I'm still learning how to play with it, but this cool toy from NASA shows fantastic views of the Earth and has various tools to apply latitudinal/longditudinal grids, etc.......see http://www.majorgeeks.com/World_Wind_d4499.html
"World Wind lets you zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth. Leveraging Landsat satellite imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, World Wind lets you experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if you were really there.
Virtually visit any place in the world. Look across the Andes, into the Grand Canyon, over the Alps, or along the African Sahara."
