Google Earth Gets Better View of Mountains

Google has added some new features to the Mountains layer in Google Earth to “more easily appreciate their elegance and beauty”. This include tours, videos, pictures and others.

To get to the Mountains layer, expand the Primary Database tree under the Layers panel on the left, and then expand Borders and Labels. Mountains can be found under Labels.

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Once the Mountains layer is turned on, little green icons will appear all over the globe wherever there are mountain ranges and famous peaks. Double click the green icon to bring up an information panel on the peak. In the example below, the panel for Mount Everest is brought up. The panel content includes Everest’s elevation, a link to a KML tour, a link to the Wikipedia article on the mountain and a slide deck of Panoramio images. Hovering over the image will reveal arrows to let you view additional photos of Everest.

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In the “Elevation Profile” section, you can view elevation cross-sections of the mountain in four directions. You can change the cross-section views in the direction of your choice by clicking on the links labeled “S-N”, “W-E”, “NW-SE”, “SW-NE”.

Click on the "Fly on a tour" link to download the KML tour, and then hit the "Play" icon once the tour has downloaded and to circle around the peak. Of course, you can use your mouse and other navigational aid on Google Earth to explore the mountains at your own pace.

The video below shows the tour for the Matterhorn.

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Google Earth now shows real time weather
Explore the oceans on Google Ocean Showcase

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