GBIF Biodiversity Data Portal

Create three-dimensional objects and polygons for Google Earth

Download this file to your Google Earth client and save it into My Places for future use.

Place the center of the Google Earth Viewport approximately at the location where you want to draw the three dimensional object.
Put a checkmark into the checkbox beside this folder.
An inner centering icon (yellow) and outer grey icon appear at that location.
Drag the viewport background until the centering icon is directly over the point of interest.
Once the outer icon refreshes at the same location, click on the icons and a popup box appears.
Follow the Web link to create three dimensional objects (a browser page will either open externally or inside Google Earth).

Download this file to your Google Earth client and save it into My Places for future use.

Capture coordinates around the perimeter of polygons such as buildings, fields, ponds, etc. Place the center of the Google Earth Viewport close to the location where you want to capture the coordinates.
Put a checkmark into the checkbox beside the downloaded folder entitled Capture Polygon coordinates from Google Earth.
A centering icon (yellow) appears at that location.
Click on the downloaded folder Capture Polygon coordinates from Google Earth and follow the complete instructions contained on the popup box.
Once you have finished, follow the Stop capturing coordinates of the polygon link on the popup box and a browser page will either open externally or inside Google Earth.
The coordinates will be automatically loaded and you have complete control over color, height etc. of the polygon.
The polygons that you create are rendered as three-dimensional objects in Google Earth for display and for saving.
The Measure tool (described next) can be first used in Path mode to transcribe the perimeter of the polygon. This renders a visible path with a series of dots on Google Earth that can be used as a guide for the centering (yellow) icon.

You can use the Google Earth Measure Tool to render a visible path around the polygon. In the Google Earth client menu go to:

Tools and choose Measure.
Choose the Path tab.
Click the mouse on one corner of the polygon and then move the mouse around the area and click on each corner.
There will now be lines and a series of dots around the polygon area.
The dots provide an excellent guide for the centering icon of the polygon tool described in Part 2. above.
Use Google Earth Help for more information on using the Measure tool.

To get the best coordinate accuracy make sure that Google Earth is zoomed close to the surface.
Make sure that Google Earth is oriented straight down and not at an angle.
You can also copy and paste the coordinates into any other program for further use.

These scripts have been contributed by Derek Munro of the Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility (CBIF) to GBIF beginning on 2005-09-28. More...