The cyclone which hit Myanmar (Burma) last weekend caused an indescribable amount of damage to the nation’s people; the ill effects of the storm have been vast extended by the ruling military junta’s resistance to both substantive and logistical aid from outside sources.
And while Google has spend the past few days offering its users quick access to two financial drop-boxes established for a duo of international relief organizations, UNICEF and Direct Relief International (to which Mountain View has pledges a $1m donation, presumably to be made through it’s philanthropic arm, Google.org), the company has gathered a collection of Google Earth layers through its Outreach program to help any and all interested to observe visual data of the region in the aftermath of the disaster.
The information comes by way of organizations that Google purports to work with, including ReliefWeb. They’ve chosen to publish their materials in the Google Earth-friendly KML format, to be easily distributed to as many people as may choose to run the software program. While Google has made available any data it has garnered through affiliate sources, it has already collected a number of revealing layers, which include:
- Myanmar Ministry of Health Facilities
- Satellite imagery from a selection of providers
- Satellite flood analysis from MODIS
- Satellite flood maps from ZKI/DLR
- An animated storm track with category designation and wind speed