This page contains information on how to use the KMZ file generated by the MapMart ArcMap Toolbar. The generated KMZ file can be used to preview the exported satellite scenes in Google Earth. The KMZ file contains features to view the satellite scenes and also the associated browse images.
Opening the KMZ file
You can either double click the KMZ file or drag into the Google Earth window. Google Earth will zoom into the location of the satellite scenes.
Viewing the satellite scenes
Satellite scenes are categorized by the year in which they were collected.The individual scenes will appear inside different folders named by the year under the places section of Google Earth typically to the left of the earth/map window.
The scenes are displayed has color-coded polygons. The following colors represent the percentage of cloud cover in each scene:
- Green - less than 20% cloud cover.
- White - 20% to 40% cloud cover.
- Blue - 40% to 60% cloud cover.
- Red more than 60% cloud cover.
Changing the number of scenes displayed
Since the satellite scenes are coded with a time value, Google Earth's native Timeline slider can be used to control the visible scenes based on the date range. The timeline slider is usually displayed near the top of the Earth/Map frame. This slider has two sliders that can be used to set a minimum date and a maximum date to display the scenes.
Viewing infromation about a scene
Double clicking on the scene id link under the places section or clicking on the scene itself will bring up an information box where you can view the details of the scene.
Viewing the browse image
You can view the browse image for a selected scene by clicking the "Click here to view the browse image" link in the information box. This will download the image from the vendor and display it in Google Earth. Since we are downloading the images from the vendor, this process sometimes may take about 30 - 40 seconds. So please be patient while the image is downloaded.
