PMGlobe, version 3.31 3 Aug 2009
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PMGlobe User’s Guide


Introduction

PMGlobe is a program which displays the Earth as a globe on a Windows 2000 or later Windows platform. It can be run as an application or as a screen saver.

You can choose to view the globe from any direction, or select one of a number of ‘standard’ views; the image shown on the globe’s surface can be a chosen from several built-in images, or can be loaded from external files.

In addition to simply displaying a picture of the world, PMGlobe will also let you light the globe as though by sunlight – so you can see at a glance those areas of the globe where the sun has risen, and where it is night; this is especially effective if you choose a full-screen view.

Further options add shading to the globe for a three-dimensional effect, alter the view of the twilight zone, let you measure and track distances between points on the globe, and let the globe be drawn without a frame or background.

With the command interface included with PMGlobe, you can add markers, labels, clocks, and graphics to the globe and have more control over its actions. If you wish, a series of commands can be put into a text file for execution, or you can use Rexx as a macro language for PMGlobe – all PMGlobe commands can be used in macros. Other features are described in detail below.

This document includes:

The algorithms, data, and code for PMGlobe were first developed for PMGlobe for OS/2 and Palm Globe, globe applications for OS/2 and the PalmPilotTM, respectively. The current releases of PMGlobe for Windows, PalmPilot, and OS/2 are available from
http://speleotrove.com/pmglobe/

Acknowledgements

Many people have made suggestions for PMGlobe features when it was first written (for OS/2). The major improvement in PMGlobe 3 – full-colour images of the globe – has been made possible by NASA; the daylight image (the NASA Visible Earth image) was compiled from images captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on the Terra satellite. The night-time city lights were imaged from Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft. For details, see:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/

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Copyright (c) IBM Corporation, 2009. All rights reserved. ©
Author: Mike Cowlishaw, mfc@speleotrove.com