GOOGLE EARTH IN YOUR WEB BROWSER

This is a contribution to the Pardee Keynote Symposium entitled “Digital Geology Speed Dating.” At Table 5 we will demonstrate the use of the Google Earth web browser plugin and Application Program Interface (API) for geoscience education and research. Simple HTML code can embed an instance (or several instances) of the Google Earth plugin in a web page in a manner similar to other embedded media such as images or videos. The API uses JavaScript to link the Google Earth view to controls on the web page such as buttons, sliders, and text fields. Using methods developed by Mladen Dordevic one can overlay controls on the Google Earth viewport.

The web page can deliver content knowledge, challenge students to explore and discover geological features, or present test questions with automatic grading. An advantage of the plugin versus the desktop application is that options can be limited in order to concentrate students’ attention on the subject matter of a lesson. FlyToView, NetworkLink, and NetworkLinkControl scripts can be used geo-fence students, preventing wanderlust. We have developed several geoscience learning modules for the Google Earth plugin. These include mapping games and georamas, which are particularly engaging tours.

For research applications, Google Fusion Tables can be linked directly or indirectly to the plugin, effectively turning Google Earth into a GIS database. A table with Lat and Lon columns can deliver the contents of other columns to placemark balloons at corresponding locations on Google Earth. To enable features as orientation symbols, focal mechanism solutions, cross sections, etc. to be placed on Google Earth, the Fusion Table must be routed through a PHP, Python, or Ruby script. Simple examples demonstrate the power of such database connections.