Google Lat Long: April 2011

Post-tornado mapping in Google Maps and Earth

April 30, 2011

This past week, several devastating tornadoes struck across a wide swathe of the southern United States. Our Crisis Response team is activating to provide data and imagery we hope will be useful to first responders and the general public.

In cooperation with our satellite partner GeoEye, we have imagery of the aftermath of several tornadoes, including in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as shown below. We have created several before-and-after comparisons in a Picasa album.

Left: Google imagery from late 2010. Right: GeoEye imagery from Thursday, April 28.Top: Charleston Square Apartments, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Bottom: Towns of Pleasant Grove, Concord, and Hueytown, Jefferson County, Alabama. Click to see enlarged.this collection on Google MapsUpdate:Google EarthPosted by Jesse Friedman, Google Crisis Response team

Celebrating Arbor Day with Save the Redwoods League and Google Earth

April 29, 2011

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)From time to time we invite guests to post about topics of interest and we’re pleased to have Emily Limm join us for U.S. Arbor Day. Emily is the science director for the non-profit Save the Redwoods League and is studying the impact of climate change on the redwood forests of northern California. To raise awareness about the League’s research, she worked with Google Earth Outreach to model old-growth redwoods on Google Earth. In this post, Emily shares her ideas on how technology and citizen science can help scientific research. -Ed.coastal redwood forestsSave the Redwoods LeagueGoogle Earth Outreach teamJedediah Smith Redwoods State ParkdownloadRedwood WatchiNaturalist.orga nearby parksubmit it onlineGoogle Maps APIs

An observation of a coast redwood submitted to the Redwood Watch on iNaturalist.org.Note: There are plenty of parallel projects going on around the world, so if you don’t live near redwoods, consider participating in one of the other iNaturalist.org citizen science projects.Posted by Emily Limm, Ph.D., Director of Science and Planning, Save the Redwoods League

Post Japan Earthquake panoramas in Google Earth

April 29, 2011

In an effort to continue to help keep people informed about the extent of the tragedy that has recently struck Japan, Google Earth has added panorama photos of post-earthquake zones. These photos come from our partner 360cities and can be found in the “Photos” layer in Google Earth, along with other 360cities and Panoramio photos. These dramatic panorama photos are part of the work of photographer, Akila Ninomiya.

In March 2011, Mr. Ninomiya took his camera and bravely ventured into the heart of post-earthquake zones in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. He documented earthquake and tsunami damages in cities including Rikuzen-Takada, Kamaishi, Osawa, Miyako, Settai, and Omoto.

Mr Ninomiya didn’t just take pictures. He took 360 degree panoramas, which give unique perspectives to the extent and severity of this unprecedented natural disaster.

To see his collection in Google Earth, make sure you have the “Photos” layer turned on. Then fly to any of the cities mentioned above, eg. Ofunato, Japan. You will see a number of orange colored photo placemarks. Click on one of them and you will see a picture like the one below:

KML collectionJapan Pano Journalism ProjectPosted by Wei Luo, Technical Lead/Manager, Google Earth

A royal view of the wedding procession, right in your browser

April 27, 2011

As we approach Friday and the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, many locations in central London are in the spotlight. Last month we expanded our 3D imagery of central London’s buildings and trees in Google Earth to help you explore the royal wedding procession route.

As we get closer to the wedding day, we’ve also featured a few highlights along the procession route for you to explore in 3D using Google Maps with Earth View. If you have the Google Earth plug-in installed, you can get started viewing these spots though an immersive tour right away, or you can download the Google Earth plug-in to explore Google Maps in 3D.

With one click, you can travel to Buckingham Palace, fly to an aerial perspective of Westminster Abbey, or get a clock-level view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Get started seeing these and other highlights at maps.google.com/royalwedding.

Houses of Parliament & Big Ben, LondonPosted by Phil Verney, Program Manager, Google Earth & Maps

Live from space: You talk to Commander Mark Kelly and the Endeavour Crew

April 27, 2011

(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)UPDATE 4/29: NASA has scrubbed the launch attempt today due to a technical problem. We'll provide an update here on the live streamed launch and live interview, and you can follow NASA updates here. Moon officeMoon raceexpedition to MarsSkyMoonMarsNASA imagesHubble tourSTS-134PBS NewsHourMiles O’Brienwww.youtube.com/pbsnewshour

Video questions are preferred, and should be a max of 20 seconds long

Speak clearly and film in a place with minimal background noise. Keep the camera as still as possible and ask the question directly to the camera

Look through NASA videos on YouTube about STS-134 to learn more about the mission and crew

www.youtube.com/pbsnewshourPosted by Ginny Hunt, Public Sector Program Manager

Imagery Update - Week of April 25th

April 26, 2011

Google EarthGoogle Maps

Scottsdale Stadium, Scottsdale, Arizona

Plymouth Rock, Plymouth, MassachusettsGoogle Earth’s Historical Imagery slider

Sendai Airport, Sendai, Japan

Do you have a place you love that you’d want to receive notification from us when the Earth and Maps Imagery team updates your beloved site? We’ve got just the tool: the Follow Your World application!

As always, these are but a few examples of the types of features that can be seen and discovered in our latest batch of published imagery. Happy exploring!

High Resolution Aerial Updates:
USA: Phoenix, Tuscon, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Wichita, Austin, Cape Cod
Japan: Sendai

Countries/Regions receiving High Resolution Satellite Updates:
Antarctica, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, China, Croatia, Egypt, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Haiti, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uruguay, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia

These updates are now available in both Google Maps and Google Earth. To get a complete picture of where we updated imagery, download this KML for viewing in Google Earth.

Posted by Eric Kolb, Geo Data Strategist

Celebrating top Geo contributors in the Asia Pacific region

April 22, 2011

In countries like India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Kazakhstan, a community of passionate users is helping to bring geographic content online—in many cases for the first time. Using products like Google Map Maker, Google SketchUp & Building Maker, and Panoramio, these users are adding geographic information for millions of users to explore in Google Maps and Google Earth.

Recently some of the most active Map Maker mappers, 3D modelers and Panoramio photo contributors from around the region gathered in Singapore to attend the first ever Asia Pacific regional Geo Community Summit.

Map Maker Software Engineer Robin Anil answers questions during a Q & A session.
unconference sessionsCNRFaraz, Jabran and Omermap the roadsGoogle Calendar

Unconference session discussionsphotos and videossession notes and presentationsMap Maker Events Calendar3D Events CalendarPanoramio Events Calendar

Celebrating Earth Day

April 22, 2011

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)doodleparabolic solar cookers

Our campus garden in Mountain Viewnew websitemake renewable energy cheaper than coalrun a data center using 50 percent less energyby bikenew websitesecond power purchase agreementGermanywind farmsolar projectPosted by Bill Weihl, Green Enegy Czar

A new photo browsing experience in Google Earth

April 21, 2011

Google Earth

As an example below, check out the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA. You will see photo icons on top of the satellite images. The larger photo icons indicate larger collections or clusters of photos. Click on any photo icon to open the Photos window.

To browse through the images in a collection, click on a photo in the filmstrip and use the “left” and “right” arrow keys on your keyboard to flip through them quickly.

Whether you’re deciding between Paris, Beijing or Venice for a nice vacation or simply want to go on a quick virtual getaway after a long day, we hope this new way of viewing photos in Google Earth helps bring places around the world to your fingertips.

If you’d like to contribute to our efforts of building a virtual atlas of the real world and have amazing photos you’d like to share, you can do so by uploading them to Panoramio.com.

Happy viewing!

Posted by Wei Luo, Senior GIS Specialist

Reflecting the ever-changing world around us

April 20, 2011

Yesterday we opened the map of the United States in Google Map Maker, enabling you to add your local knowledge of the U.S. to Google Maps. With this addition, the maps of 187 countries and regions—including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands—are now available for editing by users to improve freshness and detail.

These edits are often visible immediately on Map Maker, but aren’t seen by most users until they’re published on Google Maps. In the past we would process edits in large groups, which meant it could take weeks before approved edits appeared on Google Maps. In preparation for yesterday’s launch, we recently added a new publishing system to reflect Map Maker user contributions on Google Maps more quickly. Once a Map Maker edit has been approved, it will now appear on Google Maps within minutes.

You often have the latest information about changes that occur in the places where you live and work. If a new coffee shop opens along your way to work, or you discover a tennis court nearby, you can add to or update the map and help other users find those spots just minutes after your edit is approved.

Map before user contributions

Map after user contributions, showing tennis courts in Rehoboth Beach, Delawaremapmaker.google.com/pulselearn moremapmaker.google.com

Bringing Google’s Cloud technology to Google Earth & Maps Enterprise

April 20, 2011

Enterprise Earth & MapsannouncedGoogle App EngineGoogle ExacycleGoogle Earth BuilderGoogle Earth Builderget in touchPosted by Brian McClendon, Google VP of Earth and Maps

Add your local knowledge to the map with Google Map Maker for the United States

April 19, 2011

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog]Google Map Maker183 countries and regionsGoogle Map MakerIIT Bombay

Indian Institute of Technology Bombaywatch mapping in real-time

Browsing all points of interest in downtown Palo Alto, Californiagetting started sitemapmaker.google.com

An Update on Tags

April 15, 2011

[Cross-posted from the Google Small Business Blog]

As users increasingly rely on tools like Google Maps and Places for information about the world around them, we're working hard to develop products that help local businesses highlight themselves and their offerings.

Last year, we introduced our trial for Google Tags, a way for businesses to highlight their organic Google Places listing with a yellow tag that showcases offers, photos, videos, menu, and reservations for a flat monthly fee.

Since that experiment began, tens of thousands of businesses have used Tags to help potential customers make easier, more informed decisions when searching. Throughout this period, we monitored Tags closely to learn more about our users' business needs and how they used the product.

We’ve made a decision to shift our efforts toward other present and future product offerings for local businesses, and will be discontinuing this trial. To that end, we’ve now halted new signups and will be working with existing participating businesses over the coming weeks to help them meet their marketing needs with other Google products where possible.

We’ve learned a lot from our Tags trial and will take that knowledge into account as we continue to find the best ways to serve users and local businesses alike. Lastly, we want to thank all of the businesses that were part of our Tags trial, and we hope we can meet their advertising needs with one of our existing products.

Posted by Shalini Agarwal, Product Manager

Imagery update: Japan and beyond

April 13, 2011

It was just two weeks ago that we announced new high resolution imagery of Sendai in support of on-going relief work. Today we’re announcing additional high resolution imagery of Japan, as well as other parts of the world.
Updated areas of Japan include Ishinomaki, Minamisanriku, Hitachi, Kamisu, and Chiba.

Updates in red outline

Ishinomaki, Japan

Fort Sutter, Sacramento CA

Ice Patterns in Antarctica

Temple of Ramses II, Egypt

Ferrari World, Abu DhabiFollow Your WorldHigh resolution aerial updates: Countries/Regions receiving high resolution satellite updates: download this KMLGoogle EarthPosted by Matt Manolides, GIS Specialist

New 45° imagery for fun in the sun

April 12, 2011

Spring is in the air and it’s time to put away those jackets, dust off your shorts and get ready to see some sunshine! The Geo Imagery team has been hard at work in our snow covered buildings in Mountain View to get the latest set of imagery ready for everyone to enjoy.

When you think of sunshine, the first place that comes to mind for a lot people is Honolulu HI of course! With 45° in hand, scope out the ocean views from beachside hotels. You can check out Diamondhead, the coastline or the golf courses to reminisce on the vacation you’ve always wanted.
View Larger MapWaikiki, Honolulu, HawaiiView Larger MapColosseum, Rome, ItalyView Larger MapPalm Springs, CAsee where we are in My MapsHigh Resolution Aerial Updates:Posted by Wayne Thai, Geo Data Specialist

Helping you find the right route

April 12, 2011

With directions in Google Maps, we’re working on helping you find the quickest way to get around, and now finding the right route is a bit easier. For areas with transit information in Google Maps, previously you could compare driving and transit directions by selecting the appropriate icon. Now, when you search for driving directions, transit options may appear directly in the results.

This comes in handy as I visit Madrid and want to find my way from the Hotel Miguel Ángel to the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid. When I search for "Hotel Miguel Ángel, Madrid to Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, Madrid" in Google Maps, I now see the following set of suggestions:

Get a better view of mountains in Google Earth

April 8, 2011

Google Earth

Let’s fly to Mount Everest, the highest mountain on the planet, to see one of the latest features. A green icon (

) will now be visible from high up.

Click on the green icon to view information about this mountain. Below is the bubble that will appear when you click on Mount Everest.

The bubble content includes Everest’s elevation, a link to a KML tour (more on that below), a link to an article on the mountain and a slide deck of Panoramio images. Hovering over the image will reveal arrows to let you view additional photos of Everest.

In the “Elevation Profile” section, you can view elevation cross-sections of the mountain in four directions (click on the links labeled “S-N”, “W-E”, “NW-SE”, “SW-NE” to change the cross-section views in the direction of your choice). The cross section is shown as a black line on the shaded relief image of the mountain, viewed on the right-hand side.

We're also excited to show off the tours created for each and every mountain. Click on the "Fly on a tour" link to download a KML tour. Hit the "Play" icon once the tour has downloaded and you'll be taken to a vantage point near the peak and flown in a circle to take in the views. Below is a YouTube video showing the tour for the Matterhorn.

We’ve also added hundreds of thousands of new labels for water bodies all over the world. Click on the “Water Bodies” label just underneath “Mountains” in the layer panel to see new labels for seas, bays, lakes, and reservoirs (rivers are not yet labeled).

We hope these changes will help enhance the use of Google Earth for education, learning, and exploring.

Posted by Cris Castello, GIS Data Engineer

Hotpot is going Places

April 8, 2011

(Cross-posted from the Google Places Blog.)

Last November, we introduced Hotpot, our recommendation engine to help people discover great new places when they search on Google. It’s simple: Rate and review the places you know, add friends whose opinions you trust and we serve you up personalized recommendations based on those tastes.

Since then, we’ve released an iPhone and Android app, integrated Hotpot recommendations into Google.com and Google Maps, expanded to more than 47 languages and enabled people to share their ratings and reviews to Twitter. While busy iterating on the product side, we’ve also launched marketing and community campaigns in five cities in the U.S.: Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; Las Vegas, Nev.; Madison, Wis.; and Charlotte, N.C.

It’s been incredibly exciting to watch Hotpot grow—the community has quickly expanded to millions of users who are rating more than one million times per month and enjoying a truly personalized view of the world. Based on this success, we’ve decided to graduate Hotpot to be a permanent part of our core local product offering, Google Places. Rolling Hotpot into Google Places helps simplify the connection between the places that are rated and reviewed and the more than 50 million places that already have an online presence through Google Places—places that millions of people search for and find every day on Google.

HotpotGoogle Places BlogPosted by Lior Ron, Google Hotpot (Places!) Product Manager

Check in, gain status, and unlock offers at more places with Google Latitude

April 7, 2011

Last monthGoogle Latitude60 placesAndroidiPhonegoogle.com/latitude/checkin

Check in. Check in using Latitude to share places with friends when you’re there.

Gain status. Keep checking in every time you visit your favorite places to gain status there. You can tap your current status level to see your progress towards the next status level.

Unlock offers. Places can make check-in offers available to you at each of their 3 status levels. When you gain higher status, you’ll unlock any available check-in offers.

From a Place page, check in, see your current status, and find check-in offers (left); tap your current status to see your progress to the next level (right).
Redeem

See available and locked offers (left); tap available ones to redeem them (right).
google.com/latitude/checkin

American Eagle Outfitters: Up to 20% off your total purchase

Quiznos: Free sub when you buy a sub of equal or greater value

Arby’s: Free regular roast beef sandwich with purchase of a 22 oz. drink

RadioShack: Up to 20% off qualifying, in-store purchases

Finish Line: Save $10 on purchases over $50

Macy’s (Coming soon)

Google Maps for AndroidLatitude app for iPhonePosted by Douglas Gresham, Software Engineer, Google Maps for mobile team

See your location history dashboard and more with Google Maps 5.3 for Android

April 4, 2011

[Cross-posted from the Google Mobile Blog]Google Maps 5.3 for AndroidLocation History dashboard
enabled Location HistoryGoogle Latitudepersonal dashboardgoogle.com/latitudeView location historycomputerManage Historydashboard

View your location history dashboard from your Latitude profile on your phone and see estimates of where you’ve spent your time.

Check in at home
Checking in at places using Latitude

Check in from Latitude and tap “Home - Tap to set your location” at the bottom of the nearby places list if you don’t have one yet.

Use the estimated current address or enter in your home address yourself.

Once you’ve checked in at home once, “Home” will appear at the top of the list when you’re checking in near there.

Add your own aspects for places
Google Places with Hotpot

When rating places, you can add your own aspects like “music” for places and leave quick feedback.

Google Maps from Android MarketPosted by Kenneth Leftin, Software Engineer, Google Maps for mobile team

Pausing the Real-World Sightings experiment

April 3, 2011

[Cross-posted from the Google SketchUp Blog]Real-World SightingsGoogle EarthGoogle Maps

AeriliusAthinaiosBdhyBerylDrueFingerzJan WesbuerKangaroOzNESUAZoungy

Geographic Stars Compete in the National Geographic Bee State Championships

April 1, 2011

National Geographic BeeGoogle EarthGeography videoPosted by Brian McClendon, VP of Engineering, Google Earth and Maps

Real-World Sightings, Now in Google Earth and Maps