My Google Earth Pro Will Not Open

[Vinnie Frevert]

EastboundI-90 motorists wanting to exit at Blue Earth will be directed to the Guckeen exit and detoured to Faribault County Roads 1, 8 and 6 to get to Highway 169. The ramp closure is expected until mid-July, weather permitting. All ramps at the Highway 169 interchange near Blue Earth are anticipated to be open during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

The eastbound and westbound I-90 rest areas located just west of Blue Earth remain closed as pavement in the parking areas will be replaced. The eastbound I-90 rest area is scheduled to open in mid-August, the westbound in mid-October.

Traffic on I-90 is currently maintained with two-way (head-to-head) traffic, one lane in each direction, in the westbound lanes from just west of Blue Earth to one mile east of Faribault County Road 17.

Benefits of the project include improved pavement, bridges, drainage, and lighting. Other benefits include improved sidewalks at the Blue Earth Rest Areas to comply with the Americans with Disability Act. PCiRoads is the prime contractor on the $90,100,000.00 project.

When I start something new, I love to jump right in and get my feet wet (though, preferably in the Great Barrier Reef). As the new Environmental Sustainability lead at GitHub, this meant within the first few days of my job I was hearing directly from some of the incredible organizations that are leveraging tech to protect the environment.

Coming from Australia, my love for the ocean runs deep, as does my concern for how a changing climate is changing life for all of us around the world. So, I was thrilled to have a chance to speak with Kakani Katija, Principal Engineer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), to see how her team is using open source to research our changing oceans.

Kakani (MBARI): MBARI cares about building technology and approaches that allow us to study a changing ocean. FathomNet, in particular, is really focused on how to monitor biological systems at scale in the ocean. This is incredibly important when talking about sustainability and climate change, as we have no idea how the blue economy and blue energy projects that are being pushed into the ocean will impact these existing biological communities. We hope that FathomNet will unleash the power of AI in the ocean, enabling the future of conservation, exploration, and discovery.

Lassor: We have created a methodology in open source around how we prove that these are the highest carbon impact per dollar solar projects that we could possibly fund. And the methodology has three parts:

Users accessing NFHL through the FEMA GeoPlatform or Flood Map Service Center will not be impacted by this update. More information on ways to access the NFHL can be found at -library/assets/documents/13424. For more information, please call or email a FEMA Map Specialist at 1-877-FEMA-MAP or FEMA...@fema.dhs.gov.

Google Earth is a popular Internet application through which users can view maps. This web site provides zipped Keyhole Markup Language (.kmz) files through which users can view map overlays created from FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer on Google Earth images.

You must already have the Google Earth application installed on your computer to use these files. The starting point for obtaining the software is Information about the system requirements needed for your computer to run the software is available through A user guide is available at

FEMA offers two applications: "Stay Dry" and "FEMA NFHL." Stay Dry is more simple and focused. NFHL is less limited but more complex to use. Each is described below, and each has its own .kmz file. For optimum performance, please do not open both, and do not have more than one copy of each, in Google Earth at the same time.

To use the .kmz files, first save them to your computer. Do this by right-clicking on a hyperlinked file name below, choosing "Save Target as" (Internet Explorer) or "Save Link As" (Firefox), changing the file name if you wish (be sure that the file name has the extension .kmz), and clicking on save.

If you plan to use mapped flood information displayed in Google Earth for official purposes, insure that imagery and other map information displayed with the flood data meet FEMA's standards for map accuracy.

Some Geographic Information System (GIS) software can import GIS data encoded in the kmz format used for these applications. This technique is unlikely to work with the kmz files provided below. If you are interested in using the NFHL in GIS software, use the NFHL GIS data or NFHL Web Map Service (WMS) or Representative State Transfer REST) Service. All product options and services are available through FEMA's Map Service Center (MSC) at

"Stay Dry" is a focused application that provides basic flood hazard map information from FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer for an address. It allows you to view flood hazard zones and Flood Insurance Rate Map numbers and boundaries.

"FEMA NFHL" is a general application that provides for the display of flood hazard zones and labels, floodways, Coastal Barrier Resources System and Otherwise Protected Area units, community boundaries and names, base flood elevations, cross sections and coastal transects and their labels, hydraulic and flood control structures, flood profile baselines, coastal transect baselines, limit of moderate wave action lines, river mile markers, and Flood Insurance Rate Map and Letter of Map Revision boundaries and numbers. Additional reference layers include the status of NFHL data availability, point locations for Letters of Map Amendment (LOMAs) and Letters of Map Revision Based on Fill (LOMR-Fs). You control the information displayed by turning layers on and off. A basic knowledge of Google Earth and FEMA flood hazard information will help users of this application.

The name of each layer is hyperlinked to a description of the layer, the map symbols used for the layer, and links to other FEMA web sites relevant to the layer. If a layer is turned on, clicking the text below the name of the layer (text that starts with "Draws at...") zooms the Google Earth view to a sample display of the layer. Layers are organized for display at one or more of three "eye altitude" (map scale) ranges in Google Earth: status maps at high altitudes, regional overviews of flood hazards at medium altitudes, and detailed flood hazard maps at low altitudes. Click on the hyperlinked folder name of the application to see the altitudes at which data in the layers are displayed.

Version 3.0.1 includes a NFHL data status layer, simplified flood hazard symbols which match the latest in Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) specifications and an updated organization of features and layers to align with the latest FIRM Database schema.

First session: Double-click on the FEMA NFHL.kmz file that you downloaded to your computer.Google Earth will open and display the FEMANFHL welcome button (see area a in Figure 1), amap overlay that shows the status of datacoverage (see area b), and the "National FloodHazard Layer (FEMA)" folder under TemporaryPlaces in the "Places"panel (area c). Otherimportant areas are the navigation controls forGoogle Earth (area d) and the eye altitude ("Eye alt") readout (area e).

Turn on the status bar. Go to the menu bar (File, Edit, View, etc.) at the top of the Google Earth window, click on View, and click on Status Bar. The map display has a confusing set of overlays that I do not remember turning on. How do I limit the overlays to those that I want to see?

Inspect the status of all the layers in the "Places" panel. Be sure to turn on only the overlays you need, and turn off all other layers and applications that display FEMA flood data (like FEMA’s Stay Dry application). See area C in Figure 1.

There is a default lag of 4 seconds built into the KMZ so that each movement/pan of the service does not immediately send a request to the GIS infrastructure and create more map requests that increases the lag on the entire system. Pan/Zoom to the exact location of interest and view the data when the page loads. Once the infrastructure is at full capacity, we will look into revising the KMZs to reduce the default lag time.

For official NFIP purposes base maps must have a horizontal radial accuracy (Accuracy) better than or equal to 38 feet (11.58 meters) as measured using the National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy. (This measure is equal to maps of scales larger than or equal to 1:12,000 under the old National Map Accuracy Standard.) When using the NFHL for official purposes, couple the service with site location or base map data that meets this standard, or refer to the map images (FIRM Scans) or make FIRMettes on the MSC site.

DestinE will unlock the potential of digital modelling of the Earth system at a level that represents a real breakthrough in terms of accuracy, local detail, access-to-information, speed and interactivity. The initial focus will be on the effects of climate change and extreme weather events, their socio-economic impact and possible adaptation and mitigation strategies.

DestinE will allow users to access thematic information, services, models, scenarios, simulations, forecasts and visualisations. Underlying models and data will be continuously assessed to provide reliable and actionable scenario predictions.

The core service platform provides a user-friendly entry point for DestinE users. The platform will provide evidence-based decision-making tools, applications and services, based on an open, flexible, and secure cloud-based computing system. It will coordinate data, cloud and HPC infrastructures and provide access to an increasing number of Digital Twins as they become gradually available via related European Commission and/or national efforts.

The platform will make available relevant AI tools, extreme-scale data analytics and Earth-system monitoring, simulation and prediction capabilities. At the same time, it will provide dedicated resources to DestinE users, allowing them to customise the platform, integrate their own data and develop their own applications.

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