Useful tools for Google Earth

[Noisette]

I started this thread some years ago on the original GEC.  I've tried to add to it and update it over the years, but the tools no longer seem to be in a very logical order.  Nevertheless, you might find something interesting 

To identify places in GE

Geonames features network link. Click on "geonames features network link" on this page and it will download a kml file which you can copy to "My Places". Check the box next to the file and it will search for names in the area you're looking at. You can also expand the tree structure and choose only certain types of features. Best to check it only when you want to use it.

Flash Earth - imagery from NASA, Bing, Earth at night, ArcGIS, MapQuest

UK Ordnance Survey overlay by Gavin Brock (there is a Japanese option as well, but this is currently not working)


To find coordinates of places that the GE database doesn't recognise

Geonames - searching opens Google Maps, click one of the placemark icons, then click ".kml" to see the location in Google Earth.
Geody - seems to have a smaller database than Geonames, but has a better interface with GE, as well as a link to Google Maps
NGA GEOnet Names Server (GNS) - allows more flexible searching (fuzzy search etc) - search page
USGS Geographic Names Information System (US only)
Falling Rain - search using only the beginning of a name
The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names - includes ~ 900,000 geographic features as well as populated places, maintained by the Getty Art Museum in LA
Streetmap - for the UK, with a useful "click here to convert" link at the bottom of the page, which gives you the coordinates, grid reference, post code etc

Wikipedia - on pages about places, there's generally a link to a coordinates page where you can copy the coordinates or open the location in Google Earth or Maps.

Maps overlays for Google Earth: there have been several unofficial overlays of Google Maps, Bing Maps etc created by various people. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. At present the best one is Google Earth Map Overlays, which provides a good selection. There is also an FAQ. Be careful, sometimes there are ads with large download buttons. Make sure you select " map-overlays-for-google-earth-combined.kmz" to download the overlays.

Comparing maps side by side
Geofabrik Tools - displays four maps - choose from a selection of providers.
www.jonasson.org/maps/ - Bing and Google maps side by side

If you wish to purchase alternative imagery:
DigitalGlobe: www.digitalglobe.com/ This is the provider of the Google Earth imagery in your area.
Airbus Defence and space (formerly Astrium / Spot Image): www.geo-airbusds.com/
Terrametrics: www.truearth.com/
GeoPerspectives (Infoterra and Bluesky): www.bluesky-world.com/geoperspectives/
MapMart, imagery from various sources:ftp.mapmart.com/
TerraServer, distributor for a number of satellite and aerial image providers: www.terraserver.com/


Other tools

nearby.org.uk - many useful tools from Barry Hunter, including Coord-Fly-To, Coordinate converter, Gazeteer etc

Converting Addresses to/from Latitude/Longitude by Stephen P. Morse
Other ways of calculating antipodes including a kmz file for Google Earth by KoflAIR in this post.
Latitude Longitude Finder, get coordinates from the name of a place or a location.
In Google Earth press ctrl-shift-C to copy the coordinates under the mouse pointer to the clipboard (in some languages it's ctrl-C).

GE-Path, GE-Graph and KML Color converter from rsgrillo
KML4Earth Google Earth/KML Tools by JasonM1, including a circle generator, more information about that here
Zonum Solutions - many useful Google Earth related tools from zonums including KML-circles (there's an explanation here from Free Geography Tools)
Tools for Google Earth from tekgergedan, XLS2KML and ODS2KML
Free Map Tools including another circle generator: Radius around point.
Don't forget that Google Earth Pro is now free and you can draw circles with that.

CIA World Factbook

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection - online maps, includes a section on maps of areas in the news

GPS Visualizer: Do-It-Yourself Mapping - useful site for converting gpx - csv - kml.

Compass overlay by washi

[washi]

Hi Noisette,

Thanks for moving this collection over here. The Japan GSI map overlay by Gavin_Brock is no longer functional. (All the data links to the map segments appear to be broken.) I just checked the UK Ordnance Survey as well, and it's working fine.

washi

[Noisette]

Ah, thanks washi, I knew the OS one was working and I suppose I just assumed the Japanese one was too.  I'll change that.

[wtr]

Thank you very much for this informative post, which I happened upon when searching on how to change mis-identified place names in Google Earth.  Even after two years your note remains quite informative about mapping tools and places.  Should you have any ideas on how to change mis-identified locations in Google Earth, or links to discussions on this matter, I would appreciate the references.  The specific instance that triggered this query is York Island, Queensland, AU; this location is correctly identified on Google Maps, but labeled incorrectly on Google Earth (what is labeled 'York Island' on Google Earth is actually Albany Island, a well know navigational reference off the York Peninsula - the actual York Island is 10-12 km west of Albany Island - this is no big deal in the larger scheme of things, but raises a larger issue about geographic labels in Google Earth).
Best regards, William Reynolds.

[Noisette]

Hi William, I'm not sure what's going on there. On Google Maps I see "York Island" labelled at -10.683392, 142.528501 and at -10.732771, 142.604788.  On the standard Google Earth I see no label at the first location and only the York Island label, not the Albany Island label, at the second location. Generally if something is corrected in Google Maps, it will eventually be added to Google Earth as well, but it can take a long time, several months or more. The layers in Google Earth are not updated very often. But the best way to get things corrected is to report them in Google Maps.

If you check out the new Google Earth, it seems to be the same as Google Maps: here and here.