Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




EARTH OBSERVATION
Google adds terrain to Maps as default
by Staff Writers
Mountain View, Calif. (UPI) Oct 26, 2012


disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

Google has announced an upgrade to its Maps offering, with the default view featuring shading and color detail to convey terrain information.

Color gradations to depict vegetation and labels for natural land formations are also included, Wired reported Friday.

"This enriched visual data allows you to quickly and easily see where the great forests, deserts, and mountain ranges around the world begin and end," Karl Johann Schmidt, Google Maps Software Engineer, wrote the company's Google Maps blog. "It also conveys how natural land formations can impact where, how and why man-made developments like urban cities, dams and bridges are made."

Which region of the globe a user chooses to examine and how far they zoom in determines the amount and level of the terrain detail shows but major geographic features of the Americas and Europe have received the graphical upgrade treatment.

Google has offered an optional "terrain" layer for Google Maps since 2008 but with the latest update the terrain display mode is the default.

.


Related Links
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








EARTH OBSERVATION
Rapid changes in the Earth's core: The magnetic field and gravity from a satellite perspective
Munich, Germany (SPX) Oct 23, 2012
Annual to decadal changes in the earth's magnetic field in a region that stretches from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean have a close relationship with variations of gravity in this area. From this it can be concluded that outer core processes are reflected in gravity data. This is the result presented by a German-French group of geophysicists in the latest issue of PNAS (Proceedings of th ... read more


EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA's LADEE Spacecraft Gets Final Science Instrument Installed

Astrium presents results of its study into automatic landing near the Moon's south pole

European mission to search for moon water

Model reconciles Lunar Earth composition with giant impact theory

EARTH OBSERVATION
Opportunity Undertakes Survey Drives Of Local Area

Assessing Drop-Off to Mars Rover's Observation Tray

Valles Marineris - the largest canyon in the Solar System

Curiosity Rover Collects Fourth Scoop of Martian Soil

EARTH OBSERVATION
Space daredevil Baumgartner is 'officially retired'

NASA must reinvest in nanotechnology research, according to new Rice University paper

Austrian space diver no stranger to danger

Baumgartner feat boosts hopes for imperilled astronauts

EARTH OBSERVATION
China to launch 11 meteorological satellites by 2020

China makes progress in spaceflight research

Patience for Tiangong

China launches civilian technology satellites

EARTH OBSERVATION
New crew docks with ISS: Russia

ISS Crew Gets Ready for New Expedition 33 Trio

New ISS Crew Confirmed

Russia launches three astronauts to ISS

EARTH OBSERVATION
Pleiades 1B joins its launcher at the Spaceport for Arianespace's Soyuz mission in November

S. Korea readies third bid to join global space club

Brazil eyes closer space cooperation with Ukraine

S. Korea plans third rocket launch bid Friday

EARTH OBSERVATION
New Study Brings a Doubted Exoplanet 'Back from the Dead'

New small satellite will study super-Earths for ESA

Most Planetary Systems are 'Flatter than Pancakes'

Glitch could end NASA planet search

EARTH OBSERVATION
A new take on the Midas touch - changing the colour of gold

Northrop Grumman Matures Laser Threat Terminator Technology to Address Emerging Threats

US DoE's Ames Laboratory improving process to recycle rare-earth materials

Droplet response to electric voltage in solids exposed




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement