Google Earth

Working with Google earth Pro to
Prepare Land Use Land Cover Maps and

Own digital elevation Model (DEM)
Prepared By: Seid Mohammed

February, 2017
Table of Contents
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Installing google earth pro .................................................................................................................... 4
3. Creating shape files from personal geodatabases for importing to google earth pro: ........................ 5
4. Working with google earth pro for land cover classification ................................................................ 7
4.1. Importing shape files to google earth ........................................................................................... 7
4.2. Adding features and land cover classifications on google earth .................................................. 9
4.3. Exporting Digitized features on google earth to GIS environment and extracting necessary
information ............................................................................................................................................. 10
5. Generating DEM from google earth ................................................................................................... 15
5.1. Collecting elevation points on google earth ............................................................................... 15
5.2. Converting point data to digital elevation model ....................................................................... 18
5.2.1. Creating DEM in QGIS ......................................................................................................... 18
5.2.2. Creating DEM in ArcGIS....................................................................................................... 22
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By: Seid Mohammed, E-mail: seidmmd@gmail.com, seidmmd@hotmail.com, Web:
www.seidmmd.wordpress.com, www.seidmmd.simplesite.com, Phone: +251 91 268 9258
1. Introduction
The use of geographical data is progressively becoming important for all government and non-
government sectors for different special and general uses. From those sectors, Agricultural Development
offices are currently using ArcGIS and Google earth software for different purposes like for land use
classification, slope map, soil map and development map preparation. The need for accuracy in all uses of
geographical data is becoming important so that all sectors are trying to modify the approaches from time
to time.
From the improvements made before, using google earth imagery by digitizing after geo referencing for
land use classification were one step higher than using old low resolution Landsat images obtained from
statistical agencies or online free satellite image sources. But geo referencing was the main obstacle to
work easily which requires more time to take readings from the field and putting it on the specified points
to make images geographically referenced. But classifying all land uses on google earth pro and importing
it in to ArcMap with its compatibility to do all ArcMap features is more simplified and easy to work.
Taking it in to consideration, I would like to prepare this material to be used as a reference for agricultural
experts where they are not using google earth for land use classification. Some steps and techniques are
gained from practical findings when facing problems to use google earth pro so that people using this
material needs to adjust to their own practical experience and professional instructions.
On the other hand, using digital elevation model (DEM) is become prominently useful for designing of
water harvesting structures especially for designing the hydrologic properties of dam constructions.
Having this importance of DEM, the spatial resolution of the raw DEM matters how our hydrologic analysis
is accurate and represents the real hydrologic properties of the catchment. The available digital elevation
models on regional level has the resolution of a minimum of 20 meter and this may not enough for
analyzing our small catchment’s hydrology. Using google earth pro, GPS visualization website and any of
ArcGIS or QGIS software the problem of resolution can be minimized and we can create out digital
elevation model.
This guideline focuses on the abovementioned two objectives and it is considered to have any shapefiles
of interest area that we are going to work on. In addition to that we will see how to install the software
from the available cracked setup of google earth pro.
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2. Installing google earth pro
First, we need to have google earth pro software with its crack folder with in which 3 files are found.
1. Double click on google earth win pro setup file

2. Click yes and then select English next
3. Click next  I accept the terms of license agreement  next

4. Select complete and click next
5. Click on install and wait, then next
6. Uncheck the right mark on “launch google earth up on finish” and then click on finish
7. Open crack folder and copy “evll.dll” and “patch” files and paste on C/program file/google/
google earth pro.
8. On the coming dialog box click continue
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9. Open the patch file  yes  click on “Patch” and exit
10. Back to crack folder and copy “default_it.kvw” file to the directory C/program file/ google/
google earth pro/ kvw
11. Open C/program file/ google/ google earth pro directory and rename the file kh56 to kh20
12. Now google earth pro is ready to launch and enjoy it by connecting to the internet.
N.B: - Recently, google earth also provide you google earth pro with your email login by
“GEPFREE” as product key and I advise you to enjoy it.
3. Creating shape files from personal geodatabases for importing to

google earth pro:
Importing polygons, lines or points is a vital operation to use both google earth and ArcMap uses together
in order to produce geographical information for different purposes. Personal geodatabases that we have
created on Arc Catalog and digitized on arc map can’t be imported to google earth pro as it is. So we have
to convert those personal geodatabases to shape files in to which it is appropriate to be imported to
google earth.
1. First, we have to decide where our shape file is to be saved (create a specified folder in D/ or C/
drive)
2. Open ArcMap and add the personal geodatabase which we are intended to import to google
earth pro.
3. Right click on the layer of table of content and navigate to Data  export data
4. Click on the folder sign which leads us to the windows explorer to select the destination folder
for our new shape file database.
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5. Navigate to the desired folder and rename the last name of destination which says
“Export_output.shp” to the name we want. N.B. the name should not have long characters and
space.
6. Click save and ok. Then on the coming dialog box, click on yes if you want the newly created shape
file to be added as a layer or No if you don’t want.
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7. Now your personal geodatabase is saved as a shape file whether it is polygon, point or line feature
until you follow the steps in the same way.
Your data is ready to be imported to the google earth pro where it is found on the new folder you
placed on.
4. Working with google earth pro for land cover classification
4.1. Importing shape files to google earth

Once we have shape files to import to google earth pro, we can add the file and it helps us to know the
geographical boundaries and locations of features that we are going to delineate.
1. Go to “import” from the file menu of google earth pro

2. Browse to the folder that the shapefile is exported
3. Select the shapefile and click on “Open”
4. Say “No” for the coming dialog box
In this step, you will go directly to the place where the imported shapefile location is found. The
layer will be added to the “Places” panel of google earth and right click on the layer name. Then
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go to “properties” and select the “style, color” tab  go to area and select “Outlined” option.
Then the areal boundary will be outlined so that we can classify the entire area of land use.
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Now our region of interest is ready for further land use classification and be sure that the next procedures
will be operated on the layer that we added on google earth.
4.2. Adding features and land cover classifications on google earth

The main advantage of using google earth instead of Bing maps, google maps or other online sources is
that the capability of allowing to add and export geographically referenced features like polygon, path,
placemark and models in a simplified way. The polygons, lines or paths which are delineated on google
earth can be saved in a form which doesn’t require further geo-referencing and can be easily manipulated
with GIS environment.
After importing the shapefile to google earth pro, the next task to do is classifying the entire area of the
shapefile that we import in to the actual land use land cover of the area.
 An important thing that we have to do in this step is zooming the whole area of our interest and
identifying the major land use land cover of the area. This helps us to delineate the minor land
cover areas and later overlaying with the boundary of our area of interest on GIS environment.
1. Right click on the name of the layer that we added to “Places” panel on google earth pro.
2. Point to “add” option and choose “Add polygon”
3. Start digitizing the predetermined land use type to be delineated on google earth
As previously stated, it is better to delineate the land use type which is found compactedly to one
side of our area of interest and appears less frequently. This is for the reason that after exporting
our work on google earth to GIS environment, we will dissolve the classified land use to the
boundary of our area to avoid the errors of boundaries between interior land use classifications.
N.B. for the land uses around the boundary of the area, it is possible to delineate out of the
boundary and later it could be removed by clipping by the boundary in GIS operation.
4. Write the name of the land use on the name line of the dialog box which appears after selecting
“add polygon” option.
On this dialog box, we have to adjust the fill of our delineation to “Outlined” under “Style, color”
tab and “Area color” drop down arrow.
5. When digitizing the land use, it is better to delineate by holding the left click and dragging on the
boundary of our land use as a pencil. It will save time compared to digitizing each point by single
clicking.
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6. After finishing the delineation, we have to say “Ok” to add the classified land use under the
imported area of interest.
7. Repeat the procedure by letting the major land use “Empty” and delineating all minor land use
covers with in our catchment.
8. It is possible to add the lines and point features on the same procedure which are found inside
the catchment by selecting “Add Path” for line features and “Add Placemark” for point features.
4.3. Exporting Digitized features on google earth to GIS environment and extracting
necessary information
 After finishing all land features and land covers inside the catchment, we have two options to get
them on GIS environment.
➢ The first one is saving the project by right clicking on the name of the imported boundary
and choosing “Save as” option, then saving it in “KML (Keyhole Markup Language)” file
format and later convert it from KML to layer formats on ArcGIS or QGIS.
➢ The second option is by using “DNR GPS” software, it is possible to convert directly from
“Places” panel of google earth to “ESRI Shapefile” which is convenient to add and process
on ArcGIS or QGIS software.
 To use the first option, the following procedures are to be followed:
1. Save the delineated land classification from google earth in “KML” format
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2. Open ArcMap
3. Open ArcToolboox  Conversion tools  From KML  KML to Layer
4. Browth to input KML file where the classified land use is saved
5. Browth and select the folder where we want the new converted shapefile is to be saved in
6. Change the name of the newly created file if it is neccessary
7. Click “Ok”
8. You have the layer added in the table of content which displays point and line features clearly
visible and polygon features not visible well. In this step it is better to change the layer in to
shapefile by exporting the features. To do this, right click on the points, paths or polygons and
go to “Data”  “Export data”. Browth for the place where the output feature class is to be
saved. Be sure the “save as type” says “shapefile” and then say “save” and click “Ok”.
9. For ease of the next process, select and remove the area of polygon in classified boundary
which is not delineted and is considered as major land use. Now we have the dininated parts
only in the area is easy to merge with the boundary.
Now the same feature in other format will be added to the table of content and the polygon will also be
displayed on the map view section.
10. Add the boundary of the catchment or whatever it is that we added and classified in google
earth previously.
11. Open ArcToolbox and click on “Analysis tool”  “Overlay”  “Union
12. Select the input features. The input features are the shapefile formats of the clasified land
use and the same format of the boundary of the classified area.
13. Select the location for output feature class of overlay and run the process.
You have the layer which has the combined attributes of the boundary and the classified land use. The
next step is giving a name for the major land use type in attribute table and the “Dissolving” the layer by
“Land use type”. N.B. It is important to “clip” the merged or dissolved layer by the “Boundary” to avoid
areas delineated out of the boundary.
Now we have the classified land use type and we can do further tasks like area calculation, overlay with
slope, soil and other relevant layers. Other features like point features and paths are ready for analysis
after changing the formats to ESRI shapefiles. Finaly we have to symbology for the classified watershed
and make it attractive and useful for the intended purpose of our task.
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 The second option of using DNR GPS software is simple and fast.
1. After classifying the land use in google earth, directly open the DNR GPS software  go to file
 Load from  Google earth  my places
2. Select the connection name and layer name on the coming dialog box
3. In the “Select TIDENT field” dialog box select the “Name” option
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4. Select “File”  Save To  File/and or Arcmap  file/  select the folder where it should
be saved and select the file format (ESRI shape file(2 d)) and finally click “Save”.
Now we have the delineated part of our area of interest and we can proceed the previous steps of option
one and we can have the classified land use map as a product.
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All the above GIS operation and analysis could be done either with ArcGIS or QGIS. The previous examples
are illustrated based on the processes of ArcGIS. But QGIS is also capable of doing that and it is open
source software which has competent ability with ArcGIS. All tools could be found in the “Processing
Toolbox” window and we can search what we want to do.
Using QGIS is advantageous when we are getting difficulties to install ArcGIS in our computer and when
we want to use license free software. It is much enough powerful in all GIS works, available online for
free, and simple click to install.
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5. Generating DEM from google earth
As it is stated on the introductory part, digital elevation model (DEM) which is possible to obtain from
satellite images, is one of frequently used GIS datasets in modern agriculture. From the application areas
of it, utilization for water harvesting structure designing, watershed delineation, depression site selection,
agro-climatic zonation and different elevation based analyses are some of utilization areas which are
becoming common in agriculture sector. But the availability of better resolution DEM and even access to
the free online DEM data may be difficult to some experts and planners. This paper tries to answer the
problem of accessing better resolution DEM for different purposes.
5.1. Collecting elevation points on google earth

The first thing that we need to have is google earth pro version software on our computer. This version
allows us to import any GIS data and it makes easy to work with our interest area of region.
1. Open google earth pro  zoom to the area of interest

2. Click to the “Add path” button and draw the path as much as the area is covered. This ensures to
take points at every heterogenous surface.
3. Click “Ok” to add it on the places panel.

4. Right click on the layer name of the path that we already create and click on the “Save place as”
option.
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5. Save it as “kml” file format on the appropriate directory
This file needs to be imported to “GPS Visualizer” website it has to have elevation data parallel with the
position of each point.
6. Open any browser and go to www.gpsvisualizer.com/

7. Click on “Look Up Elevations” tab on the web.
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8. Choose the saved “kml” file on the choose file option  select “Plain Text” on “Output” option
 select “convert & add elevation” option
Now, the latitude, longitude and altitude will be displayed on the webpage and there is an option to
download the text file to our computer. Select the “Click to download option” and now we have the three-
dimension point data for preparing digital elevation model.
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5.2. Converting point data to digital elevation model
At this step, we have the text file of all possible points of path that we create on google earth pro and it
is possible to add as a layer to ArcGIS or QGIS.
5.2.1. Creating DEM in QGIS

Add the text file to QGIS by selecting “Layer”  Add layer  Add Delimited Text Layer; or directly it is
possible to add by selecting the button
On the coming dialog box browse to the location of the text file, change the layer name if it is needed,
select “Custom delimiters”, check the values of latitude, longitude and altitude and click “Ok”.
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• Right click on the layer name under layer panel
• Select “Set Layer CRS” and set the coordinate system (e.g. WGS 84 /UTM Zone 37N) Click “Ok”
Now the point data will be displayed on the QGIS environment. The next step will be exporting the point
data to have ESRI shapefile which is convenient to further duties. To do that: -
 Right click on the layer of the point data on “Layer Panel”  Select “Save As” Option
 On the coming dialog box select “ESRI Shapefile” on the file format options
 Chose the directory to put and give a file name by selecting “browse”
 On the CRS option select the coordinate system of the area (e.g. WGS 84 /UTM Zone 37N) 
Click “Ok”
After doing that, the next step is to generate digital elevation model from those ESRI Shapefile point data. In QGIS it
is possible to generate DEM directly from point data.
For this algorithm operation, first we have to activate the processing toolbox from “Processing”  “Toolbox”
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After activating the processing toolbox, go to “SAGA Geoalgorithms”  “Raster creation tools”  “Natural neighbor”
 Select the point layer which is exported to use for DEM generation
 On the “Attribute” option choose “Altitude”
 On the “output extent” option select “Choose Layer /Canvas extent”  select the layer name on the coming
dialog box drop down arrow  “Ok”
 Write the cell size we want to generate in degree (e.g. 0.00005 or 0.0003)
 On the grid option, select “Save to File” and choose the directory where the grid to be saved.
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 Click “Run”
Now we have the digital elevation model for our interest area with our cell size interest. This data is ready to
manipulate in any GIS software for any DEM products like contour, watershed delineation, hill shade, Aspect, etc
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5.2.2. Creating DEM in ArcGIS
The final DEM product of all QGIS and ArcGIS is the same since the algorithms are the same. But users
may prefer one to use because of simplicity and familiarity.
In ArcGIS, there will be intermediate product between the point data and digital elevation model (i.e.
Triangulate irregular network TIN).
 Open ArcGIS  go to “File” “Add Data”  “Add XY Data”

 Browse to the text file
 Specify the fields under X, Y, Z correctly
 Edit the coordinate system to the right projection of the area
 Click “OK”
Now the point data will be displayed on the ArcGIS environment.
 Open Arc Toolbox

 Go to “3D Analyst Tools”  “Data Management”  “TIN”  “Create TIN”
 Choose the folder for “Output TIN”
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 Adjust the coordinate system
 Select the input feature class (the point layer)
 Click “OK”
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The final step is to convert the TIN in to DEM. To do this: -
 Go to Arc Toolbox  3D Analyst Tools  Conversion  From TIN  TIN to Raster
 Select the input TIN  Output Raster Location  Output Data type (FLOAT)  Cell size  Click
“OK”
Now we have the same grid size DEM with the DEM generated by using QGIS. This digital elevation model is suitable
for different purposes. Anyone can have high resolution DEM by adjusting the cell size when producing the it. But
users need to keep in mind that adjusting the cell size only may not give best results, rather it needs to increase the
number of points created when crossing on our region of interest on google earth by passing so many times in different
landscapes.
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Working with Google earth Pro to

Prepare Land Use Land Cover Maps and

Prepared By: Seid Mohammed

1. Double click on google earth win pro setup file

3. Click next  I accept the terms of license agreement  next

3. Creating shape files from personal geodatabases for importing to

4. Working with google earth pro for land cover classification

4.1. Importing shape files to google earth

1. Go to “import” from the file menu of google earth pro

4.2. Adding features and land cover classifications on google earth

5.1. Collecting elevation points on google earth

1. Open google earth pro  zoom to the area of interest

3. Click “Ok” to add it on the places panel.

6. Open any browser and go to www.gpsvisualizer.com/

5.2.1. Creating DEM in QGIS

possible to add by selecting the button

 Open ArcGIS  go to “File” “Add Data”  “Add XY Data”

Now the point data will be displayed on the ArcGIS environment.

 Open Arc Toolbox

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