Chapter 15 — Introducing Google Earth 301
FIGURE15-8: Roads in Google Earth.
Just as with Google Local, you can determine a route’s two points by searching for the first
point and using the pop-up panel to select the destination. Figure 15-9 shows a route between
Ambleside and Whitehaven in the Lake District in the U.K.
So far the routing shows nothing different from what you might expect within Google Maps.
There is, however, a slightly different view of the route available within Google Earth.
Terrain and Altitude
Google Earth includes altitude information for the whole of the earth. This means that you
can get a fairly accurate idea of the altitude of a particular point within Google Earth. Google
has, however, gone one stage further and provided the ability to display this information inter-
actively on the map. If you select the Terrain checkbox in the bottom left of the control panel,
the view of the map adjusts slightly, but probably imperceptibly.
But, change the attitude (or tilt) of your view, and the difference becomes obvious. To adjust
the tilt, use the slider on the right of the joystick in the control panel. Moving the slider down
tilts the map so that the top of the view rotates horizontally, moving your perspective closer to
the ground. Moving the slider up rotates the map up.