Virtual globe

A Virtual Globe (English virtual Globe ) or digital globe is a 3D software model for the representation of the Earth or other celestial body. These three-dimensional models were created until the late 20th century, after the graphical capabilities powerful enough on the computer.

A virtual globe provides the user depending on the operating function of the ability to move freely in a virtual environment to control any point on changing the angle of view and different scaling in and zoom out. Compared with conventional (real) virtual globes globes have the advantage that they often allow many different representations of the earth's surface. The representation of different types of cards in rapid chronological sequence, or the synthesis of several map layers (eg roads, water, land use, etc. ) can be chosen so free and it can also current data (sometimes in real time) via Web Map Service ( WMS ) are displayed. This allows the viewer relationships between the matters set forth on the various cards appear to understand than when considering a real globe. Geographical features that can be apparent above are about the man-made features, or abstract representations, such as population density or indicators of the economy.

A virtual world is as a conventional globe is a simplified representation of the real world. However, it can through the zoom function show much more details, if satellite, aerial photographs and other remote sensing data are supported by the software. Depending on the resolution and data set are the images stored either locally on the computer (offline) or they can be streamed from external servers (online).

Microsoft announced in 1998 its popular Encarta Virtual Globe 98 out of state for use offline. The first widespread online virtual globes were the open-source software NASA World Wind, a globe, which was available in mid- 2004 and mid-2005 Google Earth. Since then, some more added, including some high-quality free globes, such as Marble.

Species

Virtual globes can be used for the study of navigation, by connecting it to GPS devices. Your software model varies considerably depending on the application. If an accurate visual representation of the earth's surface is in the foreground, satellite images are very often uploaded by servers and the globe can be rotated not just about the earth's axis, but also zoom in and possibly horizontal turn (perpendicular to the Earth's axis ).

Very often it is intended with such virtual globes to show a realistic picture of the world with very high resolution. Often there is also the potential for simplified representation of national boundaries, administrative boundaries, roads, built-up areas and other man-made geographical features, as these are seen often not well or not at all on photographic representations of the earth.

Some governments have high resolution image of the entire Earth's surface safety concerns, as well as all sorts of details of secret or endangered objects are available to the public, such as airports, military installations or nuclear power plants.

The representation of the virtual globes is generally two-dimensional on a screen or a screen. For better simulation of a conventional globe, the canvas can be gekrümt so that the cartographic representation of the earth is represented on a ball that is projected from the inside ( see, for example, in the German Museum ). The display in a part of a sphere, which is protrudes out of a wall possible.

With a different type of virtual globes is not intended to accurately represent the surface, but a simplified graphic representation of the earth. The first digital atlases were of this nature you showed less detail, but were in the early days of computer graphics with their reduced much faster.

Online virtual globes

As more high-resolution satellite images and aerial photographs are freely available, many of the newer online globes are used to display these images. Examples of virtual globes are:

  • NASA World Wind - an open source software, it includes map material from the United States Geological Survey and satellite and aerial images of different databases. NASA World Wind was the first popular virtual globe in addition to Google Earth.
  • Geoforge Virtual Globe: strains of NASA World Wind virtual globes. It is integrated project in Geoforge.
  • City Surf Globe, because of a particular structure of the data storage, he was very fast. The data is stored in Oracle SDO or PostGIS. He had a flexible authorization model for different user groups
  • Bing Maps 3D, its interface is running in Internet Explorer and Firefox, it uses the NASA Blue Marble Next Generation.
  • SkylineGlobe.com, an online 3D globe website, which is connected via the API with the Terra Explorer Client Application. There are about 10 terabytes of images and elevation data stream coming from freely available satellite and aerial image data. The web interface allows users to view native datasources and share, including SHP and KML files. The project was started in 2006 by Skyline Software Systems as a technology showcase.
  • Google Earth includes records from satellite and aerial photographs (including commercial images from DigitalGlobe ) with a record of international roads. Google Earth was with NASA World Wind, the first known virtual globe.
  • KDE Marble, is part of the K Desktop Environment ( KDE). The data comes from, among other things from OpenStreetMap, NASA Blue Marble Next Generation. Marble is an open source software.
  • ArcGIS Explorer is a lightweight client for ArcGIS Server, it supports WMS and many other GIS file formats.
  • Earth is a virtual globe browser, which is based on Flash / Adobe AIR, with weather forecasts in real time, earthquakes, volcanoes, Webcams, inter alia,
  • MacKiev 's 3D Weather Globe & Atlas, a software with 3D views, based on Blue Marble images, using a representation of clouds, which runs almost in real time and weather forecasts from Custom Weather and time zones, day and night views.
  • Earth3D is a program that shows the Earth in real time 3D view. It uses data from NASA, USGS, the CIA and the city of Osnabrück. Earth3D is an open source software.
  • WorldView uses a sophisticated Digital Earth Reference Model to integrate geospatial data from different sources and display.
  • Bhuvan is a virtual globe from India.
  • National Geographic: The great 3D globe
  • Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2009 (Atlas)
  • Microsoft Virtual Earth 3D and the further development of Bing Maps
  • ESRI ArcGIS Explorer and ArcGlobe, ESRI
  • Brockhaus Multimedial Atlas
  • Wii globe - weather channel
  • 3D World Map 2.0
  • 3D Weather Globe & Atlas
  • Dapple Earth Explorer
  • Open Web Globe, free software, developed by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
  • Cesium, open-source Globus
  • Diercke Globus Online, developed specifically for schools and students, commercial software westermann publisher
  • DK 3D World Atlas
  • Earth Browser 3.0
  • Geoplayer Professional
  • Geoplayer Mars
  • OssimPlanet
  • Punt
  • Skyline Globe
  • Skyline Terra Explorer
  • Hipparchus
  • GIRFINOR
  • Norkart
  • Keyhole 2 Enterprise Client

Just as freely available satellite imagery, are also often available online in virtual globes data from databases, such as the CIA The World Factbook integrated.

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