Google Earth Pro
Google Earth Pro
January 2015:
Google Earth Pro is now free to all.
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2015/01/google-earth-pro-is-now-free.html
http://www.google.com/earth/download/gep/agree.html
Key: GEPFREE
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This article is part of a series on choropleth mapping, to see other solutions, please visit the introduction here.
After participating on the Google Earth Community Forum, many users suggested that for educational purposes, Google Earth Pro will provide easy to use GIS and text data file import. Google Earth Pro normally retails for $400 however, Google has continued the Google Earth Education Initiative Program, which gives away Google Earth Pro grants for educational entities. I have contacted Debra Kettmann to see if SSC can obtain Google Earth Pro for educational use. This is a speculative play because there is little public documentation on Google Earth Pro, but the Educational part of the Community Forum suggests that it is essentially the standard version of Google Earth with additional data management functionality. I will keep an eye on this program and see what Debra responds.
Over Winter break, Google responded to my initial request to join the Google Earth Pro for Education Project. While I have played around a bit with the free trial of Google Earth Pro, it still has features like importing tabular data that are still locked in the trial. Google has offered the free use of Google Earth Pro for free for use in curriculums at UCLA. They have requested that we submit an application before we are given the full copy for evaluation.