Google Earth formatting

[tonycondon]

Cross posted from rec.aviation.soaring

Ive got my google earth set up with the neat thing where it can read
an .igc file and then I can view the flight on my computer.
Im working on a class project on space shuttle reentry. our FORTRAN
code will find an acceptable reentry path for the shuttle so it doesnt
burn or break up, and flies a nice pattern to landing and Kennedy
Space Center. we will be figuring out lat/long and altitudes during
the entire trip down. What format do I need to use to write out this
data so that I can load it onto Google Earth for a sweet
visualization??

 

[vontresc]

I'd either try to create an .igc file of write KML directly out of the fortran code.

http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/

http://www.edavies.nildram.co.uk/ew/ewa-igc.htm

Pete

 

[pbucko]

I wrote some code to grab data from a cheapo gps and generate a KML file for my flights. Works great and you can "fly" the result. (I don't use .igc format)

I'll post an example file as maps.avnwx.com/data/sample.kml since it's to big to post here. Essentially, it consists of two basic parts: a "LineString" which is a long series of latitude,longitude,altitude<space>latitude,longitude,altitude... data for the flight path.

Then, I include a series of Placemarks (labels) which include timestamp, and textual display data, and a single point (which is one of the lat,lng,altitude from the above LineString).

-Peter
maps.AvnWx.com

...send me email if you'd like more info on the format.