World Wind

World Wind Overview (pdf)

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World Wind is an open-source 3D world browser which allows a wide variety of global data sets to be viewed in context on a scientifically accurate representation of Earth. Through its intuitive interface, users can navigate in 3d across the planet, zooming from space to any geographic location in the world.

World Wind allows users to zoom in to any point on the planet using an intuitive 3d interface.

Using satellite imagery taken from a wide variety of NASA missions, World Wind provides a simple, intuitive interface to view stunning planetary imagery. Beginning with a view of Earth from space, users see the spectacular true-color imagery captured by NASA's earth-observing satellites at a resolution of 1 km per pixel.

As users zoom into the Earth, World Wind seamlessly transitions to the Landsat 7 data set; a collection of images from 1999 - 2003 captured at 15 m per pixel resolution. At this resolution, neighborhoods and local landmarks are clearly visible for users to explore.

In addition to Landsat imagery, data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) provides elevation data on a near-global scale. This high resolution topographic database of Earth was collected over an 11-day mission performed by Space Shuttle Endeavor in February of 2000. By combining this topographic data with Landsat imagery, detailed 3d models of the Earth are created, allowing users to 'fly' across the Earth viewing the planet at eye level.

At the core of World Wind is a 3d visualization engine which powers the software's ability to serve up its stunning visualization of Earth. Using elevation data provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), World Wind models Earth terrain so that users are able to navigate anywhere on the planet, and experience a rich, scientifically accurate representation of Earth. Intuitive mouse controls make navigation as easy as click and drag.

Going well beyond simply providing a detailed geographic view of Earth, World Wind's layering technology allows nearly unlimited sets of data to be viewed separately or concurrently. Place and location names, country and US state boundaries, latitude and longitude, temperature data, rainfall, barometric pressure, and other datasets can all be easily turned on and off through World Wind's layer manager.

One of the most powerful aspects of World Wind is its ability to access data from servers across the internet. As users interact with World Wind, the application downloads information as needed from remote data sources, keeping the application lean while also managing bandwidth requirements. As a result, the ability for new datasets to be added into World Wind is nearly limitless.

To further enhance its capabilities in a networked world, World Wind features an add-on architecture which allows individuals to create their own data sets and make them available to users around the world. A web site has been set up to support these efforts, and to date, hundreds of organizations have expanded World Wind's capabilities by publishing their own data sets.

In addition to providing data on Earth, World Wind is also flexible enough to allow for data from other planets to be visualized as well. Currently a Lunar add-on for World Wind is also available, providing access to NASA's rich datasets on the moon.

Going forward, data from NASA missions to planets across our solar system will be added into World Wind, allowing users to visit such exotic locations as Venus, Mars, and Saturn!

In addition to adding additional planetary datasets, research and development efforts are also underway to expand World Wind's ability to deliver data in near real-time and real-time. As these capabilities become more advanced, World Wind will become a kind of digital central nervous system to the planet, allowing unprecedented desktop access to global data sources. In addition, intelligent data discovery mechanisms will also be built in to World Wind, allowing data to be located and accessed quickly from the vast array of data sets which will be available.