Kampala — GOOGLE Earth, a software application that enables people and organisations to map their own surroundings and to beam to the world issues that affect them has been launched in Uganda.

The software application was invented by several engineers at Silicon Valley, the world's top technology hub. The application provides a parallel way of searching the earth instead of typing in text online, you fly virtually into that place.

Rebecca Moore, the manager of Google Earth Outreach explained to Business Vision that the product is the most realistic virtual global search available today.

The application is a high resolution satellite energy that provides map data images like roads and other salient features on earth.

"Organisations are now using Google Earth to raise awareness. One of the features is that anybody can contribute to Google earth by posting images," said Moore.

The most realistic application that Uganda can adapt is the use of Google Earth to promote her tourism as it is done in New Zealand and Egypt where the application is used to beam tourist sites.

It can also be used to raise awareness about endangered habitats and species.

The United Nations Environment Programme has for instance posted an atlas on Google earth tours of the social and political pressures on Mabira forest, one of the few surviving natural forests in central Uganda.

The other is the pressures exerted by the population growth on water bodies and infrastructure from 1974 to 2008 in Uganda.

In the US, it was used during the extreme weather catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in which 4,000 lives were saved. An emergency response was set up using the application.

Rescue workers used Google Earth to locate and fly to the latitudes and longitudes and then call helicopters to pick up survivors.

Google Earth was launched in Uganda recently at the Speke Resort Munyonyo at the premier Africa Geographic Information Systems, a premier mapping conference for Africa.

"About 50% of the information that people find on the internet relate to places and busy decision makers can quickly get to know what is happening," said Moore.

Businesses can use them for planning their operations for instance, if they wanted to build a new plant.