Free Geography Tools

The gMapExplorer from MicroPath is sort of a combined stand-alone Google Maps / Google Earth browser that adds some additional useful features. Windows only, and you’ll need to have the Google Earth plugin already installed on your system. Start it up, and you’ll see buttons in the upper-left-hand corner to let you switch between the following four Google Maps views:

• Street
• Satellite
• Satellite with streets and labels overlaid (click on the arrow below Satellite to access this)
• Terrain (shaded relief with contour lines)

And the final button to switch you to a Google Earth view.

Controls to the right of these buttons control either both Google Maps and Google Earth views, or set parameters for individual views:

These include options to overlay a latitude/longitude grid on top of a map view, which becomes finer in detail as you zoom in closer:

A geocoding search box at upper-right lets you enter a street address, and have it geocoded and displayed on-screen:

A status bar just above the map view can display several additional pieces of information, including the USGS 1:24K topo map for the area the cursor is over:

Latitude/longitude coordinates for the area the cursor is over, with the options for several different latitude/longitudeformats, and either UTM (WGS84), or MGRS:

If you follow the instructions in the help PDF file that comes with the program, and download digital elevation data from one of several public sources, an additional elevation display become active, and you can create elevation profiles between two points:

This function is actually designed to aid in radio antenna placement; if you’re interested in that, see the help file for more information on how to enter antenna tower specifications (location, frequency, antenna height, etc.).

Sort of an odd mix of functionality, but if you need it, it’s in a nice package (and free to boot).