Google Earth Model - Auger South

Installing the Google Earth model file

• Download and install Google Earth (version 5 or later) if you have not already done so (note: the 3D features will not work properly with Google Earth 3 or earlier versions).

• Download the Auger South Google Earth model file Pierre_Auger_Observatory_English.kmz and save it to disk. Ignore any attempts by any browser uncompression utility to extract the individual files that comprise this archive. Note that some utility like WinZip might insist that it wants to save the file to Pierre_Auger_Observatory_English.zip instead of .kmz . Force the extension to be .kmz so it will be recognized as a Google Earth object.

• Double-click on the downloaded Pierre_Auger_Observatory_English.kmz file to automatically start Google Earth and rotate the Earth and zoom in so as to display the Auger Observatory in the field of view. If doing this does not start Google Earth automatically, you may have to first start the program and load the .kmz file manually. Explore the various controls for navigating around the screen, zooming in and out, tilting the field of view to explore the Observatory. Clicking on any object on the screen will open an information box on the object, with a link to the main Auger Web site.

• In the "Places" box to the left of the screen, you can expand or collapse the various folders containing the Auger model elements, such as Surface Detectors, Fluorescence Detectors, Laser Facilities, etc. You can turn on or off the various elements by clicking on the box next to the element name. For example, for the surface detectors, you have the option of turning on the actual detectors deployed, those deployed with their name designation, or displaying all default surveyed nominal detector locations (actual detector locations may differ a bit due to terrain conditions at the time of installation). You can quickly zoom in and rotate the field of view to see any building by double-clicking on the icon next to any building name. Note that the building will only be displayed if the box next to the icon has a check mark in it.

• If you expand the folder "Pierre Auger Observatory Argentina", you will find several subfolders. In most cases, you will want to make sure that the folder "Auger Surface Detectors" folder is checked, and that the two folders "SD Deployed" are not checked, otherwise the screen will be cluttered with all the surface detector station names.

• The Auger Observatory elements are in the "Temporary Places" folder of your Google Earth session. When quitting Google Earth, you are prompted with a choice to move these elements into your more permanent "My Places" folder. If you elect to do this, next time you start Google Earth directly (without necessarily clicking on the Pierre_Auger_Observatory_English.kmz file), the Auger elements will still be available to you directly without having to reload them.

• To optimize your Google Earth experience, we recommend enabling the "Terrain", "borders" and "Populated Places" options in the "Layers" window on the left of the screen.