How to bring GPS data into Google Earth and Google Maps

So you have collected your sample site locations with a Garmin GPS 60 and now you want to see them Google Earth or Google Maps?

Install a converter

To convert the GPS data into the Google KML format we recommend the “GPSBabel” converter. Go to www.gpsbabel.org, download the gpsbabel*.zip file, and extract it to any directory, e.g. My Documents\gpsbabel\.

Download and convert the GPS data

Connect the GPS to the PC and switch it on.

Start the GPSBabel program:

1. Open the folder where you extracted GPSBabel, e.g. My Documents\gpsbabel\.
2. Double-click the file GPSBabelGUI.exe.

Figure 1: GPSBabel

In the Input section:

(1) Tick the Device option.

(2) Select Garmin serial/USB protocol

(3) Select COM1 or USB, depending on how you connected the GPS device

In the Output section:

(4) Select Keyhole Markup Language

(5) Type a path and filename for the output file or use the (6) button to specify the output file

In the What? section:

(7) Tick the Waypoints and Tracks options

(8) Click the let’s go button to start processing the data

After the data is processed GPSBabel displays a message. Close this message and also close GPSBabel.

Switch the GPS device off and disconnect it from the PC.

View the data in Google Earth

1. Start Google Earth.
2. In Google Earth, select File > Open, select the file you created with GPSBabel, and click OK.

View the data in Google Maps

Take the file you created with GPSBabel (e.g. MyGPSdata.kml) and move it to your P:\public_html\ folder. This is a special folder that can be accessed from the internet.  (See here for details about this facility.)

1. Open a web browser and go to http://maps.google.com
2. In the Google Maps search bar, enter the URL of your file exactly like this: http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/student/<Your First Name>.<Your Last Name>/<Name of your GPS data file>.kml.
   For example, this will be:
   http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/student/John.Doe/MyGPSdata.kml.
3. On the right of the Google Maps search bar, click Search Maps. You see the data being displayed in Google Maps. Since the GPS data file is located in your P:\public_html\ folder, it can be viewed by anyone on the internet.

NB: Google Maps does not display KML files that are larger than 1 MB. Also, if your data contains hundreds of points, it is likely that Google Maps will display only part of it.