tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55999222623522394272024-03-08T10:45:52.165-07:00Earth Point BlogTools for Google EarthBill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-63242129100319625822010-03-15T08:40:00.053-06:002010-03-15T18:30:01.674-06:00State Plane Coordinate System for the United StatesEarth Point now supports the State Plane coordinate system. The coordinate system was developed in the 1930's, before the advent of computers or GPS, and is used by mapping professionals in all 50 states. Each state is divided into one or more zones based upon Transverse Mercator, Lambert Conformal, or Oblique Mercator projections. These flat-plane projections allow measurements to be made using simple Cartesian coordinates, thus avoiding complex spherical or ellipsoidal calculations of distance, angle, and area.<br />
<br />
<b>Earth Point Features:</b><br />
The <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/ExcelToKml.aspx">ExcelToKml</a> utility maps a list of State Plane coordinates onto Google Earth, where they can be viewed easily and shared without the need to load them into a larger mapping system. An example spreadsheet is available: <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/StatePlaneExample.xls">StatePlaneExample.xls</a><br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/StatePlane.aspx">StatePlane</a> page converts State Plane coordinates to Latitude/Longitude and back again. Other coordinate systems, such as UTM and MGRS, are also included. Individual coordinates can be mapped onto Google Earth. <br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Convert.aspx">ConvertCoordinates</a> page accepts State Plane coordinates for conversion to Latitude/Longitude, UTM, and MGRS. <br />
<br />
<b>Please help validate the results.</b> <br />
I have tested points in all 124 zones (plus three additional zones for Maine 2000). Please try a few yourself, compare the results to a known system, such as CORPSCON, and add a comment to let everyone know the result.<br />
<br />
Also, please post any suggestions you might have about the state plane utilities.<br />
Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-41932981678481817202009-12-01T10:18:00.012-07:002009-12-01T10:25:31.572-07:00Township and Range OptionsIt is possible to change the appearance of the Township and Range grid. Quarter/Quarters can be hidden, grid colors changed, and label appearance modified. The options can be set when the Township and Range grid is initially downloaded or they can be modified from Google Earth itself. Either way, the option screens are the same. The following illustrations show how to modify the grid after it is opened in Google Earth.<br />
<br/>
<center>
<table style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 400px;"><b>Sections and Quarter/Quarters</b><br />
<a class="Caption" href="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions1.jpg" title="Click for larger image."><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions1_400.jpg" />By default, Sections are shown in purple, Quarter/Quarters are green. Click on the "Earth Point Townships" folder to set the options. Click for larger image.</a><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 400px;"><b>Options Menu</b><br />
<a class="Caption" href="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions2.jpg" title="Click for larger image."><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions2_400.jpg" />In this example, we will hide the quarter/quarters and change the section color to from purple to red. Click for larger image.</a><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 400px;"><b>Color Picker</b><br />
<a class="Caption" href="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions3.jpg" title="Click for larger image."><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions3_400.jpg" />Red is selected. Click for larger image.</a><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 400px;"><b>Options Menu</b><br />
<a class="Caption" href="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions4.jpg" title="Click for larger image."><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions4_400.jpg" />Quarter/Quarters is set to "Hidden". Section color is set to "Red". Click for larger image.</a><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 400px;"><b>Modified Appearance</b><br />
<a class="Caption" href="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions5.jpg" title="Click for larger image."><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/TrOptions5_400.jpg" />The end result. Click for larger image.</a><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br/ >
</center>Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-84851335015511416452009-09-24T13:48:00.046-06:002009-09-30T01:00:11.245-06:00Township and Range UpdatedAbout twice each year, the Earth Point gets new township and range data from BLM. However, this spring, the data was not ready, so it has been almost a year since the last update.<br />
<br />
Included in today's update<br />
1) The coverage of quarter-quarters is expanded by about 20%, but within these areas, there are still quite a few gaps.<br />
2) Alaska sections are correctly located. Previously, some of the BLM coordinates were based on the NAD27 datum, which led to a displacement of several hundred feet when plotted on the WGS84 Google Earth.<br />
3) New section coverage for southwest Alaska.<br />
4) Better section coverage along the California coast line.<br />
<br />
Note: the resolution of the following illustrations is 1/10 of a degree. There are many updates to sections and to corners that are not shown here.<br/>
<br/>
<center>
<table style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 400px;"><b>New BLM Quarter/Quarters</b><br />
<a class="Caption" href="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/NewQuarters.jpg" title="Click for larger image."><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/NewQuarters400.jpg" /> Existing quarter/quarters are shown in green. New quarter/quarters are light green. There are often gaps within the green areas. There is no quarter-quarter coverage in Alaska. Click for larger image. </a><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 400px;"><b>New BLM Sections Alaska</b><br />
<a class="Caption" href="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/NewSectionsAlaska.jpg" title="Click for larger image."><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/NewSectionsAlaska400.jpg" /> Existing sections are shown in dark purple. New sections are light purple. Click for larger image. </a><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 400px;"><b>New BLM Sections</b><br />
<a class="Caption" href="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/NewSections.jpg" title="Click for larger image."><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/NewSections400.jpg" /> Existing sections are shown in dark purple. New sections are light purple. Click for larger image. </a><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
</center>Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-60574418208927869382009-03-20T17:00:00.007-06:002009-03-20T17:37:44.475-06:00New Servers, Back On-lineOur hosting company, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mosso.com">Mosso</a>, has moved Earth Point to new servers. Unfortunately, in the process of learning this was necessary we were off-line for much of Wednesday and Thursday. This was triggered by three events.<br /><br />First, we are slowly adding AJAX technology to Earth Point. After a few problems, our hosting company determined that we needed to be on a server that had the latest ASP.NET 3.5 Service Pack 1 installed.<br /><br />Second, Earth Point had a bug that caused the “application pool” to fill up. Once filled, no one could use the site. We made a few changes, and the pool is functioning normally.<br /><br />Finally, another team at our hosting company determined that the Township and Range data (22 million records) needed to be on a newer server. The Quarters table was unavailable for a few hours, but everything is back online.<br /><br />By the way, we have been with Mosso for over a year and I am quite happy with them.Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-69448545180835741182009-02-12T21:38:00.010-07:002009-02-18T20:48:00.138-07:00Forum IntroducedEarth Point has a new <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/forum/index.php">forum page</a>. Earth Point will soon exceed 1,000 visits per day, so I think there are enough people to make it work. As always, you are welcome to write or call me personally. That said, one nice thing about a forum is that everyone benefits from the questions and can participate in the answers. Included is a section called "Excel To Kml Showcase". I have seen a few of the spreadsheets, and they are amazing. Please feel free to post them here. You might need to trim them, as there is a 1MB per file limit. You can get to the forum from the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/default.aspx">Earth Point</a> menu, or click <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/forum/index.php">here</a>.Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-44804316149237602832009-02-06T23:03:00.021-07:002009-02-06T23:23:16.673-07:00Reticule Added To Grid SystemsA reticule, or cross-hair, has been added to the center of the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Grids.aspx">Grid Systems</a> screen. As shown in the screen shot below, the current coordinates are displayed when the cursor is placed over the reticule. The current position is also displayed in the "Places" window on the left side of the screen. If either the reticule or the places view is clicked, a pop-up balloon lists the current position in a variety of coordinate systems: Latitude/Longitude, UTM, UPS, MGRS, and GeoRef.<br /><br /><center style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%;"><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/downloads/ReticuleScreenShot.jpg" style="text-decoration: none; color: black;"><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/downloads/ReticuleScreenShot.jpg" width="440" border="0" alt="" /><br/>Click for larger image.</a></center><br/> Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-21950113669636047292008-12-24T20:17:00.035-07:002008-12-24T21:46:19.689-07:00Township and Range Latitude/Longitude conversionsThe latitude and longitude conversions at <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/townships.aspx">www.earthpoint.us/townships.aspx</a> now include both Townships and Sections. You can convert from Township and Section to Latitude and Longitude, or go the other way, from Latitude and Longitude to Township and Section. The illustration below shows the conversion from Latitude and Longitude to Township and Section. <br /><br /><center style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%;"><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/downloads/LatLonSections.jpg" style="text-decoration: none; color: black;"><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/downloads/LatLonSections.jpg" width="400" border="0" alt="" /><br/>Click for larger image.</a></center><br/> Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-74706473439098643602008-12-16T08:39:00.009-07:002008-12-16T09:08:40.959-07:00A few ideas for 2009<ol style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0px"><li>Expand the use of Earth Point in the Boise, Idaho market. Team up with a local Realtor<sup>®</sup>. Promote Earth Point in the local media.</li><li>Allow the user to save their search criteria for real estate listings. Email an alert whenever a listing is added to the list.</li><li>Create a "favorites" page for real estate listings. Allow the user to add lisitngs to one or more favorites lists. Map the lists to Google Earth. Email an alert to the user anytime the price or characteristics of a listing changes.</li><li>Add instructional videos demonstrating the use of Earth Point.</li><li>Move higher in the search rankings by providing good content. Currently, Earth Point is number 80 in a Google search for <em>Boise Real Estate</em>, number 10 for <em>Google Earth Real Estate</em>, and number one in Google searches for <em>Township and Range</em> and <em>Excel To Kml</em>. </li></ol><p>If you have more ideas for making Earth Point a better web site, please add a comment.</p>Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-32075278261819548872008-12-05T15:16:00.014-07:002008-12-05T15:47:24.646-07:00Township and Range Has Corner Points<center><img src="http://www.earthpoint.us/downloads/cornerpoints.jpg"/></center><br />Corner points are calculated for each Township, Section, and Quarter-Section using the coordinate data provided by BLM. These values are estimates only.<br /><br />Earth Point gets its data from ESRI shapefiles supplied by BLM. Each Township/Range/Quarter polygon can have anywhere from eight to fifty or more points defining its perimeter. For each point, Earth Point calculates the interior angle and the orientation of that angle. If the angle is close to 90°, faces in the right direction, and is close a corner point of shape's bounding box, then the point is considered to be a corner point of the polygon itself. If a polygon is irregularly shaped, then it might not have all four corner points.Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-30883774591963755832008-02-08T23:50:00.002-07:002010-03-15T08:47:01.918-06:00Excel To Kml - Direction Arrows for GPS Track<img style="PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FLOAT: right" src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/IconHeadingAndColor.jpg" /><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/ExcelToKml.aspx">ExcelToKml</a> can draw direction arrows on a GPS track. The column headings to look at are "IconHeading" and "IconColor".<br /><br />The picture to the right shows an example of a GPS track. Note that the arrows point in the direction of travel. This track was plotted with the following spreadsheet values:<br /><br /><div class="nobr"><br />
<table style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 100%; border-collapse: collapse">
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
</td>
<td class="eLetterRow">
A
</td>
<td class="eLetterRow">
B
</td>
<td class="eLetterRow">
C
</td>
<td class="eLetterRow">
D
</td>
<td class="eLetterRow">
E
</td>
<td class="eLetterRow">
F
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
1
</td>
<td class="eData">
Latitude
</td>
<td class="eData">
Longitude
</td>
<td class="eData">
Icon
</td>
<td class="eData">
IconHeading
</td>
<td class="eData">
IconColor
</td>
<td class="eData">
LineColor
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
2
</td>
<td class="eData">
43.6097
</td>
<td class="eData">
-116.2048
</td>
<td class="eData">
196
</td>
<td class="eData">
line -180
</td>
<td class="eData">
yellow
</td>
<td class="eData">
aqua
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
3
</td>
<td class="eData">
43.6095
</td>
<td class="eData">
-116.2047
</td>
<td class="eData">
196
</td>
<td class="eData">
line -180
</td>
<td class="eData">
yellow
</td>
<td class="eData">
aqua
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
4
</td>
<td class="eData">
43.6094
</td>
<td class="eData">
-116.2046
</td>
<td class="eData">
196
</td>
<td class="eData">
line -180
</td>
<td class="eData">
yellow
</td>
<td class="eData">
aqua
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
5
</td>
<td class="eData">
43.6094
</td>
<td class="eData">
-116.2044
</td>
<td class="eData">
196
</td>
<td class="eData">
line -180
</td>
<td class="eData">
yellow
</td>
<td class="eData">
aqua
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
6
</td>
<td class="eData">
43.6094
</td>
<td class="eData">
-116.2042
</td>
<td class="eData">
196
</td>
<td class="eData">
line -180
</td>
<td class="eData">
yellow
</td>
<td class="eData">
aqua
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
7
</td>
<td class="eData">
43.6095
</td>
<td class="eData">
-116.2041
</td>
<td class="eData">
196
</td>
<td class="eData">
line -180
</td>
<td class="eData">
yellow
</td>
<td class="eData">
aqua
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
8
</td>
<td class="eData">
43.6096
</td>
<td class="eData">
-116.2043
</td>
<td class="eData">
196
</td>
<td class="eData">
line -180
</td>
<td class="eData">
yellow
</td>
<td class="eData">
aqua
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="eRowNumber">
9
</td>
<td class="eData">
43.6097
</td>
<td class="eData">
-116.2046
</td>
<td class="eData">
196
</td>
<td class="eData">
line -180
</td>
<td class="eData">
yellow
</td>
<td class="eData">
aqua
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br /></div><br />This spreadsheet is included in the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/ExcelToKmlDemo.zip">sample data</a>.<br /><br />The column IconHeading specifies how many degrees to rotate the icon. IconHeading can be a number, the word "line", or the word "line" plus or minus a number.<br /><br /><img style="PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 32px" src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/airports.png" />For example, <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/ExcelToKml.aspx#GoogleEarthIcons">Icon 222</a> is Google's airplane icon. It looks like this on Google Earth.<br /><br /><img style="PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 32px" src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/airports90.png" />If a value of 90 is entered into the IconHeading column, the icon is rotated 90 degrees to the right.<br /><br /><img style="PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 32px" src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/airportsm90.png" />If a value of -90 is entered into the IconHeading column, the icon is rotated 90 degrees to the left.<br /><br />If the word "line" is entered into the IconHeading column, the airplane is rotated to point in the direction of travel. That is, the airplane looks like it is flying along the line.<br /><br />If the value "line-180" is entered into the IconHeading column, the airplane is lined up with the direction of travel, then spun around 180 degrees. The airplane looks like it is flying backwards.<br /><br /><img style="PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 32px" src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/arrow.png" />"line-180" is quite useful when using Icon 196, Google's arrow icon. Notice that by default the arrow points down, not up. If we specified a value of "line" in the IconHeading column, the arrow would point in the wrong direction.<br /><br /><img style="PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 32px" src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/arrow180.png" />To fix this, use a value of "line-180" (or "line+180"), which flips the arrow around 180 degrees and points it in the right direction.<br /><br /><img style="PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 32px" src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/arrowyellow180.png" />Another problem is that the arrow is hard to see because it is just an outline. Use IconColor to add color to any icon. Yellow looks like this:<br /><br />This combination of IconHeading and IconColor gives us the GPS track illustrated at the beginning of this article.Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-8321883494944877632007-12-18T09:04:00.000-07:002007-12-21T10:17:56.883-07:00Changes to Listing Search CriteriaDue to the number of people looking for Condominium and Townhouses, changes have been made to the listings search criteria. "Residential" is now split into "Houses", "Condominiums/Townhouses", and "Manufactured Homes".<br /><br />Please post your thoughts and comments. Include any other search criteria you would like to see.Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-39948151976126779102007-12-17T21:27:00.000-07:002007-12-17T21:35:05.615-07:00Google Earth Imagery UpdatedAs mentioned in <a href="http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2007/12/big_december_imagery_update_for_goo.html">Google Earth Blog</a>, Google updated quite a bit of imagery in December. I can report that this includes the area around Kuna, Idaho. Boise was updated over the summer, so it looks like we are rather current. Please add a comment if you know of other areas in Ada and Canyon counties that have been updated.Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-27462562455315606982007-11-06T09:30:00.000-07:002007-11-30T22:49:06.122-07:00Earth Point for Your Town or CompanySeveral people have asked if Earth Point is available for other cities or projects. Like a new house, the answer is yes, we can build it. The following elements are needed for a presentation on Google Earth.<br /><ol><li>Good satellite imagery. For most urban areas, the imagery is excellent.<br /></li><li>Digital mapping files of legal parcels. These are used to accurately locate properties on Google Earth. Digital mapping files are generally available from the local county assessor’s office, in the form of ESRI shape files. The cost varies greatly, anywhere from free to thousands of dollars.<br /></li><li>Access to local MLS data. This is accomplished by either by joining the MLS organization or by forming a partnership with a current member.<br /></li><li>A revenue model. Earth Point can capably take care of steps one through three. We need someone local to take care of step four. It would take about a month to map the county assessor data onto Google Earth. It would take perhaps two more months to include the MLS data. From there, it would be good to budget time for keeping it current and for a regular stream of enhancements.</li></ol><p>With over 20-million records in its database and a fast presentation speed, Earth Point ably manages large ESRI shape files, robust databases, the web environment, and Google Earth. Earth Point can map fixed and mobile assets, turning Google Earth into an information manager for almost any system. Please call if Earth Point can assist with any of your IT or data processing needs.</p><p>Phone 208.860.6311 or email <a href="mailto:bill.clark@earthpoint.us">bill.clark@earthpoint.us</a>.</p><p>Earth Point real estate software is protected by copyright. Local implementations are licensed to the client.</p>Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-24130938995264039342007-09-10T12:49:00.000-06:002007-09-11T00:09:52.192-06:00Quarter Sections available with BLM dataQuarter sections are now included with the BLM Township and Range data. Due to the sheer number of quarter sections (over 17 million), Earth Point did not included these previously.<br /><br /><strong>How it works.</strong><br /><ol><li>Earth Point gets it data from BLM shape files available at <a href="http://www.geocommunicator.gov/GeoComm/lsis_home/home/index.html">http://www.geocommunicator.gov/GeoComm/lsis_home/home/index.html</a></li><li>Earth Point formats the data, stores it in a database, and manages the interaction with Google Earth.</li></ol><p>Note: I have spot-checked the data, but I have not checked all 17 million records! If you find an inconsistency, please let me know.</p><p><strong>View the Township and Range Data on Google Earth.<br /></strong></p><ol><li>Open Google Earth. Zoom into an area of interest over the western United States. The picture below is near Blackfoot, Idaho. It was selected because irrigated crop circles, which follow the pattern of land ownership, are generally laid out within the boundaries of quarter sections.</li><li>Go to <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Townships.aspx">www.earthpoint.us/Townships.aspx</a>.</li><li>Scroll down to "BLM Township, Range, and Section."</li><li>Click the "View on Google Earth" button.</li><li>The screen switches back to Google Earth.</li><li>The orange grid shows the BLM Townships, which are six miles square.</li></ol><center><br /><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/BLMTownships.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Click for larger image." src="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/BLMTownships.jpg" border="0" /></a></center><br /><br /><div style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%; TEXT-ALIGN: center">BLM Townships on Google Earth. Click for larger image.</div><br /><br /><strong>Zoom in on a Township, see Sections.</strong><br /><br /><br /><ol><li>Double-click an orange dot. This zooms you in closer.</li><li>After a few seconds, the township is divided up into purple squares. These are Sections, which are one-mile square.</li></ol><center><br /><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/BLMSections.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Click for larger image." src="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/BLMSections.jpg" border="0" /></a></center><br /><br /><div style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%; TEXT-ALIGN: center">BLM Sections on Google Earth. Click for larger image.</div><br /><br /><strong>Zoom in on a Section, see Quarters.<br /></strong><br /><br /><ol><li>Double-click a purple dot. This zooms you in closer.</li><li>After a few seconds, the section divided up into green squares. Depending on the survey, these will be Quarter sections (1/2 mile square), Quarter/Quarter sections (1/4 mile square), or similar. The picture below shows Quarter/Quarter sections.</li></ol><center><br /><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/BLMQuarters.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Click for larger image." src="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/BLMQuarters.jpg" border="0" /></a></center><br /><br /><div style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%; TEXT-ALIGN: center">BLM Quarter/Quarters on Google Earth. Click for larger image.</div>Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-67401929611706135572007-05-15T09:08:00.000-06:002007-05-23T22:00:31.339-06:00Township and RangeA few months ago I was asked if I could overlay a parcel map onto Google Earth. The property was in a rural area south of San Francisco. Since I am not familiar with the area, it took an hour and numerous Google searches to get an idea of where map should be located.<br /><br />However, now that Township and Range is available on Google Earth, the process only takes a few minutes.<br /><br />You can see the result below, or download the corresponding <a title="You must have Google Earth installed to use this file." href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/EarthPointTownshipExample.kmz">kmz file</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EScreen1.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Click for larger image." src="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EScreen1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Plat map overlaid on Google Earth. Shown with BLM section lines. Click for larger image.</div><br />Thanks to Nick Wold of <a href="http://www.sunnyland.com">Orbit Investments</a> for suggesting that BLM townships be mapped onto Google Earth.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:large;color:#000099;"><strong>How to position a plat map onto Google Earth.</strong></span><br /><br />If the map is of an area that has BLM coverage and if you have a rough idea about its location, then you could possibly take this shortcut.<br /><ol><li>Zoom into the area on Google Earth.</li><li>Go to the Earth Point <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/townships.aspx">Township & Range</a> page.</li><li>Under "BLM Townships, Ranges, and Sections" click the "View on Google Earth" button.</li><li>Once the Townships and Sections appear on Google Earth, mouse-over the purple icons and find the section you are looking for.</li><li>Then go directly to the <a href="#map">Put the map onto Google Earth</a> section below.</li></ol><p>Otherwise, start at the beginning...<br /><br /><a name="plat"></a><strong>We need to know which state and which prime meridian the map is part of.</strong><br /><br /></p><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EPlatMap.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Click for larger image." src="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EPlatMap.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Plat map. Click for larger image.</div><ol><li>Click on the plat map above to see it full size. At the top of the image we see that it is part of T10S R2E (Township 10 South, Range 2 East) in Santa Clara County, California. The map itself covers sections 16 and 17.</li><li>California has three principal meridians. The next few steps show one way to figure out which one to use.</li><li>Go to the Google Earth "Fly To" box and type in "Santa Clara, California". The city of Santa Clara is located in Santa Clara County, so now we are in the neighborhood.</li><li>Go to Earth Point's <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/townships.aspx">Township & Range</a> page.</li><li>In the "National Atlas" section, click the "View On Google Earth" button. "National Atlas" is used because it has the best coverage.</li><li>The Google Earth screen fills with township outlines.</li><li>Mouse-over the yellow icons. You will see that these townships originate from the "Mount Diablo" principal meridian.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EScreen3.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Click for larger image." src="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EScreen3.jpg" /></a> <div style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%; TEXT-ALIGN: center">"National Atlas" townships. Centered on T10S R2E, Santa Clara County. Click for larger image.</div><br /></li><li>At this point, you could look for T10S R2E, but this is harder than it seems. Much of California's land survey is based on original land grants and is not laid out in a nice grid. Therefore, we will use Earth Point's "Fly To" button to locate the township.</li><li>To keep the Google Earth screen from becoming too cluttered, let's delete the townships we already have. In the Google Earth "My Places" section, right click on "Earth Point Townships ... National Atlas". On the pop-up menu, click "Delete".</li></ol><strong>"Fly To" takes you in.</strong><br /><br /><ol><li>Go to the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/townships.aspx">Township & Range</a> page. In the drop-down boxes, select "California", "Mount Diablo", "10S", and "2E".</li><li>Click the "Fly To On Google Earth" button.</li><li>T10S R2E is displayed on the Google Earth screen.</li><li>To position the plat map, we also need section lines.</li></ol><strong>BLM has sections.</strong><br /><br /><ol><li>Go to the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/townships.aspx">Township & Range</a> page.</li><li>Under "BLM Townships, Ranges, and Sections", click the "View On Google Earth" button.</li><li>The BLM townships are displayed on Google Earth. If you zoom in close enough, the sections are also displayed.</li><li>Mouse-over the purple dots to find sections 16 and 17. We could stop here, but let's place the map onto Google Earth.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EScreen4.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Click for larger image." src="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EScreen4.jpg" /></a> <div style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%; TEXT-ALIGN: center">"BLM" townships, T10S R2E Section 16. Click for larger image.</div></li></ol><a name="map"><strong>Put the map onto Google Earth (optional).</strong></a><br /><br /><ol><li>Normally, we get plat maps from a county assessor's office, title company, or the like.</li><li>For this example, we can use the map above.</li><li>Scroll up to the picture captioned <a href="#plat">Plat map. Click for larger image</a>. Right-click the map. Click "Save As" on the pop-up menu.</li><li>We are going to make an image overlay. The Google Earth <a href="http://http//earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/ug_imageoverlays.html">User Guide</a> has more information about image overlays.</li><li>On the Google Earth menu at the top of the screen, click "Add" then "Image Overlay".</li><li>On the window that pops-up, click the "Browse" button and get the plat map you saved.</li><li>Shrink, stretch, and rotate the plat map to fit BLM sections 16 and 17 as best you can. It will not be perfect.</li><li>Adjust the transparency so that you can see both the dark lines on the plat map and features on the underlying Google Earth imagery.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EScreen2.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Click for larger image." src="http://www.earthpoint.us/Downloads/T10SR2EScreen2.jpg" /></a> <div style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; LINE-HEIGHT: 110%; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Plat map aligned with Google Earth. Transparency is set to show the underlying satellite imagery. Transparency will be removed before the image overlay is saved. Click for larger image.</div><br /></li><li>Shrink, stretch, and rotate the plat map again, this time to fit the Google Earth imagery.</li><li>Remove the transparency.</li><li>Add a comment or two and save the image overlay.</li><li>That's it!</li></ol>Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-38865057920236201092007-02-01T07:41:00.001-07:002007-05-15T00:18:26.260-06:00Virtual ToursVirtual tours are a great way to market a home. With 360-degree panoramas, additional pictures, and even room planners it is easy to see why virtual tours are so popular.<br /><br />Each listing in our MLS can link to a virtual tour. Earth Point displays this link provided that it points to a known tour company.<br /><br />Another requirement is that the tour company must offer a non-branded version of the tour. Branded tours promote a real estate company and its agents. Non-branded tours promote just the property. Earth Point always displays the non-branded tour, even if a branded link is entered into the MLS system.<br /><br />The number of virtual tour companies is ever growing. If your listing uses a company that is not shown here, please let me know.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#000066;">Virtual Tour Companies Known to Earth Point</span></strong><br /><a href="http://www.360house.com/">360House</a><br /><a href="http://www.intouchtours.com/">InTouch Home Tours</a><br /><a href="http://www.justsnooping.com/">Just Snooping</a><br /><a href="http://www.obeo.com/">Obeo</a><br /><a href="http://www.realestateshows.com/">Real Estate Shows</a><br /><a href="http://www.realtourvision.com/">Real Tour Vision</a><br /><a href="http://www.tourfactory.com/">Tour Factory</a><br /><a href="http://www.tourre.com/">Tour Real Estate</a><br /><a href="http://www.vi360.net/">Vi360</a><br /><a href="http://www.visualtour.com/">Visual Tour</a><br /><a href="http://www.windermere.com/">Windermere</a>Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-38513134112557413172007-01-29T12:23:00.000-07:002007-01-29T20:54:59.338-07:00Floor Plans on Google EarthRecently, an out of town customer was was interested in <a href="http://www.citysidelofts-boise.com/">City Side Lofts</a>, a condominium project in downtown Boise. One challenge was that it was difficult to communicate how the units are laid out, which way the windows face, and what the different views might be. Our solution was to superimpose the <a href="http://www.citysidelofts-boise.com/floorplans.html">floor plans</a> onto Google Earth.<br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/downloads/citysidelofts.kmz">here</a> to download the result. Once opened in Google Earth, click and unclick the various folders to see the floor plan for each level.<br /><br />Combine this with the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/AroundTown.aspx#WebCams">web cam</a>, and you have a good idea of how the building is put together.<br /><br />If you have a similar request, I am happy to help!Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-4991789785131004952007-01-28T21:43:00.000-07:002007-01-29T20:54:20.737-07:00Touring Homes with Earth PointWhen working with clients, I use MS Word or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">NotePad</span> to keep lists of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">MLS</span> numbers we have looked at or are interested in.<br /><br />To organize the lists, I put a short description at the beginning of each line. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">MLS</span> numbers follow, separated by commas. Like this:<br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Jan 12 looked at: 98280903, 98277414, 98281328<br />Jan 22 preparation: 98283878, 98280321, 98284890, 98259765</span><br /></span><br />From there it is a simple matter to display the listings on Google Earth. I "copy" a row of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">MLS</span> Numbers into the clipboard and "paste" it into the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">MLS</span> Number(s) field on the Earth Point <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/">home page</a>.<br /><br />Download to Google Earth, and there are the listings. I can even take my laptop on tour and use Google Earth to navigate from house to house. Of course, someone else has to drive!Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-68042237045090527282007-01-20T09:33:00.000-07:002007-01-29T21:14:32.519-07:00"Year Built" added to search critera"Year Built" was added at the request of one of our users. Thanks for the input!Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-23878211825943422512007-01-18T20:42:00.000-07:002007-01-28T20:47:58.099-07:00Updated Mapping FilesThe county mapping files have been updated, which means that the newest addresses and subdivisions can be mapped onto Google Earth. Earth Point gets new mapping data every few months. For the current set, Ada County data was published December 28, 2006. Canyon County data was published January 11, 2007.Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-90881445852157509212007-01-09T11:24:00.000-07:002007-02-01T13:24:36.668-07:00Two web cams added<a href="http://www.citysidelofts-boise.com/">City Side Lofts</a> and <a href="http://www.royalplazaboise.com/">Royal Plaza</a> are <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">condominiums</span> under construction in downtown Boise. You can download Boise and Caldwell area web cams from the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/AroundTown.aspx#WebCams">Around Town</a> page.Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-80140981050801606962006-12-12T17:09:00.000-07:002007-05-21T14:06:10.329-06:00Season's GreetingsIt has been a real pleasure meeting some of you and helping you with Google Earth and your real estate questions. Thank you everyone for your support and words of encouragement. Based on your feedback, there have been several improvements made since Earth Point went live in March, 2006.<br /><ul><li>Listings can be displayed on Google Earth or on Google Maps.</li><li>Improved matching algorithms mean that several hundred more listings are mapped than were previously.</li><li>County assessor data can be mapped for any property, whether or not it is for sale, using the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Locator.aspx">Property Search</a> and <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/GIS.aspx">County GIS</a> pages.</li><li>Ada County traffic cameras, a guide to Idaho airports, an historical byway, and assorted web cams are featured on the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/AroundTown.aspx">Around Town</a> page.</li><li>Google released version 4 of Google Earth. Version 4 has an improved user interface and handles large amounts of data much better than version 3.</li><li>Google updated the satellite imagery for the Boise area and fixed a large misalignment just west of town.</li></ul>Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5599922262352239427.post-64586620622953781012006-10-30T14:34:00.000-07:002007-01-29T15:11:42.844-07:00Remember Your Parents' Interest RatesThis picture helps put things into perspective. It appeared in the <a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/Press/Mortgage%20Rates%20-%20Idaho%20Business%20Review.pdf">Idaho Business Review</a> and was mailed to me by the author.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/Rates.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px; WIDTH: 100%; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.earthpoint.us/images/Rates.jpg" border="0" /></a>Bill Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05788143356246417053noreply@blogger.com0