According to a 2011 TripAdvisor survey, 38 percent of respondents have used their mobile devices to plan a trip, and 60 percent have downloaded travel apps on their mobile devices, so it looks like GPS units are gaining terrain over traditional paper maps. Add your GPS data to Google Earth, and track your trips, generate tours from your tracks, geotag your favorite photos and even play a treasure-quest game called "Geocaching.
Instructions
1
Import a track from your GPS unit and generate a tour from it. Configure your GPS to use the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS84) datum, the internal coordinate system of Google Earth, to ensure your GPS coordinates are understood and properly used by Google Earth. Set your GPS device to capture tracks, preferably using highest fidelity to capture the most accurate tracks. After you connect the GPS unit to your computer, import the GPS data into Google Earth. Select your new GPS track in the Places panel, then click "Generate Tour" to generate a tour from your track and play it back automatically. Use Google Earth's navigation controls to customize your view and adjust the zoom and tilt of the 3D viewer. To view the elevation profile (the terrain pattern) of your track, right-click your track and select "Show Elevation Profile." View the elevation profile at the bottom of the 3D viewer, in the Elevation Profile box.
2
Geotag a photo taken during one of your trips and add it to your Google Earth My Places folder. Import the GPS data, recorded using the WGS84 datum, into Google Earth. Select a photo in Picasa and click the "Geotag" button in the Photo Tray to open Google Earth and start geotagging the photo. Zoom in to the location where you took the picture (on the track you just imported) and place the yellow crosshairs on any spot. Click "Geotag" to tag the photo, or click "Geotag All" if you've opened more than one picture in Picasa and want to tag all of them. Click "Done" to finish geotagging the photos. When you exit Google Earth, click "Yes" to save the geotagged locations in the My Places folder.
3
Create an image overlay in Google Maps to overlay a map over your GPS data. Import the GPS data, recorded using the WGS84 datum, into Google Earth. Zoom in on the part of the map where you want to overlay the image. Expand the "Add" menu, click "Add Image Overlay," type a name for the new overlay and select an image from your hard drive. Drag the transparency slider to the left to make your map transparent, so you can correctly place it over the terrain. Click "OK" to get a map over your GPS data.
4
Play the "Geocaching" game and go treasure hunting with your GPS-enabled device. Import your GPS data, recorded using the WGS84 datum, into Google Earth. Download the "Geocaching" add-on -- it's a KML file -- from Geocaching.com (see Resources). Open the KML file in Google Earth to view the geocaches; zoom in your area to locate specific caches. Analyze your GPS data, especially tracks imported from the GPS unit, to see if you are getting close to finding the "treasure chest." Note any particular points that might help you find the exact location of the treasure, mark them on your GPS and try again.
5
Add and edit waypoints on GPS tracks in Google Earth. Add waypoints to your GPS unit, but make sure it uses the WGS84 datum. Import the tracks and waypoints from the GPS into Google Earth. Click the small "+" sign next to "Waypoints," in the Temporary Places toolbox. Right-click one of the waypoints, select "Properties" and type a new name in the Name box. Click the button containing a flag, next to the Name box, and select an icon for your waypoint. Add a short description of the waypoint in the Description text box, then click "OK" to edit the way point.
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