Google Earth Toolbox

Various plotting/drawing functions that can be saved as KML output, and loaded in Google Earth

Description

Other Major Contributing Author(s):
Jurriaan H. Spaaks

The projects svn repository can be found at:
http://code.google.com/p/googleearthtoolbox/

You are welcome to join and contribute, or simply just use it. Either way have fun.

With the MATLAB functions within this toolbox, one can display spatially and temporally distributed data within Google Earth. It may be argued that converting the results of models and measurements to be able to view them in Google Earth is unnecessary since they can also be viewed within MATLAB itself. However, using Google Earth for evaluation of data can have some major advantages, a few of which are listed below:

1) very intuitive tools for navigating the view
2) retrieval of data from objects within the viewer
3) quick rendering of large files
4) interactively choosing which objects should be displayed
5) dynamic representation of time-variant data

Note: You must add the toolbox to your matlab path before you can use it or access help from the matlab start menu. For example:
>>addpath('D:\matlab\googleearth')
from the command window.

• MATLAB release: MATLAB 7.2 (R2006a)
• Other requirements: Questions/Problems/Requests will be assimilated through email...

HTML Files

Google Earth toolbox - 'extrude' parameter,
Google Earth toolbox - 'tesselate' parameter,
Google Earth toolbox - Collada modes,
Google Earth toolbox - Contents,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_axes,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_barbdaes,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_box,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_circle,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_colorbar,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_contour,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_contourf,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_cylinder,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_folder,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_gplot,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_groundoverlay,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_imagesc,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_output,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_plot,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_plot3,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_point,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_poly,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_poly3,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_quiver,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_quiver3,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_surf,
Google Earth toolbox - ge_windbarb,
Google Earth toolbox - License statement,
Google Earth toolbox - Printable documentation,
Google Earth toolbox - Printable documentation,
Google Earth toolbox - Product page,
Google Earth toolbox - Product page,
Google Earth toolbox - timeSpanStart and timeSpanStop parameters

Other Files

googleearth/authoptions.m,
googleearth/Contents.m,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/001nhemi00000025kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/002nhemi00250075kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/003nhemi00750125kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/004nhemi01250175kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/005nhemi01750225kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/006nhemi02250275kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/007nhemi02750325kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/008nhemi03250375kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/009nhemi03750425kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/010nhemi04250475kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/011nhemi04750525kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/012nhemi05250575kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/013nhemi05750625kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/014nhemi06250675kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/015nhemi06750725kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/016nhemi07250775kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/017nhemi07750825kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/018nhemi08250875kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/019nhemi08750925kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/020nhemi09250975kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/021shemi00000025kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/022shemi00250075kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/023shemi00750125kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/024shemi01250175kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/025shemi01750225kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/026shemi02250275kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/027shemi02750325kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/028shemi03250375kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/029shemi03750425kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/030shemi04250475kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/031shemi04750525kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/032shemi05250575kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/033shemi05750625kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/034shemi06250675kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/035shemi06750725kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/036shemi07250775kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/037shemi07750825kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/038shemi08250875kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/039shemi08750925kts.dae,
googleearth/data/barbdaes/040shemi09250975kts.dae,
googleearth/data/collada-model-templates/arrow-style-001.dae,
googleearth/data/collada-model-templates/arrow-style-002.dae,
googleearth/data/collada-model-templates/cone-style-001.dae,
googleearth/data/icons/circle_14x14_black.png,
googleearth/data/icons/circle_14x14_blue.png,
googleearth/data/icons/circle_14x14_green.png,
googleearth/data/icons/circle_14x14_orange.png,
googleearth/data/icons/circle_14x14_red.png,
googleearth/data/icons/circle_14x14_yellow.png,
googleearth/data/icons/circle_64x64_red.png,
googleearth/data/image_file_unavailable.bmp,
googleearth/data/image_file_unavailable.png,
googleearth/data/map.bmp,
googleearth/data/redcone.dae,
googleearth/data/yellow_arrow.dae,
googleearth/deg2rad.m,
googleearth/demo/%demo_ge_windbarb.m,
googleearth/demo/data/conus.mat,
googleearth/demo/data/elong_cube_blue_lite.dae,
googleearth/demo/data/elong_cube_green_lite.dae,
googleearth/demo/data/elong_cube_red_lite.dae,
googleearth/demo/data/map.bmp,
googleearth/demo/data/redcone.dae,
googleearth/demo/data/test_ge_groundoverlay.m,
googleearth/demo/data/winddata.mat,
googleearth/demo/data/yellow_arrow.dae,
googleearth/demo/demo_all.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_axes.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_box.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_circle.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_colorbar.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_contour.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_contourf.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_cylinder.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_folder.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_gplot.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_grid.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_groundoverlay.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_imagesc.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_imagesc_old.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_makekmz.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_output.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_overlay.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_plot.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_plot3.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_point.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_point_new.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_poly.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_poly3.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_quiver.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_quiver3_1.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_quiver3_2.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_scatter.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_surf.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_surf_mesh.m,
googleearth/demo/demo_ge_windbarb2.m,
googleearth/demos.xml,
googleearth/devenv.m,
googleearth/dms2dd.m,
googleearth/doc/ex001_test.m,
googleearth/doc/ex002_test.m,
googleearth/doc/ex003_test.m,
googleearth/doc/ex006_test.m,
googleearth/doc/Google Earth Toolbox tutorial.docx,
googleearth/doc/Google Earth Toolbox tutorial.pdf,
googleearth/doc/Google-Earth-Toolbox-tutorial.docx,
googleearth/doc/Google-Earth-Toolbox-tutorial.pdf,
googleearth/doc/Google_Earth_Toolbox_tutorial.pdf,
googleearth/edit_all.m,
googleearth/ge_axes.m,
googleearth/ge_barbdaes.m,
googleearth/ge_box.m,
googleearth/ge_circle.m,
googleearth/ge_color.m,
googleearth/ge_colorbar.m,
googleearth/ge_contour.m,
googleearth/ge_contourf.m,
googleearth/ge_contourf_old.m,
googleearth/ge_cylinder.m,
googleearth/ge_folder.m,
googleearth/ge_gplot.m,
googleearth/ge_grid.m,
googleearth/ge_groundoverlay.m,
googleearth/ge_imagesc.m,
googleearth/ge_imagesc_old.m,
googleearth/ge_kml.m,
googleearth/ge_kmz.m,
googleearth/ge_makekmz.m,
googleearth/ge_output.m,
googleearth/ge_overlay.m,
googleearth/ge_plot.m,
googleearth/ge_plot3.m,
googleearth/ge_point.m,
googleearth/ge_point_new.m,
googleearth/ge_poly.m,
googleearth/ge_poly3.m,
googleearth/ge_polyplace.m,
googleearth/ge_quiver.m,
googleearth/ge_quiver3.m,
googleearth/ge_region.m,
googleearth/ge_root.m,
googleearth/ge_scatter.m,
googleearth/ge_surf.m,
googleearth/ge_windbarb.m,
googleearth/ge_writecollada.m,
googleearth/googleearth.m,
googleearth/googleearthroot.m,
googleearth/html/gpl.txt,
googleearth/html/helpinfo.xml,
googleearth/html/helptoc.xml,
googleearth/html/images/alpha.png,
googleearth/html/images/arrows.png,
googleearth/html/images/c++.png,
googleearth/html/images/c.png,
googleearth/html/images/cross.PNG,
googleearth/html/images/demoicon.gif,
googleearth/html/images/doc_help_button.png,
googleearth/html/images/down.png,
googleearth/html/images/extrude_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/fortran.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_axes_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_box_example.PNG,
googleearth/html/images/ge_box_head.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_circle_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_colorbar_extrude_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_colorbar_placemark_symbol.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_contour_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_contourf_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_cylinder_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_folder_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_gplot_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_groundoverlay_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_imagesc_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_imagesc_with_colorbar_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_imagesc_with_description_dataFormatStr.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_plot3_example.PNG,
googleearth/html/images/ge_plot_example.PNG,
googleearth/html/images/ge_point_example_table.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_poly3_example_earthly_saturn.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_poly_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_quiver3_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_quiver3_example_collada_grid.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_quiver_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_quiver_example_surf.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_surf_peaks_function.png,
googleearth/html/images/ge_windbarb_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/google_earth.gif,
googleearth/html/images/google_earth.ico,
googleearth/html/images/google_earth_ico (2).GIF,
googleearth/html/images/google_earth_ico (4).GIF,
googleearth/html/images/google_earth_ico.gif,
googleearth/html/images/google_earth_ico16x16.gif,
googleearth/html/images/googleearth-header.png,
googleearth/html/images/hp.png,
googleearth/html/images/ibed.jpg,
googleearth/html/images/imagesc-vs.-ge_imagesc-comparison.jpg,
googleearth/html/images/left.png,
googleearth/html/images/linux.png,
googleearth/html/images/listbullet.png,
googleearth/html/images/matlabicon.gif,
googleearth/html/images/mex.png,
googleearth/html/images/n_arrows.png,
googleearth/html/images/paragraph_nowrap_cheat.png,
googleearth/html/images/right.png,
googleearth/html/images/s_arrows.png,
googleearth/html/images/sgi.png,
googleearth/html/images/simulinkicon.gif,
googleearth/html/images/solaris.png,
googleearth/html/images/timestamp_toolbar_example.png,
googleearth/html/images/toolbox_header.bmp,
googleearth/html/images/toolbox_header.png,
googleearth/html/images/toolbox_header2.png,
googleearth/html/images/toolbox_header3.png,
googleearth/html/images/toolbox_header4.png,
googleearth/html/images/toolbox_header5.png,
googleearth/html/images/toolbox_header6.png,
googleearth/html/images/university_of_amsterdam.bmp,
googleearth/html/images/university_of_amsterdam.GIF,
googleearth/html/images/university_of_amsterdam.PNG,
googleearth/html/images/up.png,
googleearth/html/images/uva-logo.png,
googleearth/html/images/UvA_acroniem.eps,
googleearth/html/images/vle_sticker_%255Bw%255D.png,
googleearth/html/images/vle_sticker_black.png,
googleearth/html/images/windows.png,
googleearth/html/styles/ge_styles.css,
googleearth/html/styles/ge_styles.css.template,
googleearth/html/styles/googleearth-styles.css,
googleearth/indexed2hexcolor.m,
googleearth/info.xml,
googleearth/info.xml.template,
googleearth/issues-identified.txt,
googleearth/old_ge_barbdaes.m,
googleearth/open_content_html.m,
googleearth/open_demo.m,
googleearth/open_print_doc.m,
googleearth/parsepairs.m,
googleearth/rad2deg.m,
googleearth/README.txt,
googleearth/tests/example_ge_poly.m,
googleearth/tests/pre_ge_windbarb.m,
googleearth/tests/test_dyn_vis.m,
googleearth/tests/test_ge_gplot.m,
googleearth/tests/test_ge_quiver3.m,
googleearth/tests/test_id_links.m,
googleearth/tutres/denhelder.mat,
googleearth/tutres/ok-predictions.mat,
googleearth/tutres/outcrops.mat,
googleearth/url_from_folder.m,
license.txt

[Carlos Adrián Vargas Aguilera]

Wow!! Really great, i need to make some functions like rad2deg and to figure it out what does the entries means because there's not help, but great job, keep working! ... it would be nice a program that reads coordinates of the marks into matlab...

[Tomas Frank]

Great Toolbox! Merging giagants: Mathworks and Google. Much more superior to the previous submission on this topic. In your place, I would spend some time to make Matlab2Google (or something) toolbox. Good luck!

[Tomas Frank]

Sorry, forgot my ratigs. Its A+++++++++++

[äÓÑíä äÓäÓ]

 

[nesrine zaklos]

 

[Ludovic Bariteau]

Hi there,
I started to play with this fabulous toolbox but the function 'vectorsplit' is missing in the zip file. This function is used for example into ge_circle.m
Is it possible to add it in the package?

[scott davis]

added.

[Nirmal Jayaram]

Awesome Work. Keep Rocking
There is just one thing I wanted to know. Is it possible to add a colorbar when I use, say, the ge_imagesc.m function? Thanks

[scott davis]

Added. See demo_ge_imagesc.m for example.

[Slater Voorhees]

Great set of tools.

Would it be possible to provide the drop down lines used in ge_poly in the ge_plot3 functions? I am assuming that is just adding the altitudeMode option.

Thanks.

[scott davis]

Added. Indeed, all the options ge_poly had are now available to ge_plot3 as well. See demo_ge_plot3.m for example.

[taiga woods]

Where's the ge_surf.m function? It's a beautiful image, but the corresponding function is missing inside the .zip file.

[JH Spaaks]

In fact, the ge_surf file is listed along the contents of the zip file, so I think it should be working. However, it's not included in the documentation yet, being one of the newer files. That means that you can't access the source code through the link provided in het documentation, but you can use the function from the command line, or in your scripts. Good luck, please let us know if you experience more problems with it.

[Parasar Kodati]

Awesome effort

[BHARAT CHANDANI]

THIS SOFTWARE IS GOOD IN USE
I RECAMANDED THIS TO OTHER PEOPLE

[Rich Signell]

Thanks for this extremely useful toolkit. One future enhancement that would be nice: the ability to pass "ge_contour.m" a vector V that has specific values of the contour levels (e.g. as in "contourc.m")

[Falo folio]

It is unbelieveble that this toolbox is distributed for free. It should belong to the standard toolbox-set with every release of MATLAB. Excellent job!

[Scott R]

Well done.

[Bobby P.]

EXCELLENT! but a quick question: in ge_contour, what type of lat/lon should i use? UTM (meters?) or degrees?
Other than, well done!

[Eric Gayer]

I just need to figure out how to deal with projections... other than that... this Toolbox is amazing !

[haraguchi kazuki]

 

[caio guimaraes]

Great Work. I'm missing the mat2gray function inside the ge_imagesc (I think it´s from Matlab´s Image Processing Toolbox). Is it possible to include this function in your file? Or, do you know a way to run the ge_imagesc functin without really needing the mat2gray?

[Rajesh Nasare]

 

[Dan S]

Very nice toolset -- occasionally needs minor tweaks (e.g. ge_quiver3 does not specifiy a default 3D model)

[Andy Bliss]

ge_point is quite nice, but the 'description' option doesn't work for me. I tried with single points and with multiple points at a time. It'd also be nice if this would accept a cell array of strings (documentation says it can just do char array).

[kamal lmk_kmlhotmailcom]

it's of a great help for me this toolbox. you've made a very good job

[jhh]

Great work!
Some issues with the demos, though. e.g.:

>> demo_ge_colorbar
??? Error using ==> interp1 at 185
There should be at least two data points.

Error in ==> ge_colorbar at 93
    YIRed = interp1(X,YRed,fM);

Error in ==> demo_ge_colorbar at 9
kmlStr = ge_colorbar(PosLong,PosLat,Z,...

[luke]

Great - really useful.
re comment above - got round this by adding:
       cMap=colormap(cMap);
before:
       X = linspace(0,1,size(cMap,1))';
in ge_colorbar (using R2006b).

[ioxv.4623]

Some of the issues raised in previous posts have been resolved in revision 27 of the googleearth toolbox --check the Google Code link above or "http://code.google.com/p/googleearthtoolbox/"
-Jurriaan

[Macarena Varela]

Great Work!!!

[Johannes Traugott]

I'm trying to display many (500.000) points in Google Earth using the GE_POINT function. Every single point needs to be described by it's own pop-up baloon. I do not see a possibility how to transfer the pop-up information to ge_point for multiple point plotting. Does such functionality exist?
(Great toolbox, anyhow!)

[ioxv.4623]

@ Johannes Traugott 22 Apr 2009

Hi Johannes:
indeed this functionality did not exist. However, I uploaded 2 new files (ge_point_new.m and demo_ge_point_new.m) to the Google Code repository (revision 28), which may solve your problem. Let me warn you though that 500.000 points with popup menu will generate huge KML files. Having said that, good luck on your work and thanks for the rating.
-Jurriaan

[Ambarish Jash]

for ge_quiver there is no option to scale the length of the arrows? could you please add that. -Thank you

[Ambarish Jash]

 

[Basile]

Very usefull work. Please a question.
I am trying to imcorporated google earth in Matlab GUI using GEPluginCoClass ActiveX but I dont know how to do. Need help to do this or if someone has other way to integrate GE in Matlab GUI.

Great job for GE Toolbox.

[Pascal]

 

[Pascal]

Great job, nice features! I was trying to generate a dynamic visualization with ge_imagesc, but cannot make it work in google earth.... I specify the 'timeSpanStart','timeSpanStop' in each ge_imagesc plot and put everything in a ge_folder... it seems to run but there is no motion (all the same pictures). do you have a working sample or any advice? Thanks again

[Atma Bharathi]

A commendable effort.

[Amalia]

Great job, although there are a couple of problems I'm having with the 'ge_contourf' function. I'd like to plot just 1 contour on GE and here's my test script:
_____________________
close all
clear all
[X,Y] = meshgrid(1:20,1:20);
Z = peaks(20);
cMap = 'jet';
lineValues = [ 0 0 ] ;
[C,h] = contourf(X,Y,Z, lineValues);
colorbar
axis image
colormap(cMap)

kmlStr = ge_contourf(X,Y,Z,'cMap',cMap,...
               'polyAlpha','7F', 'lineValues', lineValues);
           
ge_output('test_contourf.kml',kmlStr);
___________
           
The script as run above produces an error in the "isinner" function. I was able to tweak this by making 'firsttest' have a single scalar value so it'll accept the && test at the end of the function. This tweak actually gets the ge_contourf function to run but the other problem is that the resulting contour, and the polygon created in the .kml file, is the reverse of what I actually want and the reverse of what the CONTOURF function produces.

If you change the lineValues parameter to "[ 2 2]" then the resulting .kml polygon matches that produced by CONTOURF. Although I'd still like only 1 color showing on GE and not the background color - that is, I'd like 1 colored contour showing on GE.

Any ideas on how to tweak the ge_contourf function so I can get it correctly create the polygon and .kml file when the polgyon goes to the outer edges of the 'box' (i.e., the example when lineValues = [0 0])?

[Erdal Bizkevelci]