Google Earth heads beneath the waves

by Stevie Smith - Feb 3 2009, 14:30

Having already proven its worth in providing extensive and easily accessible satellite coverage of ground-based geography, Google Earth is now expanding to provide users with an interactive underwater experience that attempts to address the remaining two-thirds of our world.

Search giant Google has accomplished this watery feat by releasing a downloadable Google Earth update that allows the application’s users to move beneath the oceans and see such sights as vast underwater trenches and massive submerged volcanoes, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Not alone in creating Google Earth’s fresh dimension, Google has collaborated with the likes of the National Geographic Society, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Scripps Oceanographic Institution in adding new features such as still photos and video clips through to three-dimensional models and even accurate location-based water temperatures.

The creation of Google Earth’s ambitious underwater perspective has come about after noted oceanography Sylvia Earle (who also served as chief scientist for NOAA) once jokingly labelled the application “Googe Dirt.”

Commenting on the content expansion, which is expected to be of particular use to the education sector, Earle enthused that she thought the update provided a “fantastic new rendition of the Earth.”

Available as a free download from the Google Earth Web page, the new ‘Ocean in Google Earth’ update is compatible with computers running Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista operating systems, as well as Apple Macs running at least OS X 10.4.0.

In related news, Google Earth users that prefer to turn their gaze towards the stars can now enjoy an interactive visit on the surface of Mars.

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