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Google Earth Adds 3-D Trees

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the still-waiting-for-4d dept.

terrancem writes "Google has populated several major cities with more than 80 million virtual trees based on an automated process that identifies trees in satellite images. The realistic 3D representations are based on actual tree species found in urban areas. But Google has also extended realistic tree coverage to rainforests in Africa, Mexico, and the Amazon."

2 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Shade map? by MiddleHitter · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As a grad student at the University of Arizona (in Tucson) who works on campus in the summers...I'd really like to see a shade map that is indexed to the time of day and inclination of the sun to calculate the most-shaded paths around campus. That might not sound so useful, but when it's 105F out, every bit of shade makes all the difference on a 10-15 minute walk across campus.

    --
    I don't fear computers, I fear the lack of them. -I. Asimov
  2. How about planting a few trees? by HockeyPuck · · Score: 3, Interesting

    With the thousands (millions?) of servers that google has, how about planting a few trees...