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Google Earth is still an infant technology and has yet to find total acceptance by the Air Force and other services. Thanks to the NGA's acquisition of Google Earth Enterprise Edition on SIPRNET, a number of military users have begun publishing .KML files to visualize the battlespace--everything from IED and SAFIRE events to Predator video feeds. On the NIPR side, the Air Force still hasn't bought off on Google Earth. A small group is lobbying hard to acquire this technology while it's still fresh, but is encountering a great deal of institutional resistance. That hasn't stopped stubborn users like me from finding ways to employ Google Earth in my duties.
This page is still under construction, but is my effort to collate the best work being done around the DoD (or elsewhere) on Google Earth. I hope this page will provide ammunition for those senior leaders advocating for Google Earth. I also hope it will establish best practices, generate ideas, and drive innovation even further. One of the great advantages of Google Earth is its inherent flexibility, so its possible uses are virtually limitless. If you would like to submit a story, link, .KML file, screenshot, video, etc. demonstrating how you are using Google Earth, please e-mail me at info@googleearthpilot.com.
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Low Level Training Videos David Oakley, a pilot with a C-130 Guard unit out of Nashville, TN, wrote a utility that converts post-flight GPS tracks into Google Earth .KML format. His unit used these GPS tracks to create training videos for their local drop zones. This short video is a fantastic demonstration of Google Earth's usefulness as a visualization tool. It brings life to the old adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words." The video was created by Tucker Rojas and Shelly Tate. |
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2007 Western
States UAS Imaging Mission NASA's Earth Science Division, the US Forest Service, and the US Air Force have partnered to use unmanned aerial vehicles and Google Earth in support of fighting wildfires. They use a tool called the Collaborative Decision Environment (CDE) to present real-time information in Google Earth. According to the project website, "The CDE link contains all the information necessary to make informed decisions about the mission factors (weather, fire status, satellite overpass events, aircraft data collection events, UAV acquired imagery, etc)."
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