NASA WorldWind is an

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

(released under the NOSA license and the Apache 2.0 license)

virtual globe A virtual globe is a 3D computer graphics, three-dimensional (3D) software model or representation of Earth or another world. A virtual globe provides the user with the ability to freely move around in the virtual environment by changing the vie ...

. According to the website, "WorldWind is an open source virtual globe API. WorldWind allows developers to quickly and easily create interactive visualizations of 3D globe, map and geographical information. Organizations around the world use WorldWind to monitor weather patterns, visualize cities and terrain, track vehicle movement, analyze geospatial data and educate humanity about the Earth." It was first developed by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

in 2003 for use on

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s and then further developed in concert with the open source community since 2004. a web-based version of WorldWind is available online. An Android version is also available. The original version relied on .NET Framework, which ran only on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. The more recent

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

version, WorldWind Java, is cross platform, a

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific t ...

(SDK) aimed at developers and, unlike the old .NET version, not a standalone

application in the style of

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

. The WorldWind Java version was awarded NASA Software of the Year in November 2009. The program overlays NASA and

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell im ...

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

topographic maps In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...

Keyhole Markup Language Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Key ...

(KML) and Collada files.

Overview

Though widely available since 2003, WorldWind was released with the NASA Open Source Agreement license in 2004. The latest Java-based version (2.1.0), was released in December 2016. As of 2015 a web based version of WorldWind is under development and available online. An Android version is also available. The previous .NET-based version was an application with an extensive suite of plugins. Apart from the Earth there are several worlds:

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

(with the four

Galilean moons The Galilean moons (), or Galilean satellites, are the four largest moons of Jupiter. They are, in descending-size order, Ganymede (moon), Ganymede, Callisto (moon), Callisto, Io (moon), Io, and Europa (moon), Europa. They are the most apparent m ...

of Io, Ganymede, Europa and

Callisto CALLISTO (''Cooperative Action Leading to Launcher Innovation in Stage Toss-back Operations'') is a reusable VTVL Prototype, demonstrator propelled by a small 40 kN Japanese LOX-LH2 rocket engine. It is being developed jointly by the CNES, French ...

) and SDSS (imagery of stars and galaxies). Users could interact with the selected planet by rotating it, tilting the view, and zooming in and out. Five million place names, political boundaries, latitude/longitude lines, and other data can be displayed. WorldWind.NET provided the ability to browse maps and

geospatial Geographic data and information is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth (a geographic location or geographic position). It is also call ...

data on the internet using the OGC's WMS servers (version 1.4 also uses WFS for downloading place names), import ESRI shapefiles and kml/kmz files. This is an example of how WorldWind allows anyone to deliver their data. Other features of WorldWind.NET included support for .X (

DirectX Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direct" ...

3D polygon mesh) models and advanced visual effects such as atmospheric

scattering In physics, scattering is a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including particles and radiat ...

or sun shading. The resolution inside the US is high enough to clearly discern individual buildings, houses, cars (USGS Digital Ortho layer) and even the shadows of people (metropolitan areas in USGS Urban Ortho layer). The resolution outside the US is at least 15 meters per pixel.

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

has allowed WorldWind to incorporate Virtual Earth high resolution data for

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...

use. WorldWind uses

digital elevation model A digital elevation model (DEM) or digital surface model (DSM) is a 3D computer graphics representation of elevation data to represent terrain or overlaying objects, commonly of a planet, Natural satellite, moon, or asteroid. A "global DEM" refer ...

(DEM) data collected by NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM),

National Elevation Dataset The National Elevation Dataset (NED) consists of high precision topography or ground surface elevation data (digital elevation model) for the United States. It was maintained by the USGS and all the data is in the public domain. Since the 3D Eleva ...

(NED) and

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a Japanese remote sensing instrument onboard the Terra satellite launched by NASA in 1999. It has been collecting data since February 2000. ASTER provides high-reso ...

(ASTER). This means one can view topographic features such as the Grand Canyon or Mount Everest in three dimensions. In addition, WW has

bathymetry Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors ('' seabed topography''), river floors, or lake floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of wate ...

data which allows users to see ocean features, such as

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches res ...

and

ridges A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

, in 3D. Many people using the applications are adding their own data and are making them available through various sources, such as the WorldWind Central or blogs mentioned in the link section below. All images and movies created with WorldWind using Blue Marble, Landsat, or USGS

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

data can be freely modified, re-distributed, and used on web sites, even for commercial purposes.

Add-ons and plugins

WorldWind can be expanded by using one of many add-ons - small extensions that add new functionality to the program.
Possible types of add-ons: * Point layers: simple

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing data. It defines a set of rules for encoding electronic document, documents in a format that is both human-readable and Machine-r ...

files displaying placemarks (point of interest) as icons * Trail layers: paths (routes, boundaries) * Line features: XML with a list of points visualized as a line or wall * Polygon features: XML with a list of points visualized as a filled

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

(flat or

extruded Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex ...

) * Model features: XML used to load 3D textured meshes * Place names: specific points (such as cities, hills and buildings) that are assigned text labels * Image layers: high resolution imagery for various places in the world * Scripts: files that control camera movement Plugins are small programs written in C#, VB or J# which are loaded and compiled by WorldWind at startup. Plug-in developers can add features to WorldWind without changing the program's source code.

WorldWind Java

The original recipe for WorldWind was restricted to Windows, relying on the

.NET The .NET platform (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a free and open-source, managed code, managed computer software framework for Microsoft Windows, Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems. The project is mainly developed by Microsoft emplo ...

libraries and

. A new SDK version has been developed in

with JOGL referred to as WorldWind Java. The latest version (2.2.0) was released in August 2020. This new version has an

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

-centric architecture with functionalities 'off-loaded' to modular components, leaving the API at the core. This makes WorldWind itself a plugin, so that it can be used as interchangeably as possible (for example via Python). This refactoring exercise allows WorldWind to be accessed via a browser as a Java Applet. A preview of the WorldWind Java SDK was released on May 11, 2007 during Sun Microsystem's annual JavaOne conference. Since WWj is an SDK, there is no single application; instead there are any number of applications using WWj, each with different functionalities, created by government agencies and commercial developers from around the world. These applications include simple virtual globe viewers, satellite tracker,

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database; however, this is not ...

platforms, photo editor, F-16 simulator, mission planning software and many more.

Android and the Web

NASA has since released WorldWind Android and Web WorldWind, two SDKs for the Android OS and the JavaScript-based

web app A web application (or web app) is application software that is created with World Wide Web, web technologies and runs via a web browser. Web applications emerged during the late 1990s and allowed for the server to Dynamic web page, dynamically ...

s. Like WWj, there is no single application for the versions.

Tutorials

* NASA WorldWind SDK Tutorial''

This Tutorial was developed by the Institute for Geoinformatics from the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

, Germany. It contains tutorials from setting up an Eclipse environment with the WorldWind API to building polygons from Linked Open Data geographic datasets. It contains important tips from beginners to advanced developers.

Forks and clones

* WorldWind Earth is a community that maintains friendly

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

s of the three current WorldWind SDK releases. They fork provide a release channel for builds based on the latest fixes and features from WebWorldWind's develop branch plus several "cherry-picked" enhancements from the WorldWind community. The WorldWindJS project is available on

GitHub GitHub () is a Proprietary software, proprietary developer platform that allows developers to create, store, manage, and share their code. It uses Git to provide distributed version control and GitHub itself provides access control, bug trackin ...

and releases are available on NPM. * Geoforge project contains a

of the NASA WorldWind project. Geoforge provides open source software. It leads in a platform that manages geosciences data and uses WorldWind features to provide a display of geo-localised geosciences objects. * Dapple is a

of the NASA WorldWind project, it is an Open Source project created by developers at Geosoft. Dapple is aimed at

geoscience Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

professionals, and has features aimed at them, such as easy addition of WMS servers and a simpler UI very similar to Google Earth's. * SERVIR-VIZ is a customized version of WorldWind developed by IAGT for the SERVIR project. * WW2D was a cross-platform, free and open-source application based on

and

OpenGL OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a Language-independent specification, cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D computer graphics, 2D and 3D computer graphics, 3D vector graphics. The API is typic ...

technologies and can be run on Microsoft Windows,

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

(

x86 x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel, based on the 8086 microprocessor and its 8-bit-external-bus variant, the 8088. Th ...

and

x86-64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...

) and

Solaris Solaris is the Latin word for sun. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Sol ...

on SPARC. WW2D uses images from WorldWind's servers. ** WW2D Plus One - an update to WW2D providing a 3D view. * Punt was a

of the .NET NASA WorldWind project, and was started by two members of the

free software community The free software movement is a social movement with the goal of obtaining and guaranteeing certain freedoms for software users, namely the freedoms to run, study, modify, and share copies of software. Software which meets these requirements, ...

who had made contributions to WorldWind. Punt was based on the code in WorldWind 1.3.2, but its initial release has features not found in WorldWind 1.3.2 or 1.3.3 (such as support for multiple languages). Currently, Punt is only available for Windows, but long-term goals include a desire to move to a cross-platform solution.

Datasets available

Low resolution Blue Marble datasets are included with the initial

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

; as a user zooms into certain areas, additional high resolution data is downloaded from the NASA

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides requested information for other programs or devices, called clients. Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending custome ...

s. The size of all currently available data sets is about 4.6

terabytes The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...

Earth

Animated data layers

* Scientific Visualization Studio *

MODIS The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra (EOS AM) satellite, launched by NASA in 19 ...

GLOBE A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

Real-Time Weather

Image/terrain datasets

* Blue Marble Next Generation imagery *

Landsat 7 Landsat 7 is the seventh satellite of the Landsat program. Launched on 15 April 1999, Landsat 7's primary goal is to refresh the global archive of satellite photos, providing up-to-date and cloud-free images. The Landsat program is managed and ...

imagery ** NLT Landsat ( Visible &

Pseudo Pseudo- (from , ) is a prefix used in a number of languages, often to mark something as a fake or insincere version. In English, the prefix is used on both nouns and adjectives. It can be considered a privative prefix specifically denoting '' ...

Color) ** Geocover 1990 & 2000 (pseudo; ''1990'' layer was produced from Landsat 4 & 5 images) ** OnEarth (visible & pseudo) ** i-cubed (visible) *

imagery ** Digital Ortho (DOQ - scanned black and white aerial image)s ** Urban Area Ortho (montaged color aerial photography of many major US metropolitan areas) **

Topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...

s * Zoomit! imagery (community produced layer) ** LINZ (montaged color aerial photography of New Zealand) ** GSWA (Topographic and geological maps of Western Australia) ** South Africa (colour satellite and aerial imagery) ** US imagery (montaged color aerial photography of many major US metropolitan areas) *

SRTM The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is an international research effort that obtained digital elevation models on a near-global scale from 56th parallel south, 56°S to 60th parallel north, 60°N, to generate the most complete high-resol ...

(SRTM30Plus/SRTMv2/USGS NED) terrain data (includes

)

Extraterrestrial datasets

Moon

Clementine A clementine (''Citrus × clementina'') is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange ( ''C.'' × ''deliciosa'') and a sweet orange (''C. × sinensis''), named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who f ...

(40xx - Colour, 30xx - Greyscale) * Hypsometric Map

Mars

* MOC (

Mars Global Surveyor ''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It launched November 1996 and collected data from 1997 to 2006. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined ...

– Mars Orbiter Camera) * MOLA (MGS – Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter hypsometric map) * THEMIS (

Mars Odyssey ''2001 Mars Odyssey'' is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectro ...

–

Thermal Emission Imaging System The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) is a camera on board the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter. It images Mars in the visible and infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in order to determine the thermal properties of the surface and to ...

) * MDIM (

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

– Mars Digital Image Model)

Venus

* Magellan Imaging Radar (color and grayscale) * Hypsometric Map

Jupiter

* Jupiter * Callisto * Europa * Ganymede * Io

Sloan Digital Sky Survey

= Survey Imagery

= * SDSS Server *

WMAP The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), originally known as the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP and Explorer 80), was a NASA spacecraft operating from 2001 to 2010 which measured temperature differences across the sky in the cosmic mic ...

Image Server

= Footprint Imagery

= * SDSS Footprint * FIRST (Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm) Footprint

Specifications

Baseline resolutions

* 500 m (Blue Marble Next Generation) * 15 m (Landsat imagery; except for polar areas)

Typical high resolutions

* U.S. ** USGS Digital Ortho: 1 m (grayscale; near full coverage) ** USGS Urban Area Ortho: 0.25 m ** Zoomit!: 0.15 m to 1 m * New Zealand ** Zoomit! (from LINZ data): 2.5 m (color and grayscale) * Western Australia ** Zoomit! (from GSWA): 250K surface geology mosaic, 250K topographic data, Magnetic Intensity, Bouger Gravity * South Africa ** Zoomit!: Spot5 10 m (colour near full coverage), Robben Island 0.5 m, Johannesburg 2.5 m

Altitude resolution

* U.S.: 30 m (1

arcsecond A minute of arc, arcminute (abbreviated as arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a degree. Since one degree is of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is of a tu ...

; USGS NED) * Global: 90 m (3 arcseconds; SRTM) * Oceans: 2

arcminute A minute of arc, arcminute (abbreviated as arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a degree. Since one degree is of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is of a tu ...

s and better

Age

* Some USGS aerial images were taken in the early 1990s. * Landsat 7 images are all taken after 1999 (except for Geocover 1990).

References

External links

*
NASA Web WorldWind

NASA WorldWind Java
* https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/android/get-started/ * https://jitpack.io/p/NASAWorldWind/WorldWindAndroid * https://github.com/WorldWindEarth/WorldWindJava/blob/develop/README.md * https://github.com/WorldWindEarth/WorldWindJava/wiki
WorldWind Android "Community Edition" SDK

NASA WorldWind.NET (legacy)
at

SourceForge SourceForge is a web service founded by Geoffrey B. Jeffery, Tim Perdue, and Drew Streib in November 1999. SourceForge provides a centralized software discovery platform, including an online platform for managing and hosting open-source soft ...

worldwind.earth
personal projects of Bruce Schubert, a software engineer on the NASA WorldWind team {{Authority control 2004 software Earth sciences graphics software Java (programming language) software Graphic software in meteorology Keyhole Markup Language Internet software for Linux Linux programming tools MacOS programming tools NASA online Planetarium software for Linux Programming tools for Windows Satellite imagery Science education software Virtual globes