Corpusfishing.com

[Neumie]

This is the second installment of tips and tricks for using Google Earth Pro. I made a post about a year and half ago about some of the basic tools within Google Earth Pro which can be read here: Click.

In this part I'll share links for data which could help make planning a coastal trip easier. **This is not for navigational purposes**

Adding NOAA Tide Stations

Clicking this link: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/kml/CO-OPS_active_stations.kml will automatically download the KML file of NOAA tide stations for GE. Once the download is complete I recommend moving it to a file folder dedicated to Google Earth files. Launch Google Earth and then in the upper left click File-Open and navigate to where you saved the file. Once loaded it should look like this.



To the left you should see the file "CO-OPS Water Level and Meteorological Stations" displaying under the "Temporary Places" tab. From here click on and hold "CO-OPS Water Level and Meteorological Stations" and drag it up to "My Places"; this will permanently keep it in Google Earth after you close out. Click the small black triangle to the left of the "CO-OPS Water Level and Meteorological Stations" to drop down a list of all the stations within the file. Here's the main issue with this data set is it brings in all the tide stations across the country. I highly recommend taking the time right now to delete all the gauges you do not plan on using. In my case I kept all the Texas gauges as I fish a lot of different waters.

Before:


After:


Zoom in on the closest tide station to where you're planning on fishing, click on the yellow push pin, and a small balloon will pop up.



In the balloon there is a link to that particular tide gauge's website on noaa.gov. Clicking on it and it'll open within GE. This is fine for quick references/planning, but if you're wanting to look up older data I recommend opening it within a web browser. If you look to the upper right they'll be a button to click to open in your default web browser; in my case it's Google Chrome. I'm not going to go into any detail on the ins and outs of using NOAA's website, but its got a lot of good info.



When you're finished viewing the tide gauge within GE look to the upper left of the screen and there'a button that says "Back to Google Earth". Click that to continue scrolling through GE.

Adding NOAA Current Gauges

Clicking this link: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/cdata/StationListFormat?type=Current%20Data&filter=active&format=kml will automatically download the kml of NOAA current gauges for GE. Once again I recommend moving the file from your download folder to your dedicated GE folder. Again open Google Earth, Click File-Open, and import the file to GE. In the "Temporary Folder" on the left you'll see a file called "CO-OPS Active Current Stations". Click on and hold and drag to "My Places". Click the small black triangle to the left of "CO-OPS Active Current Stations" to drop down a list of all the stations within the file.



Like the tide stations file there are a lot of current stations, so I once again recommend taking the time and delete all the unnecessary current gauges. I left most of the ones in Texas in my file.



Zoom in on the closest tide station to where you're planning on fishing, click on the yellow push pin, and a small balloon will pop up.



In the balloon there is a link to that particular current gauge's website on noaa.gov. Click on it and it'll open within GE. This is fine for quick references/planning, but if you're wanting to look up older data I recommend opening it within a web browser.



When you're finished viewing the tide gauge within GE look to the upper left of the screen and there's button that says "Back to Google Earth". Click that to continue scrolling through GE.

Adding NOAA Nautical Charts

Clicking this link: https://seamlessrnc.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/rnc/noaa_rncs.kmz will automatically download the kml file of NOAA Nautical Charts for GE. Once again I recommend moving the file from your download folder to your dedicated GE folder. Again open Google Earth, Click File-Open, and import the file to GE. In the "Temporary Folder" on the left you'll see a file called "NOAA RNCs". Click on and hold and drag to "My Places". Click the small black triangle to the left of "NOAA RNCs" to drop down a list of all the stations within the file.



You should see a lot of rectangles in five different colors. In the tab to the left go ahead and delete folders for "600,001 - 10,000,000", "120,001 - 600,000", "50,001 - 120,000", and "1 - 25,000". Doing so should only leave a bunch of green rectangles. (If you fish offshore keeping the "50,001 - 120,000" folder could be beneficial)



Zoom in on the area you are planning on fishing. Click on the green line surrounding the area and a balloon will pop up with a bunch of information.



Within the balloon there's a link called "Collarless Preview". Click that link and the NOAA Nautical chart within the green rectangle will load......very slowly. In the "Temporary Places" tab to the left a new map will be added; in this case "11314_1_nc Preview". I recommend keeping this file here so it gets deleted after you close out of Google Earth. It's a large file which can slow you're machine down.



Zoom into where you plan on fishing. After you do so click on the NOAA chart file which was uploaded in the "Temporary Places" so it's highlighted blue. Then between "Places" and "Layers" there's a small square that goes from white to blue (left to right); this will adjust opacity of which ever layer file you have selected in Places; which you just highlighted. Clicking the box will show a slider immediately to the right. Adjusting it you should allow the aerial imagery to show through the NOAA nautical chart.



I know there was a lot covered in this part, so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

[IrishSharker]

Thanks for taking the time to post this and share knowledge. Love me some google Earth.

[BayFly]

Thank you for sharing. Although I am a very challenged computer user I will attempt to utilize your gift.

[Donnie]

Excellent - i loaded it up and am having fun with it. I zoomed in on my brother's house on the island - and I swear i was looking into his 3rd floor window. I walked it down his pier - which i fished on last night - and then went for a close up look down pins. Checked my backyard, and the grass still needs to be cut, from the car in my driveway, this image is around 11 years old. I had used google earth with the regular product but the pro is better, with more toys. Am using your tutorial here - thanks.
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Don - permanent prescription of salt water therapy.