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[closed] Google Earth

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 5:17 pm
by jankl
Enjoying exploring the functions of AlpineQuest. Would like to export kml files to Google Earth - is it possible?

Re: Google Earth

Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:40 pm
by Psyberia-Support
Hi and thanks for using AlpineQuest.
Tracks are exported in the .GPX format which is supported by Google Earth.

This format is used by AlpineQuest because it is completely dedicated to GPS data, and is more widely used.
However I could add the ability to export tracks in .KML format, but this format does support time tags (so times will be lost).
Best regards

Re: Google Earth

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:05 pm
by jankl
Hi

Thanks for your help on this. Went for a walk today and have successfully imported the route into Google Earth. Maintaining actual time data is an excellent bonus. After the walk, I compared total distance recorded by AlpineQuest on my phone with that of a GPS Garmin device: 8.17 miles compared to 8.14 miles, so I seem to have got the precision threshold right. However, altitude always seems to be unreliable on a phone GPS - for example, when standing on the 100m contour shown on an OS map, the Garmin device was indicating 320 feet, good agreement, whereas AlpineQuest indicated 426 feet. Is this a result of different calculation algorithms in the two devices? Of course, Google Earth puts in the correct altitude values when the file is uploaded.

Regards,
jankl

Re: Google Earth

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 3:35 pm
by Psyberia-Support
Hi,
AlpineQuest uses the Geoid height for elevation. It's correspond to the GPS altitude (raw value given by the GPS, called WGS84 elevation), plus a geoid shift (that depends on your current location, displayed between parentheses in AlpineQuest). No other computations are done.
I don't know which heights are used on OS maps, but depending on the format, a difference of few dozens of feet can be observed.
When looking at cumulated elevations, should be null.
In the exported GPX or KML files, only the raw GPS elevation is exported. I don't know if your Google Earth uses these values, or it's own elevation values.
Best regards

Edit:
Here is a detailed article explaining the Geoid altitude.

Re: [closed] Google Earth

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:56 am
by vannilla
How come the satelite images are so old? I recently used google earth to look at my neighborhood and noticed that three buildings which were demolished over 6 months ago were still showing up!?Also how come you cannot see people or get real time or at least "recent" time images?
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Re: [closed] Google Earth

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 8:54 am
by Psyberia-Support
Hi,
Earth images comes from the NASA that own the satellites used to take pictures, apps just access them and display them for all users, you should contact the NASA about your concern. You can also try different types of map, like USGS Areal ones that may be more recent.