There have been suggestions recently that Google Earth is a “powerful tool” for science. Some disagree. At least one amateur used Google Earth to find an asteroid impact crater.

I just wanted to give context to imagery viewed in ENVI (similar to my Google Maps user function). mg_write_kml produces a KML file and an image suitable for viewing in Google Earth. The KML file includes lat/lon information to locate the image. The user function is only one file: mg_write_kml (docs).

Let me know if you use Google Earth for science and if this user function is useful for you.

Usage of mg_write_kml is bit more complicated than mg_google_lookup, but still straightforward:

  1. Download mg_write_kml and put it in ENVI’s “save_add” directory.
  2. Open an image with map info in ENVI.
  3. Display the image.
  4. In the menu for the display window, select Tools > Write KML file for Google Earth.
  5. After you select an output filename, mg_write_kml will write the KML and TIFF files.
  6. Open the KML file in Google Earth.