Keyhole Markup Language (KML)—a type of extensible markup language (XML)—is the key to the extensibility of Google Earth for geoscience applications. Static KML code may be saved to a file from the Google Earth desktop application, handwritten with a text editor, or generated by running a custom computer program. Many Google Earth visualizations are limited to static KML developed with the desktop application's user interface. The purpose of this paper is to highlight how much more is possible with the implementation of additional applications. Geoscience learning resources may be taken to the next level with the interactive generation and animation of graphics and models both in the desktop application and using the Google Earth web browser plug-in and its JavaScript application programing interface. Dynamic KML may be generated on-the-fly by means of client-side or server-side scripts, or with the aid of Google Fusion Tables and network links.

High-resolution topography data acquired with lidar (light detection and ranging) technology are revolutionizing the way we study Earth surface processes. These data permit analysis of the mechanisms that drive landscape evolution at resolutions not previously possible yet essential for their appropriate representation. Unfortunately, the volume of data produced by the technology, software requirements, and a steep learning curve are barriers to lidar utilization. To encourage access to these data we use Keyhole Markup Language (KML) and Google Earth to deliver lidar-derived visualizations of these data for research and educational purposes. Display of full-resolution images derived from lidar in the Google Earth virtual globe is a powerful way to view and explore these data. Through region-dependent network linked KML (a.k.a., super-overlay), users are able to access lidar-derived imagery stored on a remote server from within Google Earth. This method provides seamless, Internet-based access to imagery through the simple download of a small KML-format file from the OpenTopography Facility portal. Lidar-derived imagery in Google Earth is the most popular product available via OpenTopography and has greatly enhanced the usability and thus impact of these data. Users ranging from scientists to K–12 educators have downloaded KML files ~12,000 times during the first eight months of 2011. The overwhelming usage of these data products demonstrates the impact of this simple yet novel approach for delivering easy to use lidar data visualizations to Earth scientists, students, and the general public.

The Grenadine Islands and the marine environment surrounding the islands were mapped over a five-year span. The project—Grenadines Marine Resource and Space-Use Information System (MarSIS)—involved merging local knowledge with existing scientific data into a geographic information system (GIS). Located in the Caribbean, the Grenadines share an international boundary between Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, creating numerous challenges for not only collecting data but sharing those data with the residents of the islands. Project geospatial information was collected in a GIS, but Google Earth was used as a way to share the findings on the web and through a series of tutorials and workshops. Though project GIS shapefiles will be made available through the project website, Google Earth was used as a ready delivery tool because it is cross platform, easy to use, and free. Using aftermarket GIS extensions, shapefile layers were exported from ArcGIS into Keyhole Markup Language (KML) layers. Over 400 photographs and videos were geolocated in the project KML. Once the Grenadines marine map was assembled as a KML project, we gave workshops on various islands. From user feedback following the first series of tutorials, we modified the KML by fixing problems, correcting mistaken information, and making the KML project file more understandable. When the project was finalized we put the KML on the MarSIS project web page and sent it as an attachment to the project email list. We traveled a second time to the Grenadine Islands to give another series of tutorials and workshops. We also created a video to help users navigate the project KML.

Although the evolution of Brazilian coastal depositional systems in the Quaternary has been studied in past decades, it is only in the last couple of years that it has been possible to incorporate the latest remote sensing databases available to help understand their development. In comparison to other freely accessible imagery, high-resolution images available on Google Earth are advantageous when undertaking local coastal analysis. In some instances, it is possible to differentiate geomorphologic features such as tidal deltas, beach ridges, and dunes. Also, the monitoring of small-scale features allows evaluation of the sensitivity of coastal zones to high-frequency and low-intensity processes. Thus, the downscaling description of coastal zones is now easily accessible, permitting the analysis of the extensive Brazilian coastal depositional systems. On the regional scale, a quick glance of a coastal setting may help frame the sedimentary characteristics of the depositional system. Coastal areas in the States of Santa Catarina and São Paulo are taken into consideration in this study. These areas illustrate representative prograded barrier formations from Middle to Late Holocene with dunes formed at a later development stage. A comparison is made in the use of Google Earth and its historic images with aerial photographs and Landsat images. In the past, small-scale features of these regions were evaluated in aerial photographs, while regional features were studied by low-resolution satellite images. Accordingly, integration of these two products was difficult. In this work, we show that Google Earth facilitates the analysis as a whole. Furthermore, comparison of Google Earth images with aerial photographs from 1938 onward allowed the study of short-term migration and deflation of the dunefields probably accelerated in recent years by human interference. In addition, Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files were saved from Google Earth placemarks to facilitate georeferencing raster images on GIS programs. Finally, information available from previous local studies, such as luminescence dating, geomorphology of the costal system, grain size, heavy minerals, pollen, and carbon isotope analyses, was gathered into a Google Fusion Table database making data retrieval and parsing easily accessible. This database provides information that can be shared with other researchers and may be used to address important questions about the development of Brazil's coastal system in the past, present, and future.

Animal tracking data are routinely delivered in the form of e-mail messages with an attachment or in the main text of an e-mail that includes satellite-telemetry data provided by Argos services. Downloading these data onto a computer, transferring them into shapefiles, filtering, processing, and displaying them consumes considerable end-user time and energy. In this paper, we demonstrate that freely available “Cloud”-based services are sufficient to take over this workload and fast enough to deliver spatial data to an end-user without a considerable investment of time. The animal-generated spatial data we present come in two forms: satellite data from the Argos service and GPS data delivered as text messages using a Short Message Service (SMS). We suggest a simple mail-to-map system, which automatically archives data (coordinates, time, telemetry) and displays it dynamically on various Internet applications such as Google Maps/Google Earth or Google Graphs. We use the Gmail service to filter messages, a free blog service (e.g., blogger.com or wordpress.com) for unlimited-time data storage and the Google spreadsheets to dynamically assemble the KML (Keyhole Markup Language) files. To demonstrate the utility of our mail-to-map system, we apply the approach to two contrasting wildlife case studies—the highly endangered Steller's Sea Eagle ( Haliaetus pelagicus ) of northeast Asia and White-tailed Deer ( Odolescens virginianus ), which is ubiquitous in the eastern United States—and discuss conservation implications of the near-real-time data publication opportunities that our system provides.

Google Earth offers an excellent example of software design balancing enough power while retaining a simple and intuitive interface, and provides tremendous capabilities both for teaching and research interaction. It displays data with a well-documented, standard keyhole markup language (KML) format on generally high resolution base imagery, with roads, borders and other relevant layers which can be turned on and off, and allows easy combination of multiple data sets. Google Earth lacks the analysis capabilities of geographical information system (GIS) software, but is outstanding for visualization and dissemination of results. Users can zoom in and out and view animations or 3-D displays of the data. The freeware MICRODEM program allows easy export of GIS data to KML and linking of text and graphics to an icon on the map, and it facilitates registration of maps. Examples of this usage include student projects, animations used for teaching, sharing data among research groups, and interactive display of published maps. For the earth sciences, where almost all data has a geographic component, virtual globes provide an integrated way to interact with information.

College geoscience departments keep archives of student research ranging from senior theses to master's and Ph.D. dissertations. In field geology, these archives often include maps, cross sections, stereographic projections, field notes and photographs, hand specimens, and thin sections. Subsequent publications may result from the thesis work, but much of this valuable legacy data is difficult to access and assess. Here we describe the conversion of a pre–digital-era thesis on the Vredefort Rim Synclinorium in South Africa from hard copy to digital format using Keyhole Markup Language (KML) to drape maps and inset photographs, and COLLADA (COLLAborative Design Activity) models to create stereographic projections, emergent cross sections, and virtual specimens. In addition to using the Google Earth terrain to fine-tune draped map locations, errors in field locations arising from pace and compass or bearing methods of geo-location that preceded the availability of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) were recognized and corrected. At 2.023 billion years in age and an estimated 300 km in original diameter, the Vredefort Dome is the world's oldest and largest known impact structure. The Vredefort region has been designated a World Heritage Site and specimen collection is prohibited. Only a few geologists are ever likely to visit the region, so geo-referenced field photography, specimens, and structural data are irreplaceable. An interpretative center is being planned for the Vredefort structure by South African authorities and our interactive Google Earth resources will be made available to the visiting public as well as those browsing over the Internet. Thus draped maps and scanned models provide an invaluable opportunity for enhanced instruction, continued research, and public outreach.

Virtual field trips provide a flexible, cost-effective way to teach or supplement course content. Here we describe a virtual field trip (VFT) to Tenerife, Spain, that emphasizes volcanism, but can be used to teach various geology-focused content areas. Specifically, using Google Earth as the platform, students can upload a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) file that will take them on a virtual transect across a volcanic terrain highlighting specific volcanic landforms and processes associated with the Caldera de las Cañadas and the Teide–Pico Viejo volcanic complex. The VFT is broken into 18 stops, each of which has embedded photographs and descriptions of each locality; YouTube videos are also included for some stops. Much as they would in a traditional “boots on the ground” field trip, students can go from stop to stop using their computers to make and tie together observations of diverse volcanic features at a variety of scales; students can complete this VFT either individually or in groups. Implementation of this VFT into two geology courses showed positive impacts on student learning, though testing on larger sample sizes should be conducted. The field trip and associated activities can be modified to suit a specific audience, class level, and/or learning objective. VFTs for Google Earth similar to the one we describe here can be constructed by: (1) directly authoring the KML code in a text editor, or (2) using graphical user interfaces in Google Earth.

The introductions and road logs from field trips offered by the New York State Geological Association (NYSGA) over the past 55 years are being transformed into kml files. These files are maintained as Google Fusion Tables, accessible to the public. This paper begins by briefly summarizing the kinds of data being transformed, their strengths, and their limitations. It then details the procedures used to accomplish the transformation, from scanning the original document to uploading the data to Fusion Tables. By using a subset of available kml (Keyhole Markup Language) fields, and establishing a numbering convention for the placemarks, an efficient system has been developed where sufficient metadata is embedded within each placemark to permit mixing and matching of any of the placemarks. Using this system, additional field trip guides from GSA (Geological Society of America), AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologists), NEIGC (New England Inter-Collegiate Geological Conference), etc., might be transformed, increasing the size and value of the Fusion Tables database. The information provided will permit others to do this, producing kml files and Fusion Tables which will be consistent with those already done. The paper discusses searching, merging, and adding photos to Fusion Tables and some of the ways in which Fusion Table data can be displayed on websites dynamically. The paper concludes by describing how the Fusion Tables from this project can export custom-made field trips, can be manipulated by other GIS applications, and can be used in a classroom setting to produce crude geologic maps.

As part of a course objective to improve the geographic literacy of students in higher education, Penn State's Amazing Race , a modified version of Google Earth's application programming interface (API) demo game, Geo Whiz , engages students in learning physical geography within a Google Earth browser plug-in. Students navigate around the Earth to identify on the globe the locations of various countries, major cities, United States national parks, and locations with features of geological significance. To better achieve the learning goal, several game elements were incorporated into the game interface: a timer to encourage concentration, a ranking board with scores of all players to motivate students to improve and to assess learning results, and a replay function for instructors to review students' performance and specific difficulties. Google Earth API is used to control the Earth movements and map display, while custom JavaScript code adds the function of a timer, recording/playback, and score keeping. Google Earth's browser plug-in does not provide a layer that contains political boundaries without state and country labels, so one additional feature added to The Amazing Race is Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)–published boundary data without the names of world countries and U.S. states converted to a zipped Keyhole Markup Language (KMZ) file. The framework of this game can be easily exported for application to other disciplines for various student levels and ages.

Google Earth provides an easily accessible platform for students to view animations of oceanographic processes created by merging satellite, buoy, and student-built ocean-drifter data. The power of Google Earth is that many oceanographic properties can be displayed simultaneously over time such as atmospheric pressure, winds, surface currents, and sea-surface temperature. Lessons created from these activities address many of the principal outcomes of an introductory oceanography course, including the ability to analyze the interrelationship of ocean processes and understand how modern oceanography relies on technology to observe and measure the state of the oceans. In the classroom, the time-animation effort is paired with a drifter project where students build and release Global Positioning System–equipped drifters and watch their movement via satellite over the Internet. Because students see, touch, and feel the drifter in the classroom as they build and decorate it, they develop an inherent interest in its fate. Following the movement of the drifter fosters student interest in related oceanographic processes, many of which can be animated in Google Earth for the same time period, providing easy comparisons. The satellite data used in these animations are accessed through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Science Center's ERDDAP (Environmental Research Division's Data Access Program) data server and displayed in Google Earth using keyhole markup language (KML) scripts. Satellite products are downloaded as .png image files and displayed as a series of image overlays to create time animations. Python scripts automate the process of generating KML scripts.

Abstract Ben Peach and John Horne contributed to a revolution in the visualization of stratigraphy and structures using geological maps and cross-sections. In the century since their pioneering fieldwork, the analysis of map structures and the restoration of folds and faults in cross-sections have played a key role in enabling generations of structural geologists to develop theories of displacement and deformation in orogenic belts. However, classical printed maps have practical limitations. They are often inaccessible, they may be difficult to interpret and they are expensive to update when errors or new data come to light. Today, a new wave of the geological mapping revolution is in progress thanks to interactive geo-browsers such as Google Earth, which are opening up possibilities for tectonic visualization that were inconceivable only a decade ago. We discuss the digital deconstruction of classical geological maps of the British Isles and Ireland, such as those by William Smith, Sir Archibald Geikie, Ben Peach & John Horne, and others, and we demonstrate how Google Earth and Google SketchUp can turn the digitized versions of these maps into truly four-dimensional spatio-temporal visualizations.