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How does Google Earth work?

Short cuts bring the globe to your screen without crashing your computer.

The globe-imaging software Google Earth has become a cult web product since its release last June. Using the web-based tool, users can fly around the globe and zoom in on both natural features and whole worlds of information added by other users (see 'The web-wide world').

Read the story here.


Posted by Nicola Jones on February 15, 2006
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Dear Declan,
I agreed that the tiling idea is not a new technique. But it is the set of clever compression techniques and 3-D code to stream 3-D views (based on 15-meter resolution satellite data) that make keyhole products and then the google earth impressive. Through you mentioned the good software and supercomputing at the end of your article, it is better to mention the data compress and 3d stream to the general reader. It is also the reason that ESRI's and Microsoft's products can not compete with google earth (I am talking about the visualization part only).
Regards,
Dali

Posted by: Dali Wang | February 16, 2006 04:10 PM

It is really impressive! But how can one suggest to correct a definitely wrong information? Example: the province of Bohol, an island in central Philippines, is being pointed at a different island. I hope this kind of error is not widespread. Thanks.

[Ed: This is probably due to innacurraces in names within the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency database, which Google Earth and others use. Please see our Commentary (http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060213/full/439787a.html) for more information.]

Posted by: Tilo Mission | February 17, 2006 02:25 AM

very nice, i look forward to the day where the images will be in real time, but then again i might not be alive then.

Posted by: dali lama | February 20, 2006 05:11 AM

This technique, known as Icosahedron truncation, was first mentioned by Buckminster Fuller in 1934. as a realistic method for reproducing the world globe as a map. He called it Dymaxian mapping.

http://www.thirteen.org/bucky/dymap.html

Posted by: Nick | February 21, 2006 11:25 AM

69 years downloading data??? !!!

just amazing. and have in mind that only half of earth is available in high resolution.

wow!

Posted by: Pablo | February 28, 2006 11:53 AM

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