Google+Earth+Atlas

Google Earth is an Atlas
Google Earth is a great atlas. It shows you locations, in the context of satellite images, of the entire planet.
 * == An Atlas==

People can now look, often in great detail, at all parts of the Earth. And they often find extraordinary things.

//Sites that Log Interesting Places//
//A few comments on image quality//
 * [|Google Sightseeing]
 * [|What on Earth?]


 * Image Resolution:** Even a quick scanning of the world at high resolution will show that all places are not represented equally. At the best (try Boston, MA), you have about 0.3 m resolution. Other places, you get images that are quite indistinct. The goal is to have high resolution everywhere. But that can't happen without a lot of work. As might be expected, remote areas are often a lower priority. Keep checking, however. Sometimes you'll be surprised (pleasantly) when your area of interest suddenly comes into focus. Updates are done every few months.


 * Date of the images:** Some types of images have dates attached. In any case, the Google team tries to make sure that no images are older than three years. (I suspect that they archive images so that in some upcoming version, we may be able to see past images, too.) The date of an image area is shown at the bottom, if you are using one of the recent versions of Google Earth.


 * Other information (Road, Schools, Hospitals, etc):** The availability of supplemental information varies by country. This information is also increasing in quality and coverage. Like the other attributes, you need to check periodically to see if your area of interest is better supported.

Introduction to Searching
Google Earth lets you find places and then to "fly to" them. It is very flexible, although not perfect, in how you specify your search request.

The best thing is to simply try entering a request. Names of places, as well as various forms of latitude and longitude, will generally get you to your desired location.

When you "fly to" a place, you will generally be zoomed to a close-up view of the destination. You need to actively control the "altitude" from which you are viewing each place. Rotate the mouse scroll button to zoom in and out.

Note the orientation -- are you more comfortable keeping the top of the screen pointing north, or is it better to rotate the screen to better understand the location?

Zoom down close and then tilt the screen (shift+left mouse & drag). Rotate the perspective to see more.

Remember that Google Earth is a 3D model (when you have enabled the terrain). ||