How to Use Zoom Earth's Measurement Tools and Display Settings
Zoom Earth's measurement tools and display settings are accessed from the map interface itself: you measure by clicking points directly on the map, and you change units, appearance, and animation options through the Settings panel. Everything below is available on the web version at zoom.earth; the same controls are also offered in the Zoom Earth mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
Measuring Distance and Area
Zoom Earth provides two separate measurement modes, Measure Distance and Measure Area, both listed under the Settings menu.
How to measure distance
- Open the Settings menu and select Measure Distance.
- Click on the map to add your first point.
- Continue clicking to add each additional point along the path you want to measure.
- Double-click to finish the measurement.
On a touch device, the flow is slightly different: tap on the map to add points, then tap Done to finish.
The result is displayed in whichever distance unit you have selected (see the units section below).
How to measure area
- Open the Settings menu and select Measure Area.
- Click points around the perimeter of the region you want to measure.
- Double-click to close the shape and finish.
As with distance, touch users tap points and then tap Done. The area is reported in your chosen area unit — km², sq mi, acres, or hectares.
A practical example: if you want to estimate the footprint of a wildfire burn scar shown on the map, switch to Measure Area, click around the visible perimeter, and double-click to close it. The readout gives you the size in your preferred unit, which you can then compare against the Fire Burn Area unit setting to keep your reading consistent.
Changing Units
Zoom Earth lets you set units independently for each data type, so you can mix, for example, °C for temperature with mph for wind. The available options are:
| Data type | Available units |
|---|---|
| Precipitation | mm/h, in/h, dBZ |
| Wind speed | km/h, m/s, mph, knots, Bft |
| Wind direction | compass, degrees |
| Temperature | °C, °F |
| Atmospheric pressure | hPa, mb, mmHg, inHg |
| Distance | km, miles, nautical miles |
| Area | km², sq mi, acres, hectares |
| Fire burn area | km², sq mi, acres, hectares |
| Coordinate system | DMS, decimal degrees |
Two things worth knowing before you change these:
- Precipitation in dBZ is not a rain rate. mm/h and in/h are physical rates; dBZ is a radar reflectivity scale. If you want to compare rainfall amounts, stay with mm/h or in/h.
- Wind speed in Bft (Beaufort) is a scale, not a unit. It is useful for a quick sense of conditions, but it is coarser than km/h, m/s, mph, or knots if you need a precise number.
Appearance, Tooltips, and Theme
Under Customization you can adjust how the map itself looks:
- Appearance — choose Translucent or Opaque. Translucent lets the base map show through the weather overlay, which helps you relate a rain band or wind field to coastlines and cities. Opaque makes the overlay dominate, which is better when you only care about the data pattern.
- Map Tooltip — set to Enabled or Disabled. When enabled, hovering or tapping the map surfaces the value at that point. Disable it if the tooltip is getting in the way while you pan or measure.
- Precipitation Theme — Light or Dark. This affects the color scheme used for the precipitation overlay, so pick whichever reads more clearly against your chosen base map and screen brightness.
Time, Animation, and Satellite Loop Settings
These settings control how time is displayed and how the map animates.
Time format and time zone
- Time Zone — choose Local or UTC.
- Time Format — choose 12-Hour or 24-Hour.
UTC is the safer choice when you are comparing Zoom Earth against forecast model output or official advisories, since those are typically issued in UTC. Local time is easier when you are planning around your own day.
Animation
- Animation Speed — Slow, Medium, or Fast.
- Satellite Loop Duration — 3 Hours, 6 Hours, 12 Hours, or 24 Hours.
- Satellite Animation Style — Fast or Smooth.
A longer loop duration shows more history but each frame covers a bigger time gap, which can make fast-moving systems look jumpy. A shorter duration with Smooth style gives a cleaner sense of motion for a single storm, while a 24-hour loop is better for seeing a system's overall track.
Time control
The Timeline and Clock controls let you move through forecast time, and the Forecast Summary can be set to Daily or Hourly. The forecast models available are ICON (13 km resolution) and GFS (22 km resolution) — you can switch between them depending on which model you want to view.
Common Snags
- Measurement won't finish. You need to double-click (or tap Done on touch) to close the measurement. A single click just adds another point.
- Units look wrong for the data. Check that you changed the unit for the specific data type — precipitation, wind, and pressure each have their own setting, and changing one does not change the others.
- Tooltip obscures the map. Set Map Tooltip to Disabled while measuring or panning.
- Animation looks jerky. Try a shorter Satellite Loop Duration or switch Satellite Animation Style to Smooth.
What This Lets You Do
With these controls set, you can measure a storm's distance from a coastline, size a burn area, read wind and pressure in the units your own reference material uses, and animate satellite imagery over a window that matches the event you are tracking. The settings are independent, so it is worth spending a minute configuring units and time zone once, then leaving them in place for consistent readings across sessions.