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- GlobalClouds Plugins for WorldWind 1.3.2 or above (maybe...)
- Version 0.6, february 2006
- Patrick Murris - http://www.alpix.com/3d/worldwin/
-
- What
- ----
-
- The GlobalClouds plugin downloads, process alpha channel (tranparency)
- and renders the latest available global cloud map over the globe.
-
- It will update every three hours and keep an history of 10 days.
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- Settings allow to browse older cloud maps in the history.
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-
- Install
- -------
-
- 1. You need WW 1.3.2 or 1.3.3.1 (as of today). Wont work in 1.3.1.
-
- 2. Unzip in your WW Plugins directory. That should add a folder named 'GlobalClouds'.
- Note: if you dont already have a 'Plugins' directory inside
- Program Files/Nasa/WorldWind 1.3, then create one.
-
- 3. Start WW and the new plugin should be listed in Plug-ins->Load/Unload.
-
- 4. Once loaded, it becomes a layer in the Layer Manager (key L)
-
- 5. Right Click on a layer for settings (properties)
-
- Uninstall
- ---------
-
- 1. Delete the Program Files/Nasa/WorldWind 1.3/Plugins/GlobalClouds directory
-
- Notes
- -----
-
- * Keeping cloud maps past ten days
-
- The plugin automaticaly cleans up the history by looking at files named "clouds*.png".
- If you want to exclude cloud maps from this cleanup process so they dont go away,
- rename them "saved_clouds_date-time.png" or any name that does not start with 'clouds'.
-
-
- * Cloud map source
-
- A list of available servers is in GlobalCloudsServers.txt
-
- The cloud map is produced by a script written by Hari Nair and mirrored on servers listed here :
- http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/clouds.php
-
- He says : "I create a global cloud map every three hours using GOES, METEOSAT,
- and GMS satellite imagery downloaded from the Geostationary Satellite Imagery page
- at Dundee University.".
-
- And "These images are not real snapshots nor are they particularly accurate;
- they are mosaics created from geostationary weather satellite images. The times of
- the source images may differ by several hours since they are only available at
- limited times during the day. The cloud maps are not calibrated or carefully geolocated.
- They are only meant to make the earth look pretty!"
-
- To avoid adding traffic to the Xplanet servers, TheBean (with Bull on his back) has setup
- a mirror for WW users of this plugin :
- http://www.twobeds.com/nasa/clouds/clouds_2048.jpg
-
-
- * Adding or creating cloud maps
-
- You can add bitmaps to your Plugins/GlobalClouds/ directory and they will
- become available in the layer settings. Supported format is .png.
-
- For realistic effects, the bitmap should have a size ratio of 1:2.
- Example : 800px width x 400px height.
-
- The bottom of the image is the south pole. The top the north pole.
- It will be wrapped full circle around the inside of a sphere surrounding the world.
- The center of the image is at lat/lon zero.
-
-
- More links at the Virtual Terrain Project
- http://www.vterrain.org/Atmosphere/index.html
-
-
- * Public domain & Open source
-
- This plugin is not compiled and its source can be found in GlobalClouds.cs.
- Feel free to use, abuse, divert and copy any part of them. Thats how I got started.
-
- Many thanks to the WorldWind community for their efforts and feedback,
- especialy Bjorn Reppen (http://www.mashiharu.com/) for his plugin architecture,
- usefull tips and inspiring examples.
-
-
- Patrick Murris
- Montreal - Nice
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