EarthView is a software application that has been around for a few years. The application provides colorful, high quality, high resolution images up to 2560 x 1600 of the planet. The pictures are of a higher quality to those found on Google Earth, which is interesting given that the source of the images is, via license, from Google Earth. This probably relates to the rendering or due to EathView being given higher resolution images to begin with.
EarthView does not offer the same geographical functionality as Google Earth; however the aim is not so much spatial distance as visual appeal. Although images can be scrolled through, the most common use is to use a selection of images as a wallpaper or screensaver.
The primary features of EarthView are detailed images, of the Earth during the day and the night. Here around 1,500 images are available. There are also a range of atmospheric effects; detailed shots of urban areas; an array of illuminated cities; and shots of cloud formations.
One aspect of the real-time tracking nature of the software is the ability to provide weather data, relating to temperature, humidity and wind speed. There is also a local time mode.
The latest version of EarthView is version 5, with a series of recent updates taking the version to 5.5. The latest updates provide an increase to the number of cities. Each city can be dispalyed in day or night mode, with the function to zoom in for more detail.
For those wishing to view every image, another new function is an extension for Google Chrome. This provides what is called a ‘Leanback mode.’ This allows the user to scroll automatically through the entire image collection.
EarthView is a free application, although some images come with the copyright of the company who owns the image. This depends upon which satellite took the image. Many images come from a company called DigitalGlobe.
