Virtual globe

A virtual globe is a 3D software model or representation of the Earth or another world. The first widely publicized virtual globe was Google Earth. A virtual globe provides the user with the ability to freely move around in the virtual environment by changing the viewing angle and position. Compared to a conventional globe, virtual globes have the additional capability of representing many different views on the surface of the Earth. These views may be of geographical features, man-made features such as roads and buildings or abstract representations of demographic quantities such as population.

Types

Virtual globes may be used for study or navigation (by connecting to a GPS device) and their design varies considerably according to their purpose. Those wishing to portray a visually accurate representation of the Earth often use satellite image servers and are capable not only of rotation but also zooming and sometimes horizon tilting. Very often such virtual globes aim to provide as true a representation of the world as is possible with worldwide coverage up to a very detailed level. When this is the case the interface often has the option of providing simplified graphical overlays to highlight man-made features since these are not necessarily obvious from a photographic aerial view. The other issue raised by such detail available is that of security with some governments having raised concerns about the ease of access to detailed views of sensitive locations such as airports and military bases.

Another type of virtual globe exists whose aim is not the accurate representation of the planet but instead a simplified graphical depiction. Most early computerized atlases were of this type and, while displaying less detail, these simplified interfaces are still widespread since they are faster to use because of the reduced graphics content and the speed with which the user can understand the display.

Online virtual globes

As more and more high-resolution satellite imagery and aerial photography become accessible for free, many of the latest online virtual globes are built to fetch and display these images. They include:

NASA World Wind, USGS topographic maps and several satellite and aerial image datasets, the first popular virtual globe along with Google Earth.
Google Earth, satellite & aerial photos dataset (including commercial DigitalGlobe images) with international road dataset, the first popular virtual globe along with NASA World Wind.
Microsoft Virtual Earth 3D, 3D interface for Live Search Maps, runs inside Internet Explorer and Firefox, and uses Nasa Blue Marble Next Generation.
Marble, part of the K Desktop Environment, with data provided by OpenStreetMap, as well as Nasa Blue Marble Next Generation and others.
ArcGIS Explorer a lightweight client for ArcGIS Server, supports WMS and many other GIS file formats.
EarthBrowser a Flash / Adobe AIR based virtual globe with real-time weather forecasts, earthquakes, volcanoes and webcams.
Software MacKiev's 3D Weather Globe & Atlas, 3D views based on the Blue Marble imagery, near-real-time cloud coverage and weather forecast from CustomWeather, time zones, day/night views.

As well as the availability of satellite imagery, online public domain factual databases such as the CIA world factbook have been incorporated into virtual globes.

Technical info, data and image sources

Although by default the World Wind download only comes with public domain imagery from the USGS and Landsat 7, Community members have made available high resolution imagery for New Zealand and New York, here and additional countries, as well as Microsoft's Virtual Earth data (for non-commercial purposes)

Google Earth, NASA World Wind and Norkart Virtual Globe save a cache of downloaded imagery to the user's hard disk, enabling them to be used offline to view previously viewed areas. However, you cannot activate Google Earth without logging into its server for the first time.

The Google Earth's cache size is limited to 2000 MB whereas World Wind has no limit on cache size. In Norkat Virtual Globe the disk cache can be set by the user.

In addition to downloaded images, NASA World Wind also comes with the complete 500 m Blue Marble imagery and global placenames including countries, capitals, counties, cities, towns and historical references which are available from install.

World Wind is also capable of displaying MODIS imagery from the JPL Aqua and Terra satellites. An Add-on allows for near-real-time MODIS imagery.

Google Earth and Virtual Earth 3D are both capable of displaying many more urban areas in high-resolution thanks to their private image sources. Both companies also hire chartered flights over major cities of the U.S. to take aerial images.

Marble (KDE) is designed for use in lightweight environments without 3D hardware acceleration and is capable of not only being used as a standalone application, but also as a component in other applications, such as in a "World Clock" Plasma (KDE) and for geolocation in the photo management software Digikam.^[1]

3D Weather Globe & Atlas comes with complete 1 km Blue Marble imagery, 40,000 locations database, countries and time zones overlays. Application requires internet connection only for online features: satellite cloud cover and real-time weather and forecast data.

History

The use of virtual globe software was widely popularized by (and may have been first described in) Neal Stephenson's famous science fiction novel Snow Crash. In the metaverse in Snow Crash there is a piece of software called Earth made by the Central Intelligence Corporation. The CIC uses their virtual globe as a user interface for keeping track of all their geospatial data, including maps, architectural plans, weather data, and data from real-time satellite surveillance.

Virtual globes (along with all hypermedia and virtual reality software) are distant descendants of the Aspen Movie Map project, which pioneered the concept of using computers to simulate distant physical environments (though the Movie Map's scope was limited to the city of Aspen, Colorado).

Comparison

Today's virtual globes can support various features:

virtual globe	Introduction year	OS - Windows, Mac, Linux, Unix	Program/data license	Multiple datasets	Street map overlay	School, Restaurant, and Hotel guides	Transportation guides	Park guides	Satellite and aerial image overlay	Weather map overlay	Topographic map overlay	Real-time traffic report	GPS-integration	Distance measure	Drawing tools	Movie maker
Google Earth	2005^[2]	yes, yes, yes, no	freeware (Basic) proprietary(Pro)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Some^[3]	Yes	Yes^[4]	Yes	Yes	Yes^[5]
NASA World Wind	2004^[6]	yes, no, no, no	open source / free domain	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes^[7]
Microsoft Windows Live Search Maps Virtual Earth 3D	2006^[8]	yes, no, no, no	proprietary	No	Some^[9]	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Marble (KDE)	2006	yes, yes, yes, yes	LGPL	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Some: Shows real-time cloud images	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
virtual globe	Introduction year	OS - Windows, Mac, Linux, Unix	Program/data license	Multiple datasets	Street map overlay	School, Restaurant, and Hotel guides	Transportation guides	Park guides	Satellite and aerial image overlay	Weather map overlay	Topographic map overlay	Real-time traffic report	GPS-integration	Distance measure	Drawing tools	Movie maker

virtual globe	3D graphics	3D building models	Terrain models	Sea-floor models	Planetarium	Day/night views	Imagery of other planets	Telescope/Sky mode	Flight simulator	Sunlight simulator	Online community user input	Extensibility	Wikipedia integration
Google Earth	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes^[10]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Some^[11]	Yes
NASA World Wind	Yes	No^[12]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Some^[13]	No	No	Yes	Yes^[14]	Yes
Microsoft Windows Live Search Maps Virtual Earth 3D	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Marble (KDE)	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
virtual globe	3D graphics	3D building models	Terrain models	Sea-floor models	Planetarium	Day/night views	Imagery of other planets	Telescope/Sky mode	Flight simulator	Sunlight simulator	Online community user input	Extensibility	Wikipedia integration

virtual globe	languages supported	3d buildings	Hi-resolution data set areas	street-level address search areas	driving direction areas	business listing areas	hotel listing areas
Google Earth	German, Dutch, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese (with Help support in Arabic, Czechian, Korean, Portuguese, Polish, Russian)	Some	Yes: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, United States	Yes: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, United States	Yes: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italia, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, United States	Yes: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italia, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, United States	Yes: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italia, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
NASA World Wind	English	No	Some: United States, New Zealand (partially)	Some: Australia, Germany, France, Japan, United States, United Kingdom^[15]	No	No	No
Microsoft Windows Live Search Maps Virtual Earth 3D	English	Some	Some: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Australia, Germany	Some: United States, United Kingdom, Australia	Some: United States, United Kingdom, Australia^[16]	No	No
Marble (KDE)	Translated as part of KDE, which has 88 languages [5]	No	No	Yes: via Openstreetmap	No	No	No
virtual globe	language support	3d buildings	Hi-resolution data set areas	street-level address search areas	driving direction areas	business listing areas	hotel listing areas

References

^ [1] OpenStreetmap "State Of The Map" presentation slides
^ Google Press Center: June 28, 2005 - Google announced the launch of Google Earth
^ GE offers a few historical map overlays from Rumsey collection, current topographic maps can be added as KML add-ons
^ Full GPS support is increased through having the paid versions (Plus and Pro) [2]
^ Movie Maker is only available in Pro version [3]
^ August 6, 2004 - World Wind 1.2 released
^ Available via built-in MovieRecorder plugin, requires writing a camera script [4]
^ Microsoft PressPass: Nov. 6, 2006 - Microsoft announced availability of Virtual Earth 3D
^ Only for United States and Canada
^ using Google Sky (fully integrated with Google Earth
^ Google Earth can be extended with many KML add-ons
^ World Wind supports DirectX 3D polygon mesh models, but buildings can be added only as add-ons, there are no models streamed from servers.
^ WW includes SDSS imagery (stars, galaxies) which shows about 30% of visible sky.
^ Users can not only add their own data (images, terrain models, point&vector data), but also add new features through a plugin interface or even modify the program core, if they have experience.
^ World Wind uses Yahoo and Virtual Earth geocoders for street-level address search
^ Driving directions are found for many other countries, but are limited to major cities and at city-level

External links

Other virtual globes

Misc.

Roll'n'Zoom - Satellite imagery community.
Google Earth Explorer - Collection of places with coordinates.
Which virtual globe is right for you? - comparison of virtual globes

[marblewidget-1] [1] OpenStreetmap "State Of The Map" presentation slides

[2] Google Press Center: June 28, 2005 - Google announced the launch of Google Earth

[3] GE offers a few historical map overlays from Rumsey collection, current topographic maps can be added as KML add-ons

[4] Full GPS support is increased through having the paid versions (Plus and Pro) [2]

[5] Movie Maker is only available in Pro version [3]

[6] August 6, 2004 - World Wind 1.2 released

[7] Available via built-in MovieRecorder plugin, requires writing a camera script [4]

[8] Microsoft PressPass: Nov. 6, 2006 - Microsoft announced availability of Virtual Earth 3D

[9] Only for United States and Canada

[10] using Google Sky (fully integrated with Google Earth

[11] Google Earth can be extended with many KML add-ons

[12] World Wind supports DirectX 3D polygon mesh models, but buildings can be added only as add-ons, there are no models streamed from servers.

[13] WW includes SDSS imagery (stars, galaxies) which shows about 30% of visible sky.

[14] Users can not only add their own data (images, terrain models, point&vector data), but also add new features through a plugin interface or even modify the program core, if they have experience.

[15] World Wind uses Yahoo and Virtual Earth geocoders for street-level address search

[16] Driving directions are found for many other countries, but are limited to major cities and at city-level

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