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Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:13 pm
by Neumie
I use Google Earth Pro quite a bit for my fishing. Mostly it's aimlessly scrolling through aerial imagery and updating fishing reports. But there's quite a bit of information you can gather within GE when you import various kml files.

Recently I've been wanting to do a couple write ups walking through everything GE has to offer. I'm not much on videos, so I'm going about this with a lot of words and screen shots. All in I think this will go about 8 or 9 posts in total, hopefully spaced out once a week; except for Christmas. This post will go over the basic features GE offers. Let's start.

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In this first pic I'll touch base on these 7 topics; 1-Add Placemark, 2-Historical Imagery, 3-Show Ruler, 4-Save Image, 5-Compass, 6-Coordinates, 7-Places

1 - Add a Placemark
This is a basic way to input data into GE. I'll use this feature for when I walk in to wade fish or I forgot my GPS.

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2 - Historical Imagery
Historical Imagery is one of the best features GE offers. I automatically set my imagery to an older one when I start up GE. Imagery from winter offers the best imagery due to the low tides seen on our coast. Depending on where you fish you may have to play around with which date imagery works best. For the Corpus Christi/Rockport/Port O'Conner I found that imagery from 1/2017 and 1/2009 offer the best imagery. The clear water and lack of sunlight reflection let you identify underwater structure. Here's a comparison between the default and 1/2017 imagery.

Default
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1/2017
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3 - Show Ruler
This tool is useful in planning trips. After clicking on the button and the popup shows up I select the "Path" tab. After my aimless searching for potential new spots I'll check the distance from the nearest launch point to see how far a paddle I may be up against. I also use this for river trips to measure distances between access points.

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4 -Save Image
This is how I export my GPS tracks when I post fishing reports. After clicking on the button I drop down the "Map Options" and deselect "Title and Description" and "Legend". From there I double check the screen is centered and then save the image. Sometimes I'll print out an image and laminate it for me to have while out on the water for fishing as well.

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5 - Compass
Sometimes when uploading kmls or scrolling around true north may change or the imagery may "tilt". Double clicking the small "N" will rotate the screen to true north again. The arrows pointing up or down either side of the small eye adjust or correct the tilt or Bird's Eye View of the image. Below that, the circle with the small hand, allows you to pan the image. Or, easier yet, you could hold down the left click on your mouse to drag the image around.

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6 - Coordinates
At the bottom you'll see coordinates and the date the image was acquired via satellites. I prefer my coordinates system to be in Degrees Decimal Minutes (DD° MM.mmm'). To change to another Lat/Lon go to Tools-Options-3D View. There you'll be able to change to either Decimal Degrees (DD.dddddd°) or Degrees Minutes Seconds (DD° MM' SS.ss").

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7 - Places
On the left of the screen are three windows; Search, Places, Layers. Search is fairly straight forward. Layers is a window I rarely use. Places is where all my inputted data is organized. And its these data I'll touch base on upcoming posts.

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 4:55 am
by karstopo
Good tips, Neumie.

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 7:22 am
by SWFinatic
Yep it's a valuable tool. I wish it was available for our cell phones. I can only get Google Earth and not GE Pro on my cell.

Wondering when GE is going to give us an updated image. It's been a couple of years now.

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 8:27 am
by Drifting Yak
Thanks for taking the time to post this information Nuemie. Looking forward to reading more.

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:45 pm
by Yak Dog
Excellent post!

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 12:50 pm
by Chubs
Great post Neumie. I didn't even know about the save screenshot feature. I always just took a screen clipping and paste it into a paint doc. This would be a lot faster.

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 1:36 pm
by Getz-Some55
Thanks Neumie. I'm a newbie to GE, so this very helpful. Pretty skillful with Google Maps, but this will allow me to go next level.

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 6:08 pm
by karstopo
Google Earth Pro is a game changer for someone that likes shallow water saltwater fishing. Neumie has illuminated great ways to benefit from the open and free sources of information contained within Google Earth Pro.

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 9:14 am
by BobN
Any objection to me linking your posts on Google Earth to the Houston Canoe Club forum? Lots of good information here for recreational paddlers.

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 1:07 pm
by Neumie
BobN wrote:Any objection to me linking your posts on Google Earth to the Houston Canoe Club forum? Lots of good information here for recreational paddlers.
No, go ahead. Next post will cover freshwater data which will be useful for planning overnight river trips.

Re: Google Earth Pro Tips & Tricks: Part 1 - The Basics

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 1:10 pm
by BobN
No, go ahead. Next post will cover freshwater data which will be useful for planning overnight river trips.
Thanks.