Geographic features – this layer folder contains sub-layers for things like locations of volcanoes, names of mountains, and water bodies. Again, as you zoom you may see more or less information. It also contains a sub-layer for populated places (names of cities and towns). It even includes details on some disputed border regions. īorders and labels – this layer folder lets you see the outlines of countries, island names, coastlines, and administrative orders (states, counties, provinces, etc.).From higher altitudes you’ll see fewer (or no) roads.
As you zoom in you get more detail for the roads including street names. Roads – Google has detailed roads and streets for many countries around the world. And, 3D models may not sit properly on the ground if you don’t have Terrain turned on. Without this turned on, you also can not dive into the ocean. It is the 3D terrain you seen when you “tilt” your view in Google Earth and allows you to see things like mountain, valleys, and canyons. Terrain – This layer is currently found at the bottom of the list and you should almost always leave it on. Some of these layers provide a lot of information in the descriptions of the placemarks.įor basic geographic information, I suggest you try the following: When you see a placemark icon for some information, make sure you try clicking on some of them. I recommend only turning on a few layers at a time at most, and turn them off when you are done. One thing you probably don’t want to do is turn on too many layers at once. A check-box appears when all the layers in a folder are turned on, the box is filled with green when only some of the layers in the folder are turned on. To turn on a layer, simply click the box to the left. There is so much information here, it takes time to explore and learn what is available. You can open each folder with a “+” sign to then selectively view sub-layers. The layers are organized using a folder-like structure with broad category layer folders at the highest level. Google Earth layers provide a wealth of information about our planet on a variety of subjects, and the layers are also a way for Google to share valuable contributions of information from many individuals, and organizations. Believe it or not, there may be even more information in the layers than in the imagery! The layers are provided through an interface on the lower left of the Google Earth application called, surprisingly, “Layers”. Seriously, all kinds of information including videos, photos, Wikipedia, real-time weather, real-time traffic, 3D buildings, GPS tracks, and more. Layers provide access to all kinds of other data for Google Earth. However, an equally important feature in Google Earth are its “ Layers“. Google hasn’t released the numbers, but we’re talking hundreds of terabytes of images. The imagery database is really huge – millions of square kilometers – the equivalent of millions of 8 megapixel digital camera photos.
Almost everyone who has access to a computer has given it a try – usually to look for their house, or to find out about a place where they want to take a vacation. Google Earth is probably best known for its huge collection of freely available satellite and aerial photos for places all around the world.