Free Penguin download - Google Earth
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It maps the earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe.
It is available under three different licenses: Google Earth, a free version with limited functionality;Google Earth Plus ($20 per year), which includes additional features; and Google Earth Pro ($400 per year), which is intended for commercial use. Formerly known as Earth Viewer, Google Earth was developed by Keyhole, Inc., a company acquired by Google in 2004.
The product, renamed Google Earth in 2005, is currently available for use on personal computers running Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, or Vista, Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above GNU/Linux (released on June 12, 2006), and FreeBSD.In addition to releasing an updated Keyhole based client, Google also added the imagery from the Earth database to their web based mapping software.
The release of Google Earth caused a more than tenfold increase in media coverage on virtual globes between 2005 and 2006, driving public interest in geospatial technologies and applications. The viewer displays houses, the color of cars, and even the shadows of people and street signs.
The degree of resolution available is based somewhat on the points of interest, but most land (except for some islands) is covered in at least 15 meters of resolution.
Las Vegas, Nevada and Cambridge, Massachusetts include examples of the highest resolution, at 15 cm (6 inches).
Google Earth allows users to search for addresses (for some countries only), enter coordinates, or simply use the mouse to browse to a location. Google Earth also uses digital elevation model (DEM) data collected by NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM).
This means one can view the Grand Canyon or Mount Everest in three dimensions, instead of 2D like other map programs/sites. Since November 2006, the 3D views of many mountains, including Mount Everest, have been improved by the use of supplementary DEM data to fill the gaps in SRTM coverage. Many people using the applications are adding their own data and making them available through various sources, such as the BBS or blogs mentioned in the link section below. Google Earth is able to show all kinds of images overlaid on the surface of the earth and is also a Web Map Service client.
Google Earth supports managing three-dimensional Geospatial data through Keyhole Markup Language (KML). Google Earth has the capability to show 3D buildings and structures (such as bridges), which consist of users' submissions using SketchUp, a 3D modeling program.
In prior versions of Google Earth (before Version 4), 3D buildings were limited to a few cities, and had poorer rendering with no textures.
Many buildings and structures from around the world now have detailed 3D structures;
including (but not limited to) those in the United States, Canada, Ireland, India, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Pakistan and the cities, Amsterdam and Alexandria.In August 2007, Hamburg became the first city entirely shown in 3D, including textures such as facades.
The Irish town of Westport was added to Google Earth in 3D on January 16th, 2008.
The 'Westport3D' model was created by 3D imaging firm AM3TD using long-distance laser scanning technology and digital photography and is the first such model of an Irish town to be created.
As it was developed initially to aid Local Government in carrying out their town planning functions it includes the highest resolution photo-realistic textures to be found anywhere in Google Earth.
Three-dimensional renderings are available for certain buildings and structures around the world via Google's 3D Warehouse and other websites. Recently, Google added a Traffic feature which uses the same information as Google Maps' similar feature to allow users to see real-time traffic speed at loops which are located every 200 yards. In version 4.2, released August 22, 2007, Google Earth added a Sky tool for viewing stars and astronomical images. Google Sky is produced by Google through a partnership with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope.Dr. Alberto Conti and his co-developer Dr. Carol Christian of the Space Telescope Science Institute plan to add the public images from 2007, as well as color images of all of the archived data from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Newly released Hubble pictures will be added to the Google Sky program as soon as they are issued.
New features such as multi-wavelength data, positions of major satellites and their orbits as well as educational resources will be provided to the Google Earth community and also through Christian and Conti's website for Sky.
Also visible on Sky mode are constellations, stars, galaxies and animations depicting the planets in their orbits.
A real-time Google Sky mashup of recent astronomical transients, using the VOEvent protocol, is being provided by the VOEventNet collaboration. Google Sky will soon face competition from the upcoming product WorldWide Telescope from Microsoft, anticipated soon.
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