Google Earth is a
virtual globe,
map and
geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by
Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funded company acquired by
Google in 2004 (see
In-Q-Tel). It maps the Earth by the
superimposition of images obtained from
satellite imagery,
aerial photography and
GIS 3D
globe. It was available under three different licenses, two currently:
Google Earth, a free version with limited function; Google Earth Plus
(discontinued),
[4][5] which included additional features; and Google Earth Pro ($399 per year), which is intended for commercial use.
[6]
The product, re-released as Google Earth in 2005, is currently available for use on
personal computers running
Windows 2000 and above,
Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above,
Linux kernel: 2.6 or later (released on June 12, 2006), and
FreeBSD. Google Earth is also available as a
browser plugin which was released on May 28, 2008.
[7] It was also made available for mobile viewers on the
iPhone OS on October 28, 2008, as a free download from the
App Store, and is available to
Android users as a free app in the
Google Play
store. In addition to releasing an updated Keyhole based client, Google
also added the imagery from the Earth database to their web-based
mapping software,
Google Maps. The release of Google Earth in June 2005 to the public caused a more than tenfold increase in media coverage on
virtual globes between 2004 and 2005,
[8] driving public interest in
geospatial technologies and applications. As of October 2011, Google Earth has been downloaded more than a billion times.
[9][10]
For other parts of the surface of the Earth, 3D images of terrain and buildings are available. Google Earth uses
digital elevation model (DEM) data collected by
NASA's
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM).
[11] This means one can view the whole earth in three
dimensions.
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.
[12]
Many people use the applications to add their own data, making them available through various sources, such as the
Bulletin Board Systems (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)
Split Chrome Browser on Two Frame and Surf Two Web Pages Together