What datum (reference ellipsoid) does Google Earth use?

Question

What datum (reference ellipsoid) does Google Earth[1] use?

I can't seem to find where Google Earth tells explicitly what datum they use. I need some sort of valid link.

[1] The default free version that you download from Google.

score 12 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 13 '20 at 08:05

12

Google Earth itself doesnt do any projection or anything, but by convention all the data (imagry, KML etc) 'imported' into Google Earth uses WGS84.

edited Dec 13 '20 at 08:05

PolyGeo

answered Feb 13 '12 at 19:50

Ryan Johnson

2

Is it important for this question, that the geoid they use is not a perfect WGS84 geoid, but an EGM96 geoid which is a sphere? https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!msg/kml-support-advanced/SL82unzyOfc/yuGWIpHa8rcJ – Matthias Kuhn Apr 23 '13 at 07:18
Does Google's also use this datum for its Google Maps Geocoding API? – craig Sep 13 '15 at 03:17
EPSG 3857, or spherical Mercator, is an interesting one. Since they use a different datum for input and output. https://alastaira.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/the-google-maps-bing-maps-spherical-mercator-projection/ – HeikkiVesanto Oct 30 '15 at 11:26

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 30 '15 at 11:15

7

The heights on google earth refer to EGM96 and are, therefore, Geoidal heights. The lat/long are referred to the WGS 84 ellipsoid.

answered Oct 30 '15 at 11:15

M. Mukul

1

That is pretty much the same as the SRTM C-Band data available on the net. – M. Mukul Oct 30 '15 at 11:16
1

Read http://www.researchgate.net/publication/281194714_Analysis_of_the_accuracy_of_Shuttle_Radar_Topography_Mission_%28SRTM%29_height_models_using_International_Global_Navigation_Satellite_System_Service_%28IGS%29_Network – M. Mukul Oct 30 '15 at 11:19

2 Answers2