For Further Reading
Useful Travel Layers from Google Earth Gallery:
EveryTrail Half Dome Hike
Yosemite National Park in California is home to the famous “Half Dome”. This KML allows Google Earth users to experience what it’s like to hike along some of the amazing trails throughout the park and the enormous Half Dome formation. Make sure to check the “Terrain” box in your layers section. The EveryTrail layers is, again, included in the Google Earth program available for download.
Gigapan Photos
This layer offers panoramic images of different sites around the world that a tourist may use in gathering a list of potential locations for visiting on vacation. The Gigapan layer is included in the default Google Earth Download.
International Flights
James Stafford has authored this KML, which animates flight routes from several international airports in the United States. Once the file has been opened in Google Earth, press the “play” button on top of the viewer and watch flight routes appear on the screen.
Weather Station Reports
Includes weather station data from various stations across the globe. The weather data is updated every fifteen minutes – this is particularly useful for tourists that need to check the weather conditions of a certain destination before leaving for a daily trip or excursion.
Webcams.travel
This layer can be found in the gallery folder within Google Earth. The 5000 user-added webcams located throughout the world display 15-60 minute old pictures of travel destinations and tourist spots that allow users to scope out the scenery before visiting. This layer is also included in the default Google Earth program.
Additional References:
Gardner, D. (2005, November 28). Google Space Test Flies at Heathrow. InformationWeek. Retrieved from http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/search/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=174402173.
Jones, K.C. (2009). New York City Unveils Online Travel Tools. Information Week. Retrieved from http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212901980&queryText=New%20York%20City%20Unveils%20Online%20Travel%20Tools.
Luo, Wei. (2007). New layers in Google Earth. Retrieved from Google Lat Long Blog http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-layers-in-google-earth.html.
Turnbull, A. (2010). Google SightSeeing. Retrieved from http://googlesightseeing.com/.
United Nations World Tourism Organizations [UNWTO]. (2010). Historical Perspective of World Tourism. Retrieved from http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/historical.htm
UNWTO. (2010). Tourism and the World Economy. Retrieved from http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/economy.htm
Wagner, M. (Interviewer) & Jones, M. (Interviewee). (2006). The View from Google Earth [Interview transcript]. Retrieved from http://www.gpsworld.com/gis/integration-and-standards/the-view-google-earth-7434.
Leave a Reply