Planet Earth

osgEarth – C++ geospatial SDK

osgEarth is a C++ geospatial SDK for adding accurate 3D maps and terrain to applications. It builds on OpenSceneGraph and GDAL, combining real-time scene rendering with access to a wide variety of imagery, elevation and vector data formats.

Maps are described using XML-based earth files containing the required data sources and layers. Applications can combine local datasets such as GeoTIFF files with online mapping services, render them in different map projections and navigate the resulting terrain interactively.

The project includes an ImGui-based map viewer, a simpler viewer without a graphical interface and command-line tools for processing, caching, converting and packaging geospatial data. Developers can also embed osgEarth directly within their own OpenSceneGraph applications.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

  • Adds geospatially accurate 3D maps and terrain to C++ applications.
  • Uses OpenSceneGraph for scene management and real-time rendering.
  • Uses GDAL to support numerous geospatial formats and map projections.
  • Combines imagery, elevation, vector features and other geospatial layers.
  • Works with local datasets and online mapping services.
  • Supports GeoTIFF, Tile Map Service and OpenStreetMap data sources.
  • Describes maps and their layers using XML-based earth files.
  • Provides dynamic terrain generation and level-of-detail management.
  • Streams and caches map tiles for efficient access to large datasets.
  • Provides a C++ API for embedding maps in OpenSceneGraph applications.
  • Includes an ImGui-based interactive map viewer.
  • Offers a stripped-down viewer without the ImGui interface.
  • Provides tools for seeding and purging caches.
  • Can convert imagery and elevation data between supported tile sources.
  • Creates redistributable Tile Map Service packages from earth files.
  • Supports shared and static library builds using CMake.
  • Runs on Linux, macOS and Windows.

Website: github.com/pelicanmapping/osgearth
Support:
Developer: Pelican Mapping
License: MIT License

osgEarth is written in C and C++. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials. Learn C++ with our recommended free books and free tutorials.


Related Software

Virtual Globes
Quantum GISUser friendly Geographic Information System
OpenStreetMapA copyright free alternative to Google Maps
MarbleCombination atlas/virtual globe
GeoMapAppEarth science exploration, global topography database, and visualization
World WindVirtual globe initially developed by NASA's Learning Technologies project
ossimPlanetAccurate 3D global geo-spatial viewer

Read our verdict in the software roundup.


Best Free and Open Source Software Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.

This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk.

You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more.

Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form.
Subscribe

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.

Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted