Notes on the Accuracy of Google Earth Pro Heading Information for Archaeoastronomy and Landscape Archaeology Studies

Abstract

Google Earth Pro (GEP) is a powerful tool that can be used for archaeoastronomic and landscape archaeology assessments. Of potential concern, however, is the accuracy of the GEP ruler tool and, in particular, the accuracy of heading information. In the present paper the accuracy of GEP heading information is evaluated. Comparative assessments are made using GEP imagery, airport runway diagrams and ground survey data derived from total station solar observations. These analyses indicate that the accuracy of GEP heading data is largely dependent on spatial resolution of the GEP image and length of the line being measured.

The archaeoastronomy of Tikal: A reanalysis

“…system. Romain (2022) has demonstrated the accuracy of Google Earth Pro readings to within ±0.047 • , conditions permitting. This reanalysis will apply use of these remote measuring tools in relation to the work on the ground performed by Aveni & Hartung (1988) and Šprajc & Richter (2014).…”

“…These spatial relationships were remeasured and reanalyzed by Šprajc (2021a, 2021b) and Šprajc & Richter (2014) in terms of solar alignment to important day‐pair intervals of the Maya ritual calendar. In recent years, archaeoastronomers have been leveraging the power of Virtual Globe software, such as Google Earth Pro, to access the potential of measuring azimuths of ancient structures remotely (Belmonte et al, 2009; Magli 2016; Romain 2022). Google Earth Pro provides embedded tools to measure latitude (accurately geopositioned maps), azimuth (using headings provided by the ruler tool), and altitude horizon (using the elevation profile), which are all that is needed to convert a point in the horizon coordinate system to one in the equatorial celestial coordinate system.…”

“…Google Earth Pro provides embedded tools to measure latitude (accurately geopositioned maps), azimuth (using headings provided by the ruler tool), and altitude horizon (using the elevation profile), which are all that is needed to convert a point in the horizon coordinate system to one in the equatorial celestial coordinate system. Romain (2022) has demonstrated the accuracy of Google Earth Pro readings to within ±0.047°, conditions permitting. This reanalysis will apply use of these remote measuring tools in relation to the work on the ground performed by Aveni & Hartung (1988) and Šprajc & Richter (2014).…”