Flickr, Picasa and other Photo Sharing Sites

Georeferencing Photos (and other things)

Setup Notes

• Picasa2 loaded on the computer.
• Make a small set of photos available on www.kimbridges.net (some should already be georeferenced).

Skill Levels (Geographic References & Placemarks)

• Is familar with the concepts of latitude and longitude, but is not comfortable using these values.
• Doesn't use placemarks.

• Understands and uses latitude and longitude values.
• Properly represents latitude and longitude for all hemispheres.
• Occasionally uses placemarks with default values and minimal notation.
• Does not save placemarks in any organized way.

• Converts latitude and longitude between different forms of notation.
• Recognizes how UTM differs from latitude and longitude notation and works within each coordinate system.
• Uses placemarks freely, including adding descriptions and specialized markers.
• Stores placemarks in organized ways.
• Posts placemark collections so that other people can benefit from this information.
• Extracts placemark information from KML files.

• Generates placemarks from programs, spreadsheets and other non-GE resources.

Notes

• Merge a set of photos with a GPS track log
• Add georeferencing information to a photo using Google Earth
• Put a georeferenced photo on Google Earth
• Loading georeferenced photos into Flickr or Picasa

Georeferencing with Picasa2

General Procedure

1. Load files into Picasa2 so that the photos are open.  If your photo is not shown, add it using the File menu (Choose the "File" menu, select "Add File to Picasa...", choose the proper file, and click the "Save" button).
2. Select the photo you want to georeference.
3. Choose the "Tools" menu and select the "Geotag" item.  A menu opens; choose "Geotag With Google Earth...".
4. Google Earth opens.  Browse to the location using all the usual tools.
5. When the cross-hairs are on the desired location, press the Geotag button and then the Done button.
6. You can confirm the presence of coordinates by looking for the small plus-sign in the lower-right corner of the Picasa2 thumbnail.

Exercise

1. Go to the website www.kimbridges.net and click on the link to Photos.
2. Choose a photo and look at the notes to determine its location.  Copy and save this photo to your desktop (right click and choose "Save Image As...", browse to your Desktop in the file structure, and click the "Save" button).
3. Open Picasa2 and georeference the photo using the procedure described above.
4. Confirm that your photo is georeferenced.
   

Viewing a Georeferenced photo in the Context of Google Earth

General Procedure

1. Select one or more photos in Picasa2.
2. Choose the "Tools" menu and select the "Geotag" item.  A menu opens; choose "View With Google Earth...".

Exercise

1. Find several photos on the "www.kimbridges.net" site that are already georeferenced.  Save these to your desktop.
2. Look at these photos, as well as any that you georeferenced, in Google Earth.

Getting Coordinates from Google Earth

General Procedure for Google Earth

1. Browse to a desired location in Google Earth.
2. You can get coordinates in several ways.

• Look at the coordinates in the lower-left corner of the display.  You can change the format of the coordinates on the "Tools" menu with the "Options..." choice.
• Put a placemark at the location.  The coordinates will be seen in the pop-up box. 
• Put a placemark at the location.  Copy the placemark (right click on the name of the placemark and choose "Copy").  Paste the placemark into Notepad (open Notepad, right click and choose "Paste".)  The coordinates are listed near the bottom between <coordinates> makers.  Ignore the ",0" after the longitude and latitude values.  Note that the order of these values is opposite those given at the bottom of the Google Earth window (described in the first method).

General Procedure for Google Maps

1. Search the map and find the location.
2. Right click and "Center Map Here".
3. Right click on the Link to Map link in the upper right corner.  Choose the Copy Link Location link.
4. Open Notepad and click Paste.
5. Look at the information and find the coordinates (in decimal format) following "ll=".

Exercise

1. The parent navel orange tree. Go to the intersection of Magnolia and Arlington in Riverside, California. The tree is about 60 m WSW of the center of the intersection in the center of a triangular area. Mark the center of the tree with a named placemark.
2. New York Botanical Garden, Haupt Conservatory. Mark the entrance.
3. Darwin's House (Down House) in Downe, Kent, England.  Find this by going to the center of the city of Downe.  Then go about 500 m nearly directly south. Mark the entrance to the parking lot that is about 90 m NW of the house.
4. Mendel's Abbey. The address is Mendlovo Namesti, Brno, Czech Republic.  Mark the location of Mendel's greenhouse. The entrance to the museum is about 30 m NNE of this spot.
5. Linnaeus' Garden, where he lived for about 35 years.  The address is Svartbäcksgatan 27, Uppsala, Sweden.  Mark the center of the circular lake pond.
6. La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica.  Find the town of Puerto Viejo . It is about 60 km NNE of San Jose.  Go about 3.2 km nearly directly south of Puerto Viejo.  The river does a U turn below this location.  Mark the location of the bridge that connects the buildings on both sides of the river.