The Geodata portal at King's College in London is a fantastic collection of geospatial applications that can be visualized and downloaded through a Google Earth or Google Maps interface. Region-based network links are used which allow you to zoom into areas of interest to visualise the data. Links are also provided for downloading the raw data in simple formats for use in GIS or remote sensing systems. This is a fantastic resource for the classroom. I spent some time this morning taking a closer look at four of the data sets provided:
NASA Blue Marble, is a natural color mosaic. These data sets show land surface and snow dynamics on the basis of monthly composites of imagery for 2004.
Terrascope, a Google Earth implementation of the LANDSAT MSS, TM and ETM+ ortho mosaics for the 1970s, circa 1990 and circa 2000. It is designed to allow rapid comparison of LANDSAT imagery between these periods for any view in Google Earth. This data sets also includes "a geowiki so that users can move or add information and comments to existing features as well as add new points to the database or comments on visible imagery overlays. All entries are immediately added to the database and visible to all users. Increased functionality (history, edit, delete and classify will be added to the geowiki in due course)"
Amazon-eye, a collection of easily browsable data and imagery on recent environmental change in the Amazon basin as a freely available information source for scientific and conservation users.
Sea level rise scenarios, looks at possible changes to coastlines based on the following sea level changes: Choose the radio buttons to also show modelled new coastlines at the following sea levels:
• -120m - sea levels during the last glacial maximum (approx, 18,000 years ago). • +0m • +1m • +4m
Blue Marble Data in Google Earth
By way of the Ogle Earth