NASA WorldWind application lets you zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth. Virtually visit any place in the world.
Leveraging Landsat satellite imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, this program lets you experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if you were there.
Look across the Andes, into the Grand Canyon, over the Alps, or along the African Sahara. The application is designed with a focus on ease of use, making it accessible to users of all experience levels. Most functions can be controlled with a two-button mouse.
Additional guides and features you can access through a simplified menu. Navigate with a single mouse click or enter a location to automatically zoom to it.
NASA has released this open-source program to improve its quality through peer review, maximize awareness and impact of NASA research, and increase dissemination of WorldWind in support of NASA’s mission: To inspire the next generation of explorers … as only NASA can.
WorldWind is an open-source virtual globe API. It allows developers to quickly and easily create interactive visualizations of 3D globes, maps, and geographical information. Organizations around the world use WorldWind to monitor weather patterns, visualize cities and terrain, track vehicle movement, analyze geospatial data, and educate humanity about the Earth.
NASA WorldWind Features:
- 3D Engine
- Blue Marble
- Landsat 7
- SRTM
- MODIS
- GLOBE
- Landmark Set
NASA WorldWind – Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✓ Provides an interactive 3D virtual globe with high-resolution satellite imagery, terrain data, and geographic layers for exploring Earth and other planetary bodies. | ✗ The interface and feature set are designed primarily for developers and GIS professionals, resulting in a steeper learning curve for casual users. |
| ✓ Supports multiple geospatial data formats and standards, making it suitable for scientific visualization, GIS projects, and custom mapping applications. | ✗ Some advanced features require programming knowledge for customization or integration with existing applications. |
| ✓ Open-source platform that allows developers to extend functionality and build customized geospatial visualization solutions. | ✗ Performance depends on available system resources and internet speed when rendering large datasets or high-resolution imagery. |
| ✓ Includes Java-based NASA WorldWind for desktop applications and Web WorldWind for browser-based interactive mapping, offering flexibility across different environments. | ✗ Offers fewer built-in consumer-oriented navigation and place discovery features than mainstream mapping applications. |
| ✓ Supports integration of custom imagery, elevation models, and map services, making it valuable for education, research, and government projects. | ✗ The desktop version is updated less frequently than many modern geospatial visualization platforms, with most recent development focused on the web-based edition. |
What’s New in NASA World Wind 2.2.0:
- Upgrade to Java 11
- Upgrade to the OpenGL layer (JOGL) 2.4
- Switch to the Apache 2.0 license
- Deprecation of unsupported functionality such as Applets, WebStart, and WebView.
What’s New in NASA Web World Wind 0.10.0:
- Google Chrome 61.0 (incl. Android)
- Mozilla Firefox 56.0
- Apple Safari 13.1 (incl. iOS)
- Microsoft Edge 40.0
- Microsoft IE 11
Official Homepage – https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov
Size: 126 MB
DOWNLOAD NASA WorldWind Java 2.2.0
DOWNLOAD NASA Web WorldWind 0.10.0
