World Wind Users Document
From World Wind Wiki
The World Wind Users Document provides an overview of World Wind and points to additional wiki pages when more indepth information is available.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
World Wind allows any user to zoom from outer space into any place on Earth. World Wind leverages satellite imagery and elevation data to allow users to experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if they were really there. Virtually visit anyplace in the world. Look across the Andes, into the Grand Canyon, over the Alps or along the African Sahara.
For a more verbose explaination of World Wind and it's features please see World Wind.
[edit] Installation
[edit] Download Location
You can find information on where to download World Wind at NASA World Wind Download.
[edit] Installing World Wind
Run the installer that you downloaded and follow the prompts. World Wind will be installed on your computer.
[edit] Configuring World Wind
To configure World Wind you can use the keyboard commands ALT-Q
and ALT-W
.
You can also edit the configuration files directly. The configuration files are xml format and located in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\NASA\World Wind 1.3
.
[edit] Startup / Using
[edit] Tutorial
The World Wind Walkthrough Tutorial provides information on basic use of World Wind. There are also interactive animations that cover more indepth topics.
[edit] General Controls
[edit] Mouse Commands
- Left Mouse Button = Hold this button down and move the mouse to rotate the earth to the right or left, top or bottom.
- Right Mouse Button = Hold and drag your mouse to tilt the earth to see the 3D views of an area that has SRTM data. You will not really notice this function till you zoom in closer to a point on the earth.
- Both Mouse Buttons = Zoom in and out of the Earth.
- Scroll Wheel = Use this to zoom in and out of the Earth.
[edit] Keyboard Commands
You can use keyboard commands to navigate around the World in World Wind. You can access a chart of common key commands from from the Help->Keyboard Chart menu item.
[edit] Menus
The file menu choices are File, Edit, View, Tools, Plug-Ins and Help.
- File
- Earth – Switches the current world to the Earth.
- Moon – Switches the current world to the Moon.
- Save Screenshot - Saves a screenshot of your current World Wind view.
- Exit – Exits World Wind.
- Edit
- Copy Coordinates - Copies the current World Wind Uri to the clipboard.
- Paste Coordinates - Changes view to the World Wind Uri settings in the clipboard.
- Find Place - Loads the Place Finder tool.
- Refresh View - Clears all visible tiles for all currently selected layers.
- View (Some options available from the Toolbar)
- Toolbar – Toggles the toolbar.
- Layer Manager – Toggles the Layer Manager.
- Show Lat/Lon Lines – Toggles the Latitude and Longitude grid.
- Show Planet Axis – Toggles the planet axis.
- Show Cross Hairs – Toggles the targeting cross hairs in center of the view.
- Show Position – Toggles the position information in the top right of the screen.
- Motion Momentum – When enabled drag moving will cause the view to move indefinitely.
- Planet Inertia – When enabled the view moves smoothly and slows down before stopping.
- Point Go-To – When enabled, left clicking will center the view where you clicked.
- Twist Lock – When enabled World Wind keeps the same heading while moving around.
- Bank Lock – Makes sure the horizon is always flat.
- Vertical Exaggeration - The multiplier by which terrain is shown.
- Always On Top - Does not allow other windows to cover the World Wind window.
- Fullscreen - Makes World Wind occupy the entire screen.
- Reset Default View - Returns World Wind to a direct overhead view.
- Tools (Some options available from the Toolbar)
- WMS Browser – Loads the WMS Browser interface.
- Scientific Visualization Studio – Loads the Animated Earth
- Rapid Fire MODIS – Loads the Rapid Fire MODIS interface.
- Configuration Wizard - Runs the Configuration Wizard tool to change some settings.
- Options - Shows the options dialog, allowing you to change all settings.
- Plug-Ins
- Load/Unload... - Allows you to use a plug-in within World Wind.
- Scripts
- Play script... - Plays a camera script.
- Stop current script - Stops the current camera script.
- Help
- Frequently Asked Questions - Loads the World Wind FAQ page in your web browser.
- Knowledge Base - Loads the Knowledge Base in your web browser.
- Keyboard Chart - Loads the key chart image in your web browser.
- Walkthrough - Loads the Whirlwind Tour of World Wind website in your web browser.
- World Wind Forums - Loads the NASA World Wind Forums website in your web browser.
- #worldwind IRC Chat - Loads the chat page in your web browser.
- NASA World Wind Website - Loads NASA World Wind website in your web browser.
- Hotspot Finder - Loads World Wind Hotspots in your web broswer.
- About World Wind - Loads the About World Wind window.
[edit] Toolbar
The toolbar is a quick link resource to the most commonly used World Wind layers. It can be turned on or off via the Tools > Show Toolbar menu choice. The toolbar looks like the one pictured below. It can differ if extra add-ons have been added to World Wind.
[edit] Navigating in World Wind
[edit] Accessing Data Views
There are several different types of data views to World Wind, you read about them in Introduction section of this documentation. The most commonly used icons are located on the toolbar of World Wind.
[edit] Blue Marble
Blue Marble is what loads by default in World Wind. It is 4km to 1km resolution images of Earth. Once you are zoomed in past the 1km resolution of the earth, the LandSat7 Layers then start to load. Blue Marble Imagery is shown down to an altitude of 780,000 meters.
[edit] Creating World Wind add-ons
World Wind is designed to allow you to create additional features that can be used in World Wind without having to write your own copy of the program.
Information about the different types of add-ons and how to create them can be found at the creating add-ons page.
[edit] Appendix
[edit] NASA OPEN SOURCE AGREEMENT VERSION 1.3
See NOSA for the full NASA Open Source Agreement