You may want to give this a shot.
[quoteurl=http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?id=8681405]NASA WORLD WIND MEGA-POST
Whassat?
World Wind is a program that allows you to browse a 3D model of the earth. Among the programs features are the ability to view satellite images (as seen below), the ability to view real-time animations of major earth-related events (wildfires, earthquakes, climate changes, etc.), and a “Rapid Fire Modis” mode, in which representing earthquakes, forest fires, Volcanoes, etc are shown on a map of the world, and clicking on these will display satellite imagery of the event. It’s a very, very cool program, and I feel that we, as taxpayers, should be taking advantage of it.
Here are some satellite images I took screengrabs of. These are unedited and un-resized, so I apologize for the size. Also, note that these are a little tricky to find at first because of the early development status the program, so if you want to view images like this, make sure you read my directions towards the bottom!
http://img32.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img32ℑ=WashingtonDC_Boat.jpg
http://img9.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img9ℑ=WashingtonDC_GTown.jpg
http://img9.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img9ℑ=WashingtonDC_hotWM1.jpg
Images like those above are only available for large cities and their suburbs. However, they also offer black and white satellite images of a lesser resolution for practically the entire United States (or at least as much as I’ve explored), which is great if you want to find your house. Here’s an example…
http://img41.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img41ℑ=NewYork_Neighborhood.jpg
Yes, I realize you can get some of these images from websites, but many of them place even bigger watermarks on the images, and block attempts at taking screenshots. This is a standalone product, and hey, we paid for it, we might as well use it.
Ok, now how to get it. Go to http://opensource.arc.nasa.gov/software.jsp?id=13 and download the zip file. This file is approx. 214 megs. Install that, and then download THIS file: (hosted by me) http://freezin.net/files/WorldLayers.xml
This is a modified configuration file that speeds up image downloads, and allows for greater detail in the color satellite images from above. Place that file in your C:\Program Files\NASA\World Wind v1.2\Configuration folder, after you backup the one that’s already there. Now that you’ve done that, start up the program. Here is where things get a little tedious, since you have to repeat this setup every time you restart the program.
CONTROLS:
Mouse wheel zooms in and out
Right mouse button centers a location/drags the globe around
Left mouse button rotates the image in a circle/tilts the map
To view the high-resolution color images as seen above…
First, uncheck the “Places” icon, unless you want every landmark on the screen to carry a label (somewhat annoying). Then click the icon labeled “Layer Mgr.” Expand “Images>High-Resolution Terrain Mapped…” and uncheck ALL boxes except for the one at the very bottom (USGS Urban Area Ortho-imagery) . This will make it so that when you zoom in (with your mousewheel), tiles will be loaded from this high-resolution database. Note that areas not in the database will show up as big white boxes. This is normal.
To view your house…
Instead of checking “USGS Urban Area Ortho-imagery”, only check “USGS Digital Ortho-quadrangles”.
The other features are pretty self explanatory as you’ll find out. Just note that this software is in very early development, and as such has many, many bugs and missing features (and their servers are being pounded as of late, so you may have trouble downloading some of the non-USGS content). I still think its worth the download though; I can explore a major city for hours with detail like this.
Enjoy, and post any interesting things you find![/quoteurl]
[quoteurl=http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?id=8681405]NASA WORLD WIND MEGA-POST
Whassat?
World Wind is a program that allows you to browse a 3D model of the earth. Among the programs features are the ability to view satellite images (as seen below), the ability to view real-time animations of major earth-related events (wildfires, earthquakes, climate changes, etc.), and a “Rapid Fire Modis” mode, in which representing earthquakes, forest fires, Volcanoes, etc are shown on a map of the world, and clicking on these will display satellite imagery of the event. It’s a very, very cool program, and I feel that we, as taxpayers, should be taking advantage of it.
Here are some satellite images I took screengrabs of. These are unedited and un-resized, so I apologize for the size. Also, note that these are a little tricky to find at first because of the early development status the program, so if you want to view images like this, make sure you read my directions towards the bottom!
http://img32.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img32ℑ=WashingtonDC_Boat.jpg
http://img9.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img9ℑ=WashingtonDC_GTown.jpg
http://img9.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img9ℑ=WashingtonDC_hotWM1.jpg
Images like those above are only available for large cities and their suburbs. However, they also offer black and white satellite images of a lesser resolution for practically the entire United States (or at least as much as I’ve explored), which is great if you want to find your house. Here’s an example…
http://img41.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img41ℑ=NewYork_Neighborhood.jpg
Yes, I realize you can get some of these images from websites, but many of them place even bigger watermarks on the images, and block attempts at taking screenshots. This is a standalone product, and hey, we paid for it, we might as well use it.
Ok, now how to get it. Go to http://opensource.arc.nasa.gov/software.jsp?id=13 and download the zip file. This file is approx. 214 megs. Install that, and then download THIS file: (hosted by me) http://freezin.net/files/WorldLayers.xml
This is a modified configuration file that speeds up image downloads, and allows for greater detail in the color satellite images from above. Place that file in your C:\Program Files\NASA\World Wind v1.2\Configuration folder, after you backup the one that’s already there. Now that you’ve done that, start up the program. Here is where things get a little tedious, since you have to repeat this setup every time you restart the program.
CONTROLS:
Mouse wheel zooms in and out
Right mouse button centers a location/drags the globe around
Left mouse button rotates the image in a circle/tilts the map
To view the high-resolution color images as seen above…
First, uncheck the “Places” icon, unless you want every landmark on the screen to carry a label (somewhat annoying). Then click the icon labeled “Layer Mgr.” Expand “Images>High-Resolution Terrain Mapped…” and uncheck ALL boxes except for the one at the very bottom (USGS Urban Area Ortho-imagery) . This will make it so that when you zoom in (with your mousewheel), tiles will be loaded from this high-resolution database. Note that areas not in the database will show up as big white boxes. This is normal.
To view your house…
Instead of checking “USGS Urban Area Ortho-imagery”, only check “USGS Digital Ortho-quadrangles”.
The other features are pretty self explanatory as you’ll find out. Just note that this software is in very early development, and as such has many, many bugs and missing features (and their servers are being pounded as of late, so you may have trouble downloading some of the non-USGS content). I still think its worth the download though; I can explore a major city for hours with detail like this.
Enjoy, and post any interesting things you find![/quoteurl]
