NASA World Wind

NASA World Wind is an open source software that enables combined on a virtual globe with height data indicate satellite and aerial images and zoom in any place of the earth in 3D graphics and view free from all sides. The software was released in the fall of 2004 under the free " NASA open source license v1.3 ".

The program also has extensive maps for the Moon, Mars, Venus and Jupiter.

Versions

Application

An installable application of World Wind is available for Windows and Linux. As a prerequisite for installing DirectX and. NET Framework is required. In addition, often " Managed DirectX " must be installed manually. A list of compatible video cards can be found at the links.

The application offers various ways to display your own data. So there are features to KML and shapefiles to open and integrate Web Map Services and Web Feature Services.

Extensions

The NASA World Wind includes an open interface, so that their own add- ons can be developed. Add- ons extend World Wind to new models, additional photographs and new functionalities. Typical examples are:

  • Points of interest and itineraries
  • Place names
  • High resolution aerial and satellite images of selected areas
  • Interface to GPS receivers
  • Import selected file formats

Java SDK

On 8 May 2007, NASA has released a Java Software Development Kit, which is based on OpenGL. With this SDK can be used in their own platform-independent applications developers World Wind technology.

Tutorials

  • NASA World Wind SDK Tutorial is a tutorial that was developed by the Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster, Germany. This provides examples that developers are being considered for beginners or advanced Java. A very good source for those who want to start with the NASA World Wind Java API.

Available records

NASA World Wind includes models (called worlds ) and large number of pictures of the Earth, the Moon and selected planets. Overall, a data set of currently about 4.6 terabytes is provided. They are continuously recharged by NASA servers, when a region of the earth is to be shown in more detail. A good internet connection ( at least DSL) is therefore highly recommended.

Earth

  • Blue Marble Next Generation - a mosaic of numerous satellite photos with a resolution of 1km
  • Landsat 7 - Satellite images with a resolution of 15 m
  • Orthophotos of the United States by the USGS with a resolution of 1 m ( in select cities even with 0.25 m)
  • Topographic maps of the United States by the USGS at different scales
  • The elevation model is based on data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission with a resolution of three arc seconds and a second of arc for America

Moon

  • Images of the spacecraft Clementine
  • Altitudinal zones map

Sloan Digital Sky Survey

  • Extensive star atlas of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey ( SSDS ) project

Mars

  • Images of Mars Orbital Camera ( MOC)
  • Altitudinal zones map ( MOLA )
  • Pictures Thermal Emission Imaging System ( THEMIS ) camera that is carried on the 2001 Mars Odyssey probe

Venus

  • Pictures of the Magellan mission
  • Altitudinal zones map

Jupiter

  • Images of Jupiter and its moons Callisto, Europa, Ganymede and Io

Coordinates linking

Using the worldwind :/ / protocol, it is possible to specify any coordinates on the Earth surface as a reference. The following example returns a coordinate point in Lake Constance again.

Worldwind :/ / goto / world = Earth & lat = 47.596363067627 & lon = 9.44736003875732 & view = 1.35181939601898

If you have NASA World Wind installed and clicks, for example in any Internet browser on this link, then zooms the program directly approach this place.

License status of the images

All records have been placed in the public domain ( public domain ), and produced with the program images are also public domain.

Ames Research Center .NET Framework Keyhole Markup Language STS-99 Clementine (spacecraft) Magellan (spacecraft) Integrated Authority File
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