[English] Google Earth and Ocean

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/science/earth/03oceans.html?_r=1&th&emc=th


On Monday, Google Earth will undergo the most significant of several 
upgrades, with the new oceans-included version downloadable free at: 

 http://www.earth.google.com

Another feature, Historical Imagery, provides the ability to scroll back 
through decades of satellite images and watch the spread of suburbia or 
erosion of coasts. 

Click a function called Touring and you can create narrated, illustrated 
tours, on land, or above and below the sea surface .. describing and 
showing things like a hike or scuba excursion, or even a research cruise 
on a deep-diving submarine. 

By choosing among 20 buttons holding archives of information, 
called “layers” by Google, a visitor can read logs of oceanographic 
expeditions, see old film clips from the heyday of Jacques-Yves Cousteau 
and check daily Navy maps of sea temperatures. 

The replicated seas have detailed topography reflecting what is known 
about the abyss and continental shelves — and rougher areas where little 
is known. 

With only 5 percent of the ocean floor mapped in detail, and 1 percent of 
the oceans protected, Google executives and the marine scientists who 
helped build the digital oceans said they hoped the result would inspire 
the public to support more marine exploration and conservation.

The addition of the oceans posed many technical hurdles, not the least 
being the aligning of disparate data sets so water meets land in 
precisely the right places, Google engineers said. 

Other snags will almost certainly pop up as millions of users scour the 
new terrain. But many of the ocean scientists who quietly worked with 
Google over the last two years to pull together vast data sets are elated 
at the prospect of the seas’ getting new visibility, and respect ..


(A version of this article appeared in print on February 3, 2009, on page 
D3 of the New York edition)
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Cheers people
Stephen Loosley
Victoria Australia