"Google Earth" ExerciseBIO 462 Dendrology
Field biologists frequently work in remote locations, and they require tools to find their study locations and mark the areas so that they can be relocated. Of course, they also want to avoid becoming lost! Compasses and topography maps have long been essential to fieldwork. In recent years, GPS units and Google Earth have become common in field biology.
Google Earth was released with great fanfare in 2006. Although online mapping programs have been around for years, Google Earth is different because its maps use aerial photographs that show actual terrain and human infrastructure. It is possible to modify the maps locally on your own computer, but it is also possible to add web links and photos that can be viewed by people around the world. Google Earth also displays GPS coordinates, and GPS coordinates can be used in a search.
In the not so distant past, acquiring aerial photos was an ordeal that required visiting a map repository, usually at a large university, and searching through files of thousands of maps. For example, when Tara needed an aerial photo of the state park where she conducted her PhD research, it took several hours to locate the maps in the library. She then had to sign a waiver acknowledging she would pay huge fines if the maps were lost or damaged. Later, she scanned each map and carefully photoshopped each scan together, adjusting the image to hide the seams. The entire process took hours. Today, if Tara needs this same image, she can type the address into Google Earth and the map will appear in seconds.
Google Earth Pro is a free application that works across platforms. To download, go to:
GOOGLE EARTH PRACTICE AND ASSIGNMENT:
Step 1: ORIENT YOURSELF
Open Google Earth. Google Earth is memory intensive, so for best performance, close other programs that you are not using.
Under search, type in Black Hills State University.
Use the “+/-“ bar to scroll in and out until you can see the campus well.
Hold down on the mouse and drag the map around the screen until BHSU is centered.
On the left there are headings Search, Places,and Layers. Click the triangles near these headings. This will minimize (hide) the information found in each section and can be used to save screen space.
Click the triangles again so that all information is displayed (triangles should point down). Point the cursor at the thin line on top of Places or Layers; the cursor’s appearance will change. Hold down on the mouse and drag up and down. The amount of space allocated to each section will change, which allows you to utilize the space in the way that works best.
Minimize Search and Places by clicking the triangles. Layers should now fill most of the left side of the screen. Layers allows you to choose which overlays you would like Google Earth to display. These overlays include highways, natural areas, businesses, photographs, etc. Start by turning all overlays off by unchecking primary database. Spend a few minutes turning different layers "on" and "off" to see what happens. Before doing this, however, use the "+/-" bar to zoom in/out so that you can see some or all of the Black Hills region in western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming.
Now, turn off all layers except Photos, Panoramio (you may need to click the triangle next to Photos to see this option). Notice that lots of small blue squares with reddish mountains are now scattered across Spearfish (scroll out if necessary). Click on a square and see pictures of various places. These pictures were uploaded by “average people.” If you are planning a trip to an unfamiliar area, they can be a great way to see what the region looks like. Field biologists can use them to identify good habitats for their study organisms. For example, when Tara and Justin collected plants in Europe, Google Earth photos helped them to decide which locations had appropriate plant habitat and which did not. It also helped them decide which places had the most beautiful sightseeing locations, and where hotels were located.
Step 2: PLACEMARKS
You will now put a placemark on the ethnobotany garden on the southwest corner of the Life Science Building. Focus in until you see the medicine wheel shaped garden. Click on the yellow tack icon located at the top of the map. A tack-shaped placemark, with flashing yellow square, will appear on the map. Drag the placemark to the center of the garden. (If it stops flashing and won’t drag, choose command-I and it should start flashing again.)
A screen will appear. There is a spot for name and a spot for description. Ideally, the name should be short. The name will be displayed by the placemark, and if you have a lot of placemarks in a small area, long names will overlap. Instead, give it a short name, and put the longer name under details. In this case, put BH1 (BHSU site #1) under name, and Ethnobotany Garden under description. Click OK.
Sometimes, the default yellow placemark will be an excellent choice. However, depending on the density of placemarks, the default size may be too large. Also, it may be useful to have placemarks of different colors and shapes. To change the color and size of the icon, click on the BH1 placemark and then hit Command-I (push command and “i” at the same time). Any time you want to edit the placemark, use this command. Also, if you need to move an icon, you will do it when this screen is selected. Grab the icon and drag it away from the garden, and then drag it back to the garden.
You can change the appearance of the placemark icon from within the Command-I menu:
1. Click on style/color. Under icon, click on the square for color. Change the color from yellow to red. To do this, click the square under icon color, choose your color, then hit okay. The best color will depend on the background. Some colors do not work well, especially if the file is printed in black and white. Yellow, white, and sometimes red work well for forested regions, while green and blue do not work well. White does not work well in urban settings. In a desert habitat, other colors will be effective. Think carefully about the best size and color for placemarks because it is a pain in the butt to change after the fact!
2. Both the icon and label sizes can be changed. Change the iconscale to 0.8 (0.6, 0.7. and 0.8 work well for densely placed placemarks). Change the label scale to 0.9.
3. The icon shape can be changed in the Control-I menu. Click on the “tack” symbol on the upper right corner. Instead of a tack, choose the bull’s eye icon (circle with a black bullseye in center). This is another spot where you can choose color and size of the icon, but you can’t resize the label. At the top, check to be sure the icon is still 0.8 and red. Change if necessary.
For either option, once you have selected the type of icon you want, click OK. You should now have a red circle bullseye icon in the center of the ethnobotany garden, and a label that says “BH1.”
Step 3: GPS COORDINATES, ELEVATION & MEASURING
Google Earth provides GPS coordinates, which can be useful for locating research locations. However, in our experience, students have trouble integrating Google Earth and coordinates from GPS units. The main challenge is that latitude and longitude can by displayed in 4 major ways. Go to Google Earth then preferences then 3D view. This screen allows you to control many aspects on Google Earth, but for now, notice there are 4 options in the box under show lat/long. Click decimal degrees and OK.
Place the cursor directly over the ethnobotany garden. Look at the bottom of the map and find the coordinates. What are they? (Write the answers into the blanks below)
Decimal degrees = ______
Look at the other ways latitude and longitude can be displayed. Return to Google Earthpreferences show lat/long select degrees, minutes, seconds and click okay. What are the coordinates now?
Degrees, minutes, seconds = ______
Repeat this and choose degrees, decimal minutes and then universal transverse mercator (UTM). What are these coordinates?
Degrees, decimal minutes = ______
Universal transverse mercator (UTM) = ______
All of these coordinates are “correct.” However, it is important to pay attention to the format. Generally, GPS units default setting is degree, decimal minutes—in fact, this is called GPS format. Google Earth usually defaults to degrees, minutes, seconds. Field researchers and outdoor adventurers often use UTM format. If you have been given a GPS coordinate, you may need to change the format on your GPS unit or Google Earth.
Google Earth also gives elevation. Look on the bottom of the map near the coordinates. If you do not see elevation, turn on terrain layer. Look on the bottom of the screen.
What is the elevation of the top of Crow Peak in meters? ______
(If you can’t find Crow Peak, turn on the labels layer—Crow Peak will be marked with green Pine tree shapes. If elevation is given in feet, go to Google Earth preferencesthen 3D view and select meters, kilometers under Units of Measurement.
Now find the elevation in feet. Go to Google Earthpreferences 3D view. Pick feet, miles and click OK.
What is the elevation of Crow Peak in feet? ______
Google Earth can also measure distances. In this case, you’ll measure the width of the parking lot on the north side of the Life Sciences Building. To do this, click on Tools and then Ruler, or click on the Ruler icon at the top. Select meters as your unit. Put the center of the square on the west (left) side of the parking lot, click the mouse, stretch the line to the other side of the parking lot, and click the mouse to lock. If you accidentally measure the wrong spot, just click the mouse to restart. The distance should be around 77.85 meters.
Step 4: SCREENSHOTS
Take a screenshot of the map. To do this on a Mac, hold command, shift, and 4 at the same time. The cursor will change appearance. Put the cursor on one corner (upper left may be most convenient), hold down the mouse, and drag to cover the section of screen you wish to capture. You will hear a click and the image will save to the desktop (most computer) as ScreenShot#.png. It may take a couple of times to get the hang of this. This method allows you to save as much or as little of the image as you wish. (It is also possible to make screenshots on PC hardware – use Google to figure out how!)
You can also use the Google Earth software to save an image of your map. To do this, choose file, save, save image. Then, on the map itself choose where to save it (Save Image box at top of screen) and give your file a meaningful name. In this course, always include your last name. The map will be saved as a jpeg. This method works well if you want the entire map, but it does not allow you to save only a part of the image. Click the X symbol at top of screen to leave the save image screen.
Step 5: MANAGING PLACEMARKS
Making folders, saving files, and sharing files is a HUGE pain on Google Earth. This is the probably the biggest challenge of using Google Earth, and even experienced people find themselves making mistakes. Thus, please practice this part of the exercise a lot.
Look under places on the left side of screen. You should see my places and temporary places. Google Earth works best if you use it on your own computer, and when you are the only user. In this case, your placemarks would always reside under my places, and they are saved when you close Google Earth. On the other hand, items under temporary places often includes new entries or shared entries. Anything in temporary places can be dragged into my places and permanently saved. However, if you don’t do this, they are not saved when you close Google Earth. To be sure that your entries are being saved, it is a good idea to frequently close and then reopen Google Earth. If you aren’t using your own computer, be very diligent about following the directions below to save .kmz files.
Use folders to categorize your placemarks under my places. For example, you might have a folder for favorite restaurants, friends’ homes, local hiking trails, etc. In this class, you will create separate folders for different lab exercises that you complete.
To make a folder, highlight my places, and then go to add folder. A screen will pop up—name the folder Your name practice (e.g. Tara Ramsey practice). You should see the folder under my places. Warning: If you highlighted another folder rather than my places, that’s where your new folder will go. Should the new folder go to the wrong place, you can drag it to where you want it. To demonstrate this, highlight the folder your name practice, then add a new folder named “wrong place.” Whoops! You wanted that folder to be under my places. Click and hold the folder “wrong place” and drag it onto the my place image. You can also use drag/drop to change the order of the folders.
To delete a folder that you don’t want, highlight the folder and click delete on the keyboard. Delete the folder called “wrong place.” It will confirm that you want to delete it.
Step 6: SAVING FILES
As mentioned previously, Google Earth automatically saves your my places files when you close the application. However, if you want to back up this data outside of the Google Earth (which you should!) or share files with your friends or instructors, you can create a .kmz file.
If you’ve been using Google Earth for a while, you will have multiple folders and placemarks under my places. Sometimes, you will not want to save or share everything and Google Earth allows you to save all, or just some, of your data in a single .kmz file.
First, choose the folder(s) or placemark(s) you wish to save by highlighting the placemarks or folders of interest. If you select my places, everything will be saved; if you select a folder, all placemarks in that folder will be saved. Now drag the icon BH1 into your practice folder, and then save the practice folder by going to file save save place as and choose the location to save (e.g. desktop or documents folder). Now close Google Earth, and then open the file you just saved—in our example that file is called Tara Ramsey practice.kmz. Note that you now have the practice file showing in two spots: under my places and temporary places. As the name implies, the file under temporary places is not permanently saved until you drag it into my places or when you choose to save when you close Google Earth. Note that you do not need to save this file because you already have it under my places, so close Google Earth and indicate don’t save when prompted.
Having completing Steps 1-6 above, you are now ready to use Google Earth for this assignment! Please complete activities and answers questions outlined below.
ASSIGNMENT:
1. Open Google Earth. Add a folder under my places called NameAssignment(don’t actually type “name”—use your own last name; e.g., RamseyAssignment).
2. Use search to locate the Statue of Liberty. Put a placemark named “P1” (for practice 1) in the correct spot. Put the name “Statue of Liberty” under details. Make sure your placemark shows up in the folder NameAssignment.
What are the GPS coordinates? ______
What is the elevation in feet? ______
3. Look at some of the pictures that have been posted. Pick one image and screenshot just that image. Find the image on the computer, and name it NameLiberty.png. Save this onto your flash drive or email it to yourself.
4. What landmarks are located at the following GPS coordinates? Put appropriately named placemarks on these locations. Be sure to save in the NameAssignmentfolder.
48 51'31.20"N 2 17'40.70"E Turn on 3D Buildings layer so it looks more cool!______
46° 50.936'N 121° 45.607'W ______
27 10'29.49"N 78 2'32.58"E ______
5. You are searching for the endangered eastern bluff kangaroo mouse, and you think it might occur at Chimney Bluffs State Park in NY.
a. Search for Chimney Bluffs State Park NY on Google Earth. Search the park to find the bluff area (it should look like the Badlands—brown and jaggedy). Focus in on the bluffs and save this image using Google Earth’s save feature. Name the file NameChimneyBluffs.jpg. Save to your flash drive or email it to yourself.