Google Earth for Surveyors

Presented by:
Chris Ambourn, LS
February 7, 2013
 About Google Earth
• http://www.google.com/intl/en/earth/index.html

• Purchased in 2004 by Google from Keyhole Inc.

– Initially CIA funded

• Two options:
– Free
– Pro ($399 Annual Fee)
• Better resolution printing
• Measure areas
• Import Shapefiles directly
 Google Earth Basics
• Fly to
– Places (Cities, Counties…)
– Addresses
– Destinations
– Lat. / Lon. (DD MM’SS.SS”N,S,E,W or DD.DDDDN,S,E,W)
Space

• Zoom to Street View

• Helpful Layers
– City Limits
– Borders
– Labels
– Roads
 Google Earth Basics
• Settings
– Tools-Options
• Feet/Meters
• DMS/DDS/UTM

• Place Marks
– Attribute data
– Label and Icon type/color/size
• Polygon
– Adjust Shading with Opacity
• Path
• Ruler
– Measure distances in any unit
 Google Earth Basics
• My Places
– Stores and organizes
• Placemarks/Paths/Polygons
• Imported data
– Create Folders and Sub-Folders

• Historical Imagery
– Use slider bar to view imagery over the years

• 3d Terrain, Street View and Buildings

– Automatically rotates to oblique view when zoom in
– Holding down the wheel button and drag to return to planimetric
 Data Files
• KML and KMZ files
• Keyhole Markup Language (KML)
– XML notation for expressing geographic annotation
– International standard of the Open Geospatial Consortium

• KMZ
– A compressed (zipped) KML file

• Just drag and drop into Google Earth

 Sources for data
• Metzger + Willard, Inc.
– http://www.metzgerwillard.us/EarthSurvey.html
– Free Google Earth tools for surveyors
– Android 2.1+ apps

• Earth Point
– http://www.earthpoint.us/
– Some free tools, some you pay a nominal fee per use

• MnDOT Office of Land Management

– MnViewControl
– http://www.dot.state.mn.us/surveying/ToolsTech/survsoft.html
– Keeps Control Stations kml current
 Sources for data
• FEMA
– https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/wps/portal/NFHLWMSkmz
download

• MN DNR
– WMA, WPA Boundaries, Parking Areas

• Vendor Software
– Civil 3D
– Trimble Business Center
Civil 3D 2012 and Prior
 Civil 3D 2013
• PlexEarth
– http://www.plexearth3.com/
– Free Beta Version
– Export/Import to Google Earth and Bing Maps
– Does not support County Coordinate Projections
 Civil 3D 2013
• Map KML Tool
– http://www.dotsoft.com/appstore/index.htm
– Freeware lisp routine
– Exports AutoCad Map/LDD/C3d to Google Earth
Trimble Business Center
 Sources for data
• Convert Shapefiles
– Shape to kml
– http://www.zonums.com/shp2kml.html
– ArcGIS toolbox

• Convert .asc, .txt, .csv files

– http://www.tchartdev.com/csv2kml.htm
 Project Estimating
• Virtual Site Visit
– View improvements (aerial and streetview)
– Check the vegetation and canopy

• Visualize boundary
– View section lines

• View Control

• Clients are beginning to provide kmls with RFPs

 Project Databases
• Store Project Info in My Places
– Project Areas/Boundaries
– Client Name
– Project Number
– Coordinate System
– Control
– Monuments with pictures
• Use Picasa to geo-tag photos or use Android phone camera
 Sharing From Google Earth
• Printing
– Turn on/off My Places info
– Printing in Pro is better

• Exporting kml/kmz
– Right click and email any folder or feature in My Places

• Create Fly-through tours of site

• Geotag photos on android smartphone or with Google Picasa

• Exporting waypoints to handheld GPS

– http://www.gpsbabel.org/download.html
– http://www.mcrenox.com.ar/gps/ (GE2GPX)
Questions?