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Massive Mosaic of Canada
rvr writes "Thanks to compression technology that has reduced the file to 3.3 gigabytes and a collaboration between the Canadian Forest Service and the Canadian Space Agency called the 'Earth Observation for Sustainable Development of Forests', this gigantic image -- the highest-resolution image of Canada freely available -- can now be downloaded to your computer."
It had to be said. Even (especially!) if they can pacel out their bandwidth by making you contact contact "Jeff Dechka, Remote Sensing Data and Product Coordinator at the Canadian Forest Service's Pacific Forestry Centre in Victoria at jdechka@pfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca" to download it.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
since i just did a large project project on image compression techniques, i'm really curious to know what they did to get the 28:1 odd compression ratios. based on my (admittedly limited) playing around with jpeg 2000, this seems like it would be an ideal application (in fact, i'm fairly certain they could squeeze even more data into that space at equivalent quality). in my experiments, jpeg 2000 beat the snot out of everything else (using the lovely jasper toolkit)... i don't know of too many other formats which can achieve 100:1 compression ratios in natural images and still have the results be recognizable. either way, very cool for an image processing geek like myself.
this gigantic image -- the highest-resolution image of Canada freely available --
Everyone who thought that was a direct link to the actual image raise your hands :-)
Know the feeling? "Man, that's going to be the biggest Slashdotting ever! Poor Canadians! Must... click... link..."
I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.
The picture (or at least the thumbnail versions) contains all of New England, New York, Michigan and much of the Midwest, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. And I think a parts of the rest of the northern border states.
But I for one welcome our new Canadian Overlords.
Work for Change & GET PAID!
Bob: Do the theme, eh?
Doug [gives Great White North theme]
Bob: Good day, eh. Oh, hey, do our new movie theme, eh?
Doug [gives Great White North fanfare]
Bob: Beauty, eh? Good day, I'm Bob McKenzie, this is my brother Doug.
Doug: How's it going, eh?
Bob: Wait a second, you hoser, you can't spend all that cash on this big mosaic thing, eh? That's dad's beer money!
Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
Actually, you can buy hi-res images of Area 51.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
It is more significant to know the image resolution than the file size. This is represented by the number of ground units a single pixel takes up. 5 meter resolution refers to each pixel being 5 square meters (obviously). For mapping grade imagery, you want at least 5 meters. The standard is moving much closer to 1 meter as companies like Space Imaging start to dominate the market.
The performance is TERRIBLE on single large images, if you plan to use it at multiple zoom scales. It is much more efficient to have a spatially indexed series of seamless smaller images. This index, known as an image catalog in the GIS world, is basically a database with image coordinates and file names. When you zoom in to a given area on the map, the geographic coordinates are used to determine which images to display.
It is possible to compress the file size using such means as jpeg, but this is not thought of very highly in the mapping world. The ideal is to have a georeferenced (has a *.tfw header file that contains the coordinates for one of the image corners) tiff file, and to add compression using a package like MrSID. People who use air photos frequently will have two datasets: a compressed one and a standard tiff. It is much easier to change a map projection on an uncompressed image.
If you have some $, there is a software package called SDE that enables high performance raster display for mapping purposes. It works really well, but you are getting locked into a highly proprietary and expensive format.
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
no really, I can
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I'm not sure if this is high-res enough for you, but you might want to try Terra Server.
It seems to work fairly well for US locations, and not work well for other (Canadian) searches.
Are high resolution satellite/aerial images available for other locations?
Yes. Do a google for your state/province and "GIS data". Most US states have some sort of FTP setup with elevation maps, aerial images, and topographic maps to download.
No, I don't expect to be able to buy hi-res images of Area 51, but was looking for my neighborhood.
Actually, I used to work for Space Imaging, and their conference demo was a 3D flyover of Area51 that had elevation and 1-meter resolution color imagery. To get a quickie on your neighborhood, check out Terraserver.
Also, are there ways of getting really nice poster prints of high resolution images?
www.mytopo.com
USGS extension office
Space Imaging has some famous stuff for sale as posters (pyramids, WTC site, etc.)
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
Clearely this must beat the giga pixel stitch which I remember from not long ago. OK arguably not the same thing, but I had that in mind when I read about the size of the images.... The result is a massive mosaic of digital images 85 gigabytes big. I mean, Geez :)
Ahh man my porch light was on.
Really who read the headline and thought they would actually put up the 3.3gb file. Now that would be a slashdotting to remember
Perhaps to prevent those with too much bandwith and too little to do from downloading it just for the hell of it?
Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
Another example of someone being in such a tizzy to get a submission in, they didn't actually read the article first... You suck, rvr.
Slashdot Eds Link Anonymous Posts With Logged Posts
They Are Vermin Feeding On Each Other's Feces.
I Hate \.
Wow, those are awesome prices for poster prints at mytopo.com. Happen to know anyplace that will print custom images for similar prices?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
These pictures are clearly from the 70s; the cities are purple and the rest of it is neon green. Obviously the work of blacklights.
- The Amazina Llama
Damn you canada, damn you!!!!
Link to the download page: http://www.pfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/eosd/resources/mosa ic_e.html
Anyone have a torrent yet?
Urgo: "I want to live. I want to experience the universe and I want to eat pie!"
Jack: "Who doesn't??"
Link.
After looking, I don't even see the bold text you copied from the article..
I didn't want to put up the link to the full image - I figured the smaller jpegs most people would be interested in anyways. I was in no tizzy, but this is slashdot, so someone was in such a tizzy to tell someone they suck they didn't actually speak to the poster first.