Google earth

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and

building stock survey: Project Rainbow I

NHRE: Natural Hazards and Risks

in Structural Engineering

Bauhaus-Universitt Weimar,
Earthquake Damage Analysis Center (EDAC)

Weimar, WS 2012/2013

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Tutorial Google earth

Only for internal use in

Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
and building stock survey:
Project Rainbow I

Not for public use!

NHRE

Tutorial Google earth

Table of Contents
page
1

General Options

Modifying Control Points for Raster Images

Researched data

Example Earthquake 21/05/2003 Boumerdes (Algeria)

Digitizing the building stock

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Literature

12

Tasks

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List of figures

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Tutorial Google earth

General Options

(a)
(b)

Fig. 1

(c)

Google earth 3D View options (a) Longitude/Latitude (WGS84) (b) UTM (c) Units

For digitizing the buildings in meters, you have to use the Universal Transvers Mercator
(UTM) projection.

Fig. 2

Google earth General options (Language)

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Tutorial Google earth

(a)

(b)
Fig. 3

Possible elements to view of Google earth - (a) Grid and (b) position of the mouse cursor /
centre of the area, that is actually shown (Google Inc., 2010)

You need the grid to register easily the picture in MapInfo. Four coordinates are necessary. If
possible, choose coordinates near the edges of the picture. When no grid can be seen, than
choose for example coordinates (see the middle at the bottom of the Google earth
window) of building edges, topographical features, and so forth.

UTM

Fig. 4

Properties of placemark Pt 1 with Name of Universal Transvers Mercator (UTM) projection

(Google Inc., 2010)
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Tutorial Google earth

1. Google earth >

File > Save > Save
Image
2. MapInfo > see.
Open Raster Image

Fig. 5

Google earth Save Image (Ctrl + Alt + S) (Google Inc., 2010)

Note: Projection 31 S doesnt mean Southern hemisphere! (see. Figure)

Task 1: Open and register Raster image in MapInfo

File > Open > *.jpg
To open a raster image (*.jpg; *.png; ): (s.a. (Pitney Bowes, 2011))
1. Choose File > Open. The Open
dialog box displays.
2. Choose
Raster
Image
(*.bil;*.sid;) from the Files of
type drop-down list.
3. Specify the name, directory
and drive for the raster image
you want to open.
4. Click
OK
(ffnen).
The
Display/Register dialog box
displays.
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Tutorial Google earth

5. Click Register. The Image Registration dialog box displays. A preview of

the raster image appears in the
lower half of the dialog box.
6. Choose the Projection button to
specify the images projection. If you
do not set the projection, MapInfo
Professional
defaults
to
Longitude/Latitude or to the default
table projection set in the Map
Window Preferences.
7. To add control points, click the Add
button to add a control point entry
to the Control Points list.
8. Highlight the entry in the Control
Points list and click the matching control point location in the image pane. The Edit
Control Point dialog box displays showing the control points location in pixels in the
Image X and Image Y fields. Click OK to save these entries.
Note: Remember to type a meaningful description of this location in the Label field.
9. Repeat this process until you have
identified three or four non-linear
points in the preview pane of the
Image Registration dialog box.
10. After you have defined all of the
control points, click OK in the Image
Registration dialog box. The raster
image displays in the Map window
under the vector layer. Use the Layer
Control feature to position the raster
map appropriately with your vector
layers.

Note: If you scanned in the image from a paper map, the map most likely contains a
graticule (latitude and longitude grid). You can choose those coordinates for prominent
features and enter them in the Image Registration dialog box.

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Tutorial Google earth

Modifying Control Points for Raster Images

If you must adjust the coordinates of a control point because the error is unacceptable,
highlight the point in the Image Registration dialog box and choose another location for it in
the Map window. To delete control points, click the point and choose the Delete button.

For more Information, please see the MapInfo Professional User Guide!

Researched data

11

building stock
(http://www.world
-housing.net/)

Data, Maps (preparation for digitizing)

tables, pictures, aerial maps, (digital plans)
with declaration of source

Fig. 6

Selected examples of building damage in the city of Boumerdes, identified by visual inspection
of pan-sharpened QuickBird imagery, acquired before and after the 5/21/03 earthquake.
Images courtesy of DigitalGlobe (www.digitalglobe.com), Figure I-5

Source: (EERI, 2003), (Adams et al., 2003)

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Macro/
Micro

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Tutorial Google earth

Example Earthquake 21/05/2003 Boumerdes

(Algeria)

Task 2: Register aerial pictures taken after the earthquake of 21/05/2003 and the actual state

Fig. 7

Aerial picture taken at 18/06/2003 after the earthquake of 21/05/2003, City of Boumerdes
(Google Inc., 2010)

Fig. 8

Aerial picture taken at 08/07/2009, City of Boumerdes (Google Inc., 2010)

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Fig. 9

Tutorial Google earth

Digitizing the building stock

Comparison of aerial photos taken before and after the earthquake of 21/05/2003 (Adams

et al., 2003)

Fig. 10 Aerial picture of the area of Fig. 9, aerial picture taken at 18/06/2003 (Google Inc., 2010)

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Tutorial Google earth

Fig. 11 Aerial picture of the area of Fig. 9, aerial picture taken at 08/07/2009 (Google Inc., 2010)

Task 3: Digitize aerial pictures taken after the earthquake of 21/05/2003 and the actual state

Fig. 12 Example of a digitized building in MapInfo and aerial picture of the area of Fig. 9, aerial
picture taken at 18/06/2003 (Google Inc., 2010)
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Tutorial Google earth

Data of interest:

Building type
Year of construction
Number of stories
Dimensions (length, width, height)
Vulnerability class acc. to European Macroseismic Scale EMS-98 (Grnthal et al.,
1998)
Observed damage
Damage grad acc. to European Macroseismic Scale EMS-98 (Grnthal et al., 1998)

Literature

Adams, B.; Huyck, C.; Eguchi, R. (2003): Algeria - Earthquake OCHA Situation Report No. 9 Research: The Boumerdes (Algeria) Earthquake of May 21, 2003: Preliminary Reconnaissance
Using
Remotely
Sensed
Data.
(2003).
[online]
http://mceer.buffalo.edu/research/reconnaissance/Boumerdes5-21-03/ (Letzter Zugriff
2010-12-13)
EERI (2003): M 6.8 Boumerdes, Algeria Earthquake. 71 S. (April 2003). [online]
http://www.eeri.org/lfe/algeria_boumerdes.html (Letzter Zugriff 2010-12-13)
Google Inc. (2010): Google earth.
Grnthal, G.; Musson, R. M. W.; Schwarz, J.; Stucci, M. (1998): European macroseismic scale
1998. hrsg. v. Grnthal (Ed.), Bd. 15, Luxembourg. [online] http://www.gfzpotsdam.de/pb5/pb53/projekt/ems/
Pitney Bowes (2011): Product Documentation: MapInfo Professional 11.0: User Guide. Pitney
Bowes Software Inc.: New York. [online] http://www.pbinsight.com/support/productdocumentation/details/mapinfo-professional (Letzter Zugriff 2012-10-08)

Maps are created with the GIS program MapInfo Professional11.0.

Tasks

Task 1: Open and register Raster image in MapInfo ............................................................... 6

Task 2: Register aerial pictures taken after the earthquake of 21/05/2003 and the
actual state ................................................................................................................... 9
Task 3: Digitize aerial pictures taken after the earthquake of 21/05/2003 and the
actual state ................................................................................................................. 11
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Tutorial Google earth

List of figures
page

Fig. 1

Google earth 3D View options (a) Longitude/Latitude (WGS84) (b) UTM

(c) Units ........................................................................................................................ 4

Fig. 2

Google earth General options (Language) ............................................................. 4

Fig. 3

Possible elements to view of Google earth - (a) Grid and (b) position of the
mouse cursor / centre of the area, that is actually shown (Google Inc., 2010) .......... 5

Fig. 4

Properties of placemark Pt 1 with Name of Universal Transvers Mercator

(UTM) projection (Google Inc., 2010) .......................................................................... 5

Fig. 5

Google earth Save Image (Ctrl + Alt + S) (Google Inc., 2010) ................................. 6

Fig. 6

Selected examples of building damage in the city of Boumerdes, identified

by visual inspection of pan-sharpened QuickBird imagery, acquired before
and after the 5/21/03 earthquake. Images courtesy of DigitalGlobe
(www.digitalglobe.com), Figure I-5 ............................................................................. 8

Fig. 7

Aerial picture taken at 18/06/2003 after the earthquake of 21/05/2003, City

of Boumerdes (Google Inc., 2010) ............................................................................... 9

Fig. 8

Aerial picture taken at 08/07/2009, City of Boumerdes (Google Inc., 2010) .............. 9

Fig. 9

Comparison of aerial photos taken before and after the earthquake of

21/05/2003 (Adams et al., 2003) ............................................................................... 10

Fig. 10 Aerial picture of the area of Fig. 9, aerial picture taken at 18/06/2003
(Google Inc., 2010) ..................................................................................................... 10
Fig. 11 Aerial picture of the area of Fig. 9, aerial picture taken at 08/07/2009
(Google Inc., 2010) ..................................................................................................... 11
Fig. 12 Example of a digitized building in MapInfo and aerial picture of the area
of Fig. 9, aerial picture taken at 18/06/2003 (Google Inc., 2010) ............................. 11

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