+ RSSWhat Is Google Earth
Google first launched their Google Earth software in 2005, and people were immediately fascinated by the potential of this very powerful tool. The first thing most people wanted to see was the images of where they live, and after that people typically started searching for famous landmarks, both locally and around the world. In addition to all of the amazing images that Google Earth was making available for everyone there was also a wealth of information and figures that were being provided as people sat in their homes and explored the planet.
While Google Earth is a great tool to educate, and entertain the average users, it is now also playing a vital role in many emergency services command centers in the U.S. and many other countries too. Google Earth provides detailed, up to date maps of locations for emergency services departments, and provides images of the areas where the services are required that were not available before. For example, if their are travelers who are lost of injured in a remote area, Google Earth can provide recent images of these areas, which can help emergency services departments coordinate a search and rescue mission.
You might believe that only the larger regions are using Google Earth to assist them in providing emergency services to their local areas, however even small towns are beginning to use this tool to enhance response times and rescue efforts. It can be enhanced to show firefighters real time views of fires in progress to let them see the best angle of approach to the situation. Crucial decisions can be made using this tool when time is of the essence and the plan of attack is not clear. These days more emergency response teams are relying on this advanced technology to make better decisions and to save more lives.
Google Earth does not have the satellites in place that would be required to provide real time feeds to emergency services personnel on site, however the images available on Google Earth are pretty close to real time. In addition to the most up to date maps available, Google Earth also provides extra information to emergency services command centers that they do not make available to civilian users of Google Earth.
Google continues to introduce state of the art technology to its users that cover a wide variety of topics, from personal to professional. Google is truly a remarkable company that is constantly working to provide the best, most innovative products, possible.
