23 August 2006
Two choices for viewing the Earth at home
People interested in geography and the world have a bit of a choice between Google Earth and NASA's World Wind.
Both of these applications are unique in their own way. Google Earth lets you see more of the buildings and details of cities, where World Wind is a bit lacking last I used it.
On the other hand, World Wind is very good with topography and 3D images of the landscape at eye level. Also it has the ability to actually see weather events and other natural activities such as fires, dust storms and floods. In another section of the application users can see the globe artifically colored to display data such as that days temperature, rainfall or air pressure.
I've used both of these applications and both are very good depending on your interest. Google Earth is brilliant for seeing cities and gaining directions to places, while World Wind is very scientific in interest. They can both also be very good for students who want to add pictures in their reports. I've seen Google Earth used by people studying and working in architecture and landscape architecture to include pictures that can describe the area better than land based images could.
Both of these applications are unique in their own way. Google Earth lets you see more of the buildings and details of cities, where World Wind is a bit lacking last I used it.
On the other hand, World Wind is very good with topography and 3D images of the landscape at eye level. Also it has the ability to actually see weather events and other natural activities such as fires, dust storms and floods. In another section of the application users can see the globe artifically colored to display data such as that days temperature, rainfall or air pressure.
I've used both of these applications and both are very good depending on your interest. Google Earth is brilliant for seeing cities and gaining directions to places, while World Wind is very scientific in interest. They can both also be very good for students who want to add pictures in their reports. I've seen Google Earth used by people studying and working in architecture and landscape architecture to include pictures that can describe the area better than land based images could.
