NASA World Wind - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

World Wind is an open-source (released under the NOSA

NASA Open Source Agreement

The NASA Open Source Agreement is an OSI-approved software license. The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration releases some software under this license. The NOSA allows NASA to increase software quality and accelerate development by involving a broader community in code...

license) virtual globe

Virtual globe

A virtual globe is a 3D software model or representation of the Earth or another world. A virtual globe provides the user with the ability to freely move around in the virtual environment by changing the viewing angle and position. Compared to a conventional globe, virtual globes have the...

developed by NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

and the open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

community for use on personal computer

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

s. Old versions need Microsoft Windows but the more recent Java

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

version, World Wind Java, is cross platform and provides a suite of demo apps. The World Wind Java version was awarded NASA Software of the Year in November 2009. The program overlays NASA and USGS

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

satellite imagery

Satellite imagery

Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made by means of artificial satellites.- History :The first images from space were taken on sub-orbital flights. The U.S-launched V-2 flight on October 24, 1946 took one image every 1.5 seconds...

, aerial photography

Aerial photography

Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...

, topographic maps, Keyhole Markup Language

Keyhole Markup Language

Keyhole Markup Language is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within Internet-based, two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Keyhole Earth Viewer. It was created by...

(KML) and Collada

COLLADA

COLLADA is a COLLAborative Design Activity for establishing an interchange file format for interactive 3D applications. COLLADA is managed by the nonprofit technology consortium, the Khronos Group....

files.

Overview

World Wind was released as open source in 2004 by NASA. The latest version (1.4), developed mainly by open source community members from World Wind Central/Free Earth Foundation, had its premiere on February 14, 2007.

Apart from the Earth there are several worlds in World Wind: Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

, Mars

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

, Venus

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

, Jupiter

Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...

(with the four Galilean moons

Galilean moons

The Galilean moons are the four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo Galilei in January 1610. They are the largest of the many moons of Jupiter and derive their names from the lovers of Zeus: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Ganymede, Europa and Io participate in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance...

of Io

Io (moon)

Io ) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of , the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus....

, Ganymede

Ganymede (moon)

Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter and the largest moon in the Solar System. It is the seventh moon and third Galilean satellite outward from Jupiter. Completing an orbit in roughly seven days, Ganymede participates in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively...

, Europa

Europa (moon)

Europa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...

and Callisto

Callisto (moon)

Callisto named after the Greek mythological figure of Callisto) is a moon of the planet Jupiter. It was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. It is the third-largest moon in the Solar System and the second largest in the Jovian system, after Ganymede. Callisto has about 99% the diameter of the...

) and SDSS

Sloan Digital Sky Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-filter imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project was named after the Alfred P...

(imagery of stars and galactics). All these worlds are available in the File menu.

Users can interact with the selected planet by rotating it, tilting the view, and zooming in and out. Five million place names, political boundaries, latitude/longitude lines, and other data can be displayed. World Wind provides the ability to browse maps and geospatial

Geospatial

Geospatial analysis is an approach to applying statistical analysis and other informational techniques to geographically based data. Such analysis employs spatial software and analytical methods with terrestrial or geographic datasets, including geographic information systems and...

data on the internet using the OGC

Open Geospatial Consortium

The Open Geospatial Consortium , an international voluntary consensus standards organization, originated in 1994. In the OGC, more than 400 commercial, governmental, nonprofit and research organizations worldwide collaborate in a consensus process encouraging development and implementation of open...

's WMS

Web Map Service

A Web Map Service is a standard protocol for serving georeferenced map images over the Internet that are generated by a map server using data from a GIS database...

servers (version 1.4 also uses WFS

Web Feature Service

The Open Geospatial Consortium Web Feature Service Interface Standard provides an interface allowing requests for geographical features across the web using platform-independent calls...

for downloading placenames), import ESRI shapefiles and kml/kmz

Keyhole Markup Language

files. This is an example of how World Wind allows anyone to deliver their data.

Other features of World Wind include support for .X (DirectX

DirectX

Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...

3D polygon mesh) models and advanced visual effects such as atmospheric scattering

Scattering

Scattering is a general physical process where some forms of radiation, such as light, sound, or moving particles, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by one or more localized non-uniformities in the medium through which they pass. In conventional use, this also includes deviation of...

or sun shading.

The resolution inside the US is high enough to clearly discern individual buildings, houses, cars (USGS Digital Ortho layer) and even the shadows of people (metropolitan areas in USGS Urban Ortho layer). The resolution outside the US is at least 15 meters per pixel.

Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

has allowed World Wind to incorporate Virtual Earth

Virtual earth

Virtual earth may refer to:* Virtual ground - the node of an electrical circuit that is maintained at a steady reference potential, without being connected directly to the reference potential....

high resolution data for non-commercial

Non-commercial

Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...

use.

World Wind uses digital elevation model

Digital elevation model

A digital elevation model is a digital model or 3-D representation of a terrain's surface — commonly for a planet , moon, or asteroid — created from terrain elevation data....

(DEM) data collected by NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), National Elevation Dataset

National Elevation Dataset

The National Elevation Dataset consists of high precision ground surface elevation data for the United States. It is maintained by the USGS and all the data are in public domain-Source:...

(NED) and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer

ASTER is a Japanese sensor which is one of five remote sensory devices on board the Terra satellite launched into Earth orbit by NASA in 1999...

(ASTER). This means one can view topographic features such as the Grand Canyon or Mount Everest in three dimensions. In addition, WW has bathymetry

Bathymetry

Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth of lake or ocean floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry. The name comes from Greek βαθύς , "deep", and μέτρον , "measure"...

data which allows users to see ocean features, such as trenches

Oceanic trench

The oceanic trenches are hemispheric-scale long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. They are also the deepest parts of the ocean floor....

and ridges

Mid-ocean ridge

A mid-ocean ridge is a general term for an underwater mountain system that consists of various mountain ranges , typically having a valley known as a rift running along its spine, formed by plate tectonics. This type of oceanic ridge is characteristic of what is known as an oceanic spreading...

, in 3D.

Many people using the applications are adding their own data and making them available through various sources, such as the World Wind Central or blogs mentioned in the link section below.

All images and movies created with World Wind using Blue Marble, Landsat, or USGS public domain

Public domain

Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...

data can be freely modified, re-distributed, and used on web sites, even for commercial purposes.

Add-ons and plugins

World Wind can be expanded by using one of many add-ons - small extensions that add new functionality to the program.

Possible types of add-ons:

Point layers - simple XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....

files displaying placemarks (point of interest) as icons
Trail layers - paths (routes, boundaries)
Line features - XML with a list of points visualized as a line or wall
Polygon features - XML with a list of points visualized as a filled polygon
Polygon
In geometry a polygon is a flat shape consisting of straight lines that are joined to form a closed chain orcircuit.A polygon is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments...

(flat or extruded
Extrusion
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A material is pushed or drawn through a die of the desired cross-section...

)
Model features - XML used to load 3D textured meshes
Place names - specific points (such as cities, hills and buildings) that are assigned text labels
Image layers - high resolution imagery for various places in the world
Scripts - files that control camera movement

Plugins are small programs written in C#, VB

Visual Basic

Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...

or J#

J Sharp

Visual J# |sharp]]') programming language is a discontinued transitional language for programmers of Java and Visual J++ languages, so they may use their existing knowledge and applications on .NET Framework....

which are loaded and compiled by World Wind at startup. Plug-in developers can add features to World Wind without changing the program's source code.

World Wind Java

The original recipe for World Wind was restricted to Windows, relying on the .NET libraries and DirectX

DirectX

. A new SDK version of World Wind has been developed in Java

Java (programming language)

with JOGL

Java OpenGL

Java OpenGL is a wrapper library that allows OpenGL to be used in the Java programming language. It was originally developed by Kenneth Bradley Russell and Christopher John Kline, and was further developed by the Sun Microsystems Game Technology Group. Since 2010, it has been an independent open...

referred to as World Wind Java. This new version has an API-centric architecture with functionalities 'off-loaded' to modular components, leaving the API at the core. This makes World Wind itself a plugin so that it can be used as interchangeably as possible (i.e. via Python

Python (programming language)

Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...

). This refactoring exercise allows World Wind to be accessed via a browser as a Java Applet. A preview of the World Wind Java SDK was released on May 11, 2007 during Sun Microsystem's annual JavaOne

JavaOne

JavaOne is an annual conference inaugurated in 1996 by Sun Microsystems to discuss Java technologies, primarily among Java developers. JavaOne is held in San Francisco, California typically running from Monday to Thursday. Technical sessions on a variety of topics are held during the day. In the...

conference.

Since WWj is an SDK there is no single application, instead there are any number of apps using WWj, each with different functionalities, created by government agencies and commercial developers from around the world. These applications include simple virtual globe viewers, satellite tracker, GIS platforms, photo editor, F-16 simulator, mission planning software and many more. The (incomplete) list can be found here and here.

Forks and clones

Dapple is a fork
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...

of the NASA World Wind project, it is an Open Source project created by developers at Geosoft. Dapple is aimed at geoscience professionals, and has features aimed at them, such as easy addition of WMS servers and a simpler UI
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...

very similar to Google Earth's.
SERVIR-VIZ is a customized version of World Wind developed by IAGT for the SERVIR project.
WW2D was a cross-platform, free and open-source application based on Java and OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...

technologies and can be run on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

(x86 and x86-64
X86-64
x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other...

) and Solaris on SPARC
SPARC
SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987....

. WW2D uses images from World Wind's servers.
- WW2D Plus One - an update to WW2D providing a 3D view.
Punt was a fork
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...

of the NASA World Wind project, and was started by two members of the free software community
Free software community
The free-software community is an informal term that refers to the users and developers of free software as well as supporters of the free-software movement. The movement is sometimes referred to as the open-source software community or a subset thereof...

who had made contributions to World Wind. Punt was based on the code in World Wind 1.3.2, but its initial release has features not found in World Wind 1.3.2 or 1.3.3 (such as support for multiple languages). Currently, Punt is only available for Windows, but long term goals include a desire to move to a cross-platform solution.

Datasets available

Low resolution Blue Marble datasets are included with the initial download

Uploading and downloading

In computer networks, to download means to receive data to a local system from a remote system, or to initiate such a data transfer. Examples of a remote system from which a download might be performed include a webserver, FTP server, email server, or other similar systems...

; as a user zooms in to certain areas, additional high resolution data is downloaded from the NASA server

Server (computing)

In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...

s. The size of all currently available data sets is about 4.6 terabytes.

Earth

Animated data layers

Scientific Visualization Studio
MODIS
MODIS
The Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer is a payload scientific instrument launched into Earth orbit by NASA in 1999 on board the Terra Satellite, and in 2002 on board the Aqua satellite...
GLOBE
GLOBE Program
The GLOBE Program is a worldwide hands-on, primary- and secondary-school-based science and education program focusing on the environment, now active in 111 countries world-wide. It works to promote the teaching and learning of science, enhance environmental literacy and stewardship, and promote...
NRL
United States Naval Research Laboratory
The United States Naval Research Laboratory is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps and conducts a program of scientific research and development. NRL opened in 1923 at the instigation of Thomas Edison...

Real-Time Weather

Image/terrain datasets

Blue Marble
The Blue Marble
The Blue Marble is a famous photograph of the Earth taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft at a distance of about ....

Next Generation imagery
Landsat 7
Landsat 7
Landsat 7, launched on April 15, 1999, is the latest satellite of the Landsat program. Landsat 7's primary goal is to refresh the global archive of satellite photos, providing up-to-date and cloud-free images. The Landsat Program is managed and operated by the USGS, and data from Landsat 7 is...

imagery
- NLT Landsat (Visible
  Visible spectrum
  The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 390 to 750 nm. In terms of...
  
  & Pseudo
  False-color
  A false-color image is an image that depicts a subject in colors that differ from those a full-color photograph would show.-True- and false-color:...
  
  Color)
- Geocover 1990 & 2000 (pseudo; 1990 layer was produced from Landsat 4 & 5 images)
- OnEarth (visible & pseudo)
- i-cubed (visible)
USGS imagery
- Digital Ortho (DOQ - scanned black and white aerial images http://eros.usgs.gov/products/aerial/doq.html)
- Urban Area Ortho (montaged color aerial photography of many major US metropolitan areas)
- Topographic map
  Topographic map
  A topographic map is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief, usually using contour lines in modern mapping, but historically using a variety of methods. Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and man-made features...
  
  s
Zoomit! imagery (community produced layer)
- LINZ (montaged color aerial photography of New Zealand)
- GSWA (Topographic and geological maps of Western Australia)
- South Africa (colour satellite and aerial imagery)
- US imagery (montaged color aerial photography of many major US metropolitan areas)
SRTM (SRTM30Plus/SRTMv2/USGS NED) terrain data (includes bathymetry
Bathymetry
Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth of lake or ocean floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry. The name comes from Greek βαθύς , "deep", and μέτρον , "measure"...

)

Moon

Clementine
Clementine mission
Clementine was a joint space project between the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and NASA...

(40xx - Colour, 30xx - Greyscale)
Hypsometric Map
Hypsometric tints
Hypsometric tints are related to contour lines. They can be used to depict ranges of elevation as bands of color, usually in a graduated scheme, or as a color ramp applied to contour lines themselves. A typical scheme progresses from dark greens for lower elevations up through yellows/browns, and...

Mars

MOC (Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Global Surveyor
The Mars Global Surveyor was a US spacecraft developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. It began the United States's return to Mars after a 10-year absence. It completed its primary mission in January 2001 and was in its third extended mission phase when, on 2...

- Mars Orbiter Camera)
MOLA (MGS - Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter hypsometric map)
THEMIS (Mars Odyssey - Thermal Emission Imaging System
Thermal Emission Imaging System
The Thermal Emission Imaging System is a camera on board the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter. It images Mars in the visible and infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in order to determine the thermal properties of the surface and to refine the distribution of minerals on the surface of Mars as...

)
MDIM (Viking
Viking program
The Viking program consisted of a pair of American space probes sent to Mars, Viking 1 and Viking 2. Each spacecraft was composed of two main parts, an orbiter designed to photograph the surface of Mars from orbit, and a lander designed to study the planet from the surface...

- Mars Digital Image Model)

Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Survey Imagery:

SDSS
Sloan Digital Sky Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-filter imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project was named after the Alfred P...

Server
WMAP Image Server

Footprint Imagery:

SDSS Footprint
FIRST (Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm http://sundog.stsci.edu/) Footprint

Specifications

Baseline resolutions

500 m (Blue Marble Next Generation)
15 m (Landsat imagery; except for polar areas)

Typical high resolutions

U.S.
- USGS Digital Ortho: 1 m (grayscale; near full coverage)
- USGS Urban Area Ortho: 0.25 m
- Zoomit!: 0.15 m to 1 m
New Zealand
- Zoomit! (from LINZ data): 2.5 m (colour and grayscale)
Western Australia
- Zoomit! (from GSWA): 250K surface geology mosaic, 250K topographic data, Magnetic Intensity, Bouger Gravity
South Africa
- Zoomit!: Spot5 10m (colour near full coverage), Robben Island 0.5 m, Johannesburg 2.5 m

Altitude resolution:

U.S.: 30 m (1 arcsecond; USGS NED)
Global: 90 m (3 arcseconds; SRTM)
Oceans: 2 arcminutes and better

Age:

Some USGS aerial images were taken in the early 1990s.
Landsat 7 images are all taken after 1999 (except for Geocover 1990).

External links

Community

World Wind Central
World Wind Forums
The Earth Is Square source of news about WW from one of the developers
Bull's Rambles open source community project manager's blog
World Wind add-ons

Miscellaneous

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Overview

Add-ons and plugins

World Wind Java

Forks and clones

Datasets available

Earth

Moon

Mars

Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Specifications

See also

External links

Community

Miscellaneous