Google Earth providing Situation Awareness for Forest Service

Some 4,250 federal firefighting and land management personnel at several natural-resource agencies within USDA and the Interior Department are using new fusion tools built on Javan and Google Earth Pro.

Linda Naill, an aircraft dispatcher at the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center in Minden, Nev., said she mostly uses the Google version in her job managing up to 20 aircraft at a time from the facility, which oversees 11.5 million acres.

“The neat thing about Google Earth is they’re three-dimensional,” Naill said. “When I put a [temporary flight restriction] in place, I can really see if I’m impacting someone, and if someone violates it, we can easily figure that out.”

Skyline Available, Reviewed but not Officially Announced

In the new world of not announcing new products comes this odd mix of non-PR.

Ogle Earth and Virtual Globes get an e-mail stating that Skyline Globe is now available.

Virtual Globes and the Earth is Square post reviews. (Directions posted one when the site was announced but still password protected.)

When I contacted the company yesterday asking for confirmation of the release (since I saw nothing on the company website and didn’t received an e-mail) I received this.

We have unlocked the access restriction of SkylineGlobe to our users/developers. We are not planning to advertise our launch at this time.

There, I guess I’ve done my part to help out in this non-campaign.