Google Earth Pro FREE

[PZ]

Google Earth Pro is a free app in which you can create Google Earth-based presentations that can be rich with medial The pogram is free, and when you use the desktop version, you can also view Mars and the Moon just like one would view the Earth.

https://www.google.com/earth/versions/

[nex]

Is this now the latest one you've been using PZ?

[PZ]

I'm still a newbie at Google Earth, so I've been using the basic web interface at https://earth.google.com.  The Pro app does quite a bit more than the basic web version. Interestingly the web app does not do the Moon or Mars. 

This is what the app looks like, and this video shows how to examine the Moon and Mars

[Dweller_Benthos]

I used to have the stand alone app, it had a lot of features like adding your own pictures, overlays, etc. I used it to get very old USGS (early 1900s) maps, and overlay them on the current maps and then load those into my GPS so I could use them in the field, and see the details the old maps had that the current ones don't, like buildings that no longer exist. It's pretty handy.

[PZ]

That sounds really cool D_B 

My mind immediately went to using a method like that to see old mining areas.

Where did you get the old USGS maps?

[Dweller_Benthos]

USGS has all editions of the old maps on their site .... somewhere. Being a gevernment entity, their web site it a maze to navigate. Though looking at it now, it's much easier, look at this link

https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#10/38.9418/-76.9702

That's with a quad selected near DC, and on the right is a list of all the types of maps you can get for the selected quad, in this case, back to 1891. With a choice to download as various formats. When I did mine, I think there were fewer options, but a TIF file seems correct, but I then had to chop that up in an image editor to get it to be compatible with Google's image import option. Then I had to tell Google where that map was positioned, and using the original map's lat/lon, figured out where it went. It was a bit tedious and may be easier now, I don't know. It also made my GPS a bit sluggish whenever those maps were displayed, as it was having to render a fairly large bitmap and wasn't really up to the task. But it worked. It also showed how those old maps were not quite as accurate as you'd expect. But it was close enough to find say, an old foundation of a building that no longer existed.

[PZ]

Thanks for the tutorial D_B  +1

I'm going to enjoy perusing that site - I've always loved mapping and maps 

[PZ]

I just did a little test and it is really simple now to do an overlay. All I needed to do was to go to the USGS site, search for something (I did Arches NP), then download the KMZ file. It opens directly into the Google Earth Pro app. The app automatically zoomed to the correct place in Utah and with simple click you can show/hide the topo overlay.

I did a 1954 overlay onto the current satellite image and found things mentioned in 1954 that are not there today. I also opened another quad right next to the first one and it seamlessly was placed properly. Delicate Arch was close to the edge of one of the quads so it is handy to be able to add more quads and show/hide as needed.

This is really slick!

This is a screen capture of the app with the Earth map and three quad overlays:

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah KMZ is something I had to convert to for my overlays, and it's nice they are available right from the USGS. There was another step to get it exported to the format my GPS uses, which I've forgotten, but it could then load any of those maps into your hand held or car gps to use while navigating.

[PZ]

It is nice to see them make it easier rather than more difficult to get things done. I'm enjoying playing with the system not only to see what it can do, but also to help plan future trips.