| Using Google Earth Pro for Information at Chemical Plants Richard Torian December 28, 2011 I. Introduction. Visually examining a chemical production plant from above the plant potentially offers useful information to owners, competitors, environmentalists, government officials, and possibly others. This visual examination can be done using satellite images (photography) of the plant. The purpose of this article is to report on the exploration of what useful information might be obtained by using Google Earth Pro. Google has for some time offered access to satellite imagery through its Google Maps and Google Earth products, both of which are easily used and are free. Google Earth does require downloading software to a computer for use of features added to Google Earth not available at Google Maps. Goggle has further enhanced Google Earth with additional features, and offers an enhanced Google Earth as a product for a subscription price ($399 per year for 1 to 10 users as of the date of this article). This product is called Google Earth Pro. Because of features available in Google Earth Pro, not available in Google Earth, useful for analyzing a chemical plant site, Google Earth Pro was used to explore useful information that might be obtained on a chemical plant using satellite photography. A Dow Chemical Company plant, the Riverside Plant in Pevely, Missouri, 63070, was chosen as the chemical plant to look at using Google Earth Pro. Styrofoam insulation has been made at this plant since 1957. The next section presents information about the Riverside Plant, obtained using Google Earth Pro. Information offered by features on Google Earth Pro, unique to Google Earth Pro, is focused on. II. Dow’s Riverside Chemical Plant Information Obtained Using Google Earth Pro. A. Measurements. One feature available in Google Earth Pro, not available in Google Earth, is the ability to make measurements. Using the polygon measurement feature, Riverside occupies 0.06 square miles. Several storage and processing tanks are on the Riverside site. Overhead (satellite) photography offers the potential for estimating the volumes of these tanks, if heights can be estimated using shadows or if the photography is of an angle that the height is unambiguous. One feature that Google Earth Pro has that is potentially useful in estimating heights, and from these estimations volumes, is the historic image feature. Google Earth Pro gives access to historic images of a site. For the Riverside Plant, imagery can be looked at for 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 1998, 1996, and 1992. Within this database of imagery for the Riverside Plant are images from different angles to tanks of interest. One image is from an angle to a tank such that the tank’s height can be fairly confidently measured using the Google Earth Pros’s measurement feature. Then, with this height measurement, and shadows from this and other tanks of interest, heights can be fairly confidently estimated for the other tanks. Then, with those estimated tank heights, and the radiuses of the tanks, which are easily measured, volumes can be estimated by computation. Using this approach, one tank at Riverside was estimated to be capable of containing between 500 and 600 gallons. B. Historic Images. As indicated in II A above, a Google Earth Pro feature is access to historic images. In the case of the Riverside Plant, at least 11 different images are available from different years, although the image quality for a few of these years is poor. Nevertheless, the good image years allow for the tracking of changes at the plant, if any, as well as potentially providing different angles (views) of processing and other structures of interest. These different views can be helpful in the analysis of what is being viewed. The images available for the Riverside Plant from 1992 show very little difference at the site between 1992 and 2009 for what is visual on the imagery. Having historic images serves a useful purpose of monitoring changes at the site (or lack of changes). Such monitoring can lead to useful conclusions about the site. Monitoring these different images can be used in conjunction with reporting on the site from other sources, such as from the company’s news releases about the site. For example, in the case of the Dow Chemical Riverside Plant, being able to view the satellite images nicely complimented other information obtained from searching the Internet. From Internet information, Dow applied for a construction permit in 2008 to modify the Styrofoam production process at the plant. This modification was required because of new US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. The satellite photography of 2008 and 2009 gives no evidence of a large, earth-digging, construction project. Such a project would probably not be expected knowing what modifications would likely be required to meet the EPA regulations. The historic imagery feature does show the date of the latest image available, which helps to prevent the assumption that what is being looked at is current. Much photography on Google Earth Pro, as on Google Earth and Google Maps, is not current. III. Conclusions. This article discusses two unique features available in Google Earth Pro (measurements and historic images), which can provide additional information from satellite imagery of a site being analyzed, such as a chemical plant. Satellite imagery might be an important database of information available to the information professional for use in the analytical project being worked on. It could be an important supplement to information found in other sources. A very convenient Google Earth Pro feature is its ease of use, including the ability to email images, being analyzed, to others. Google Earth Pro also can easily print, in good quality, the image that is being viewed. If you have an information research and analysis project that might benefit from satellite imagery information and analysis and the Google Earth Pro features identified above, please consider me for helping you on this project. You can email me by clicking here. |