Activity: Creating a KML within Google Earth Requirements You must have Google Earth for this activity. Preparation: Download Google Earth. The link takes you to the Google Earth download page. Click on the Download Google Earth 4.3 image on the right side of the window. Read the Terms and Agreements and click Agree and Download. In the next window, click Run Google Earth to test the application. Assuming you are connected to the internet, Google Earth will open http://earth.google.com/ Activity 1. Open Google Earth In Windows, go to the Start Menu > Programs > Google Earth. 2. Fly to a Location Under the Fly To tab in the Search panel on the left side of the window, type Asilomar Conference Center, Monterey, CA Click the Search Icon. 1
Click in the check box to the left of Asilomar Conference Grounds. All of the placemarks will turn off. Click in the empty box next to the placemark A Asilomar Conference Grounds. This will turn ONLY the first placemark (the one for the actual Asilomar compound) on and the rest of the placemarks off. Double-click on the A icon next to Asilomar Conference Grounds in the Search window. Google Earth will zoom into the placemark. 3. Add a Placemark Right-click on My Places under the Places window, hover over Add and select Placemark from the menu that appears. A yellow thumbtack icon will appear on your map and a New Placemark window will open. Place your cursor over the yellow thumbtack and click and drag the icon over Asilomar and release the mouse button. In the New Placemark window, change the Name: to NEMO University 6. 2
Type in a short description below in the description window. (see below for example) Click OK. Right-click on Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA in the Search window and select Delete. Click OK in the window that appears. 3
4. Add a Polygon Use the Google Earth navigation tools (pan and zoom) to locate the fragmented forest patch to the southeast of your NEMO University 6 placemark. Click on the Add Polygon icon on the Google Earth toolbar. In the New Polgyon window that appears, click on the Style, Color tab. Under Lines, change the color to red. Under Area, change the style to Outlined. In the Name field, type Fragmented Forest Patch. Add Polygon tool Fragmented forest patch Move the New Polygon window to the side so that the entire forest patch is in view. Use your cursor to click around the boundary of the forest patch. Each time you click your mouse, a vertice will be placed on the map. When you are finished, click OK in the New Polygon window. You should now have a red outline around the forest patch. 4
5. Add a Line In Google Earth, lines are referred to as paths. You will add a path to your map representing the existing shoreline of Moss Beach, just to the West of the forest polygon you just created. Locate Moss Beach on your map (use the image to the right to orient yourself). Zoom in so that you have a good view of the shoreline in the image. Moss Beach Click on the Add Path icon on the Google Earth Toolbar. In the New Path window that opens, type 2008 shoreline in the box next to Name. In the Description window, type Hand-digitized shoreline, Moss Beach October 2008. Click on the Style, Color tab in the New Path window and change the color to turquoise and the width to 2.0. Start here Move the New Path window to the side so that you can see Moss Beach in your image. Click along the shoreline between the beach/ocean interface to create a path representing the shoreline. When you have finished, click OK in the New Path window. End here 5
6. Editing a Feature Congratulations! You have created a point, line and polygon feature inside Google Earth. The tough part is done. However, you may find that you wish to make a change the location, shape, description or style of an existing feature. It s very easy to update features in Google Earth. To edit a feature, right-click on the placemark, path or polygon in the Places window and select Properties from the menu that appears. This will open the Properties window that you worked with when you created the feature. You will also notice that the geographic properties of the feature (the location of the point or the vertices of the path and polygon) are able to be edited in the map. Make any changes you wish and then click OK in the Properties window to save your edits. 7. Save Your Features to KML Data that you create within Google Earth can be saved to KML or KMZ (compressed KML). Individual features can be saved in separate files or together within the same file. In order to save all three features together within the same file, first we will create a folder and then place all three features within that folder. The folder will then be saved to a KML file. Right-click on My Places under the Places window. Select Add > Folder from the window that appears. Name the folder, MyFirstKML and click OK. A folder will be added to the bottom of your My Places list. 6
Click on each of your placemarks (NEMO University 6, Fragmented Forest Patch, 2008 shoreline) in the Places window and drag and drop them into your MyFirstKML folder under the My Places heading. All of your features should now be contained within the folder. folder features To save all of your features to the same KML, right-click on the MyFirstKML folder and select Save Place As in the menu that appears. Navigate to your C:\Data folder on your hard drive and verify that your file name is MyFirstKML and the Save as type: is Kml (*.kml). Click Save. 7
7. Verify Your Data Remove the folder MyFirstKML from your MyPlaces by right-clicking it and selecting Delete. Choose OK in the window that opens asking if you are sure you wish to delete the folder and all its descendants. The folder will be removed from your Google Earth session. Close Google Earth by click on the red X in the upper right corner of the window. Open My Computer on your desktop or use the Windows Explore function (right-click on the start menu, select Explore) to view your computer s file system. Browse to your C:\Data folder. You should see your new KML, titled MyFirstKML.kml in this folder. Double-click on it. This will prompt Google Earth to open and fly to the location of the features that are described in the KML. Pretty awesome you did that all yourself! 8
Tips and Tricks Content Supplied from Google Earth Online Help Getting to Know Google Earth The following diagram describes some of the features available in the main window of Google Earth: 9
1. Search panel - Use this to find places and directions and manage search results. 2. Overview map - Use this for an additional perspective of the Earth. 3. Hide/Show sidebar - Click this to conceal or the display the side bar (Search, Places and Layers panels). 4. Placemark - Click this to add a placemark for a location. 5. Polygon - Click this to add a polygon. 6. Path - Click this to add a path (line or lines). 7. Image Overlay - Click this to add an image overlay on the Earth. 8. Measure - Click this to measure a distance or area size. 9. Sun - Click this to display sunlight across the landscape. 10. Sky - Click this to view stars, constellations, galaxies, planets and the Earth's moon. 11. Email - Click this to email a view or image. 12. Print - Click this to print the current view of the Earth. 13. Show in Google Maps - Click this to show the current view in Google Maps in your web browser. 14. Navigation controls - Use these to zoom, look and move around. 15. Layers panel - Use this to display points of interest. 16. Places panel - Use this to locate, save, organize and revisit placemarks. 17. Add Content - Click this to import exciting content from the KML Gallery 18. 3D Viewer - View the globe and its terrain in this window. 19. Status bar - View coordinate, elevation, imagery date and streaming status here. Using the Navigation Controls To view and use the navigation controls, move the cursor over right corner of the 3D viewer. After you start Google Earth and move the cursor over this area, the navigation controls fade from sight when you move the cursor elsewhere. To view these controls again, simply move the cursor over the right corner of the 3D viewer. Note - If the navigation controls do not appear when you move the cursor over the right corner of the 3D viewer, click View > Show Navigation > Automatically and try again. To hide or show the compass icon in the 3D viewer, click View > Compass. The Google Earth navigation controls offer the same type of navigation action that you can achieve with mouse navigation. In addition, you can use the controls to zoom and swoop (perhaps for a perspective on terrain) or to rotate your view. The following diagram shows the controls and explains their functions. 10
Click the north-up button to reset the view so that north is at the top of the screen. Click and drag the ring to rotate your view. Use the Look joystick to look around from a single vantage point, as if you were turning your head. Click an arrow to look in that direction or continue to press down on the mouse button to change your view. After clicking an arrow, move the mouse around on the joystick to change the direction of motion. Use the Move joystick to move your position from one place to another. Click an arrow to look in that direction or continue to press down on the mouse button to change your view. After clicking an arrow, move the mouse around on the joystick to change the direction of motion. Use the zoom slider to zoom in or out (+ to zoom in, - to zoom out) or click the icons at the end of the slider. As you move closer to the ground, Google Earth swoops (tilts) to change your viewing angle to be parallel to the Earth's surface. You can turn off this automatic tilt (Tools > Options > Navigation > Navigation controls; Mac: Google Earth > Preferences > Navigation > Navigation controls). You can also use the keyboard to control navigation. Tilting and Viewing Hilly Terrain When you first start Google Earth, the default view of the earth is a "top-down" view, which is straight down. Tilt the terrain from 0-90 degrees - You can use the mouse to tilt the view in order to see a different perspective of the area you're exploring. You can tilt to a maximum of 90 degrees, which provides a view of the object as well as the horizon, in some cases. Turn on terrain - Using the tilt feature is particularly interesting when you are looking at a part of the earth where the terrain is hilly. Be sure to check Terrain in the Layers panel. Rotate the view for a new perspective - Once you have tilted the view so that you are looking at a particular object, such as a hill, you can also rotate around that object. When you do this, the object remains in the center of the view, but you look at it from different perspectives (i.e., north, south, east, west) as you rotate around it. Use the middle mouse button (if available) for seamless movement - If your mouse has a middle button or a depressible scroll wheel, you can depress the button to both tilt and rotate the view. Movements up or down tilt the view, and movements left or right rotate the view. 11
The following figures show a comparison view of Mount Shasta in California with and without tilt enabled. Top down view Tilted view You can adjust the appearance of the terrain if you would like the elevation to appear more pronounced. To do this, click Tools > Options > 3D View from the Tools menu (for the Mac, choose Google Earth > Preferences > 3D View) and change the Elevation Exaggeration figure. You can set it to any value from 1 to 3, including decimal points. A common setting is 1.5, which achieves an obvious yet natural elevation appearance. Resetting the Default View After tilting and rotating the 3D view in Google Earth, you can always quickly reset to the default north-up and top-down view. To do this: Click the North-up button to reset the view so that north is at the top of the viewer. (Windows and Linux only) Click in the 3D viewer and type r on the keyboard to reset the view. Consider also using the Overview Map Window as a way to provide an additional perspective on your location, especially when you are zoomed in to unfamiliar places. More Information Read more about these and other Google Earth functions online at: http://earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/ 12