings.

Location 5. Make a placemark for the following location.

Explore the buildings at this location, then do a "Fly" to these coordinates 31°14'30 N, 121°29'42 E by using the Search window. For fun, turn on the Photorealstic 3D layer for this area.

Location 6.

Start by saving this KML (Keyhole Markup Language) file called matternhorn.kml to your local directory.

If you are using Internet Explorer, then it is likely that the matternhorn.kml file was renamed with an ".xml" extension. Go to the file in Windows Explorer and rename the file to have a ".kml" extension. Ask your instructor for help if you need it. Firefox does not have this problem.

Then open this KML file in Google Earth under File... Open... You should see the KML appear in your Places window.

Double click the placemark icon in the KML folder to get a nice 3d view of the Matterhorn in Switzerland. Be sure to fly around the mountain with your controls.

When you are done, make a placemark for the following location.

Turn on the Roads layer and be sure the Populated Places layer is turned on in Borders and Labels.

We are in Visp, Switzerland looking at the Alps. Get directions to Herbriggen Sankt Niklaus, Visp, Valais, Switzerland by typing these parameters in the Directions tab of the Search window.

You should see a series of direction placemarks as shown above. Click the Play buttom (triangle, bottom right) in the Search window to follow the path to Herbriggen.

Location 7. Click on the My Places folder in the Places window. This will make sure that the next placemark that you make is placed in the My Places folder, rather than the Temporary Places folder. You can also click and drag a placemark from Temporary Places to My Places.

Make a placemark for the following location.

In the Layers window, turn on the Africa Megaflyover layer in the National Geographic Magazine Folder, Gallery category.

This shows picture taken by biologist and explorer J. Michael Fay during his "Megaflyover" of Africa in a small airplane.

Click on one of the small red airplane icons to read field dispatches from the Megaflyover campaign. Zoom out and find another red airplane Megaflyover icon somewhere else in Africa. Click the icon to zoom in to the placemark. When you find one that you like, right-click the icon and select "Copy". Go to your My Places folder in the Places window and right-click, "Paste". The Megaflyover placemark should appear in your My Places folder.

Zoom in to get a nice view of your Megaflyover location, and then save the image to a JPG file by selecting, File...Save...Save Image... You will email me your image at the end of the lab. Here is my choice of agricultural fields along a lake edge in a sheltered bay.

Turn off the Megaflyover layer.

Crisis in Darfur.

In the Layers window, turn on the USHMM: Crisis in Darfur layer in the Global Awareness category. Also turn on the Borders and Populated Places layers in the Borders and Labels category.

Double click the USHMM: Crisis in Darfur in the Layers window to zoom to the full extent of this tour. Click the Crisis in Darfur icon (black and white picture) to open the tour's introductory placemark. Click the Download link to load in more content into Google Earth, including a floating legend.

Explore destroyed village, testimonial and Photo placemarks in this region to get an idea of the full geographic and human scale of the genocide in Darfur. Save and open the following darfur.kml to see a few locations that I found particularly interesting.

Turn off the Crisis in Darfur layers.

Location 8.

Choose a location that you find interesting anywhere on the globe. Do not chose a site that we have already toured in the lab so far. You are welcome to include a site with a SketchUp 3d model(s). Create a placemark for your location (Location #8), including a 3d perspective using the tilt control. Include in the description box of the placemark a description of your location. You can automatically acquire all the tilt, orientation and elevation parameters of your into the placemark's view parameters from the View tab, Snapshot Current View button.

Save an image of your view as a JPG file to turn in. Be sure your placemark is in the My Places folder with your other Location 1-7 placemarks. Delete any other placemarks that may be in your My Places folder so that just Locations 1 through 8 and your additional Megaflyover placemark remain. Right-click on the My Places folder and select Save Place As.... Save your folder as a KML file to turn in.

4.0 To turn in

• The question sheet, with typed answers (Word document)
• Megaflyover JPG image file (for your chosen location)
• KML of placemarks in My Places folder (locations 1-8 and your Megaflyover location only)
• JPG image of your Location #8

Submit electronic files via email to your instructor, with the subject "G387, Lab 10, [your last name]".

This lab was created by Matthew Clark for instruction at Sonoma State University.

This page was last modified on Aug 25, 2009 by Matthew Clark.