[Cross-posted from the Google Enterprise Blog]
We’re excited to announce that Google Earth Pro 5.2 is now out of beta. With the initial launch two months ago, mind we detailed the new features that are available to all Google Earth users, and including Multitrack and Elevation Profile, cheap and outlined the new Google Earth Pro Data Layers.
Today we’d like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the most exciting new features that are exclusively available to Google Earth Pro customers. Vector and Image Regionation make it possible to integrate even more of your own data and imagery into the Google Earth globe, while maintaining the fast, 3D performance you and other professionals rely on.
Vector Regionation
Watch this video to witness the difference Vector Regionation can make when importing your data.
In a nutshell, Regionation allows Google Earth Pro to display huge amounts of data. It does so by breaking the data or imagery into the smallest necessary components. This means that only the data that is in view needs to be retrieved. You can think of Regionation as a hierarchical subdivision of points or tiles, which shows less detail from afar, and more detail as you zoom in to the globe. This dynamic loading creates clearer visualizations by minimizing clutter, while simultaneously speeding up the rendering process.
Imagine importing a long list of customer assets that are all geocoded to a small, heavily populated urban area, such as a neighborhood in New York City or Tokyo. It would be possible to have more than 100,000 assets within a single square mile radius. If you were viewing this area in the context of the rest of the city, all of the data would overlap, preventing you from making out individual points. However, Vector Regionation solves this problem.
Image Regionation
This U.S. Geological Survey image of Mineral Resources in Portsmouth, Virginia highlights the amount of detail that’s preserved through Image Regionation.
Image Regionation, otherwise known as Super Image Overlays, allows you to overlay your own high-resolution imagery and view it in varying levels of detail without taxing your system or degrading the quality. The addition of Super Image Overlays makes Google Earth Pro one of the most dynamic platforms for displaying your GIS imagery and can be useful for anything from environmental assessments to site planning. For example, you could import a 150MB preview of a new housing development and navigate it down to the smallest detail, without losing fidelity. In conjunction with Google Earth’s existing imagery and tools like Area Measurements and the Historical Imagery Slider, you’re now able to make more informed business decisions without having to go on site.
Try Google Earth Pro for free or buy Google Earth Pro today and give Regionation a whirl. There are countless applications for these tools, and we hope that the businesses we serve will benefit from their use.
Posted by Cristelle Blackford, Google Earth Pro Team
