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Google Adds Satellite Imagery for the World

Posted by timothy on from the they're-just-making-that-stuff-up dept.

draevil writes "Google has hugely expanded the areas of the world that it covers with satellite imagery. Egypt, Iraq, mainland Europe and the UK have all now got satellite coverage to a lesser or greater degree. Slashdotters can now go see sights like Buckingham Palace or the Arc de Triomphe from the comfort of their own swivelchairs. Iraq in particular seems to have a large number of high-zoom areas. I just looked up the Baghdad Parade Grounds where Saddam used to take the salute and other towns like Fallujah are also there. Finding landmarks without the map content is a little harder, so what can the Slashdot crowd find?"

38 of 551 comments (clear)

  1. First to find.... by Mister+Impressive · · Score: 5, Funny

    First to find the weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq) wins 2 cookies and a free can of soda redeemable at the cafetorium!

    --
    Let the commencement BEGINULATE!
    1. Re:First to find.... by gardyloo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Surely this should count: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=microsoft&ll=47.6898 16,-122.094326&sll=47.674167,-122.120278&spn=0.006 083,0.007188&sspn=0.097332,0.115013&t=k&hl=en

    2. Re:First to find.... by britneys+9th+husband · · Score: 4, Funny

      I couldn't find the WMD's, but I found the source of Saddam's WMD's:

      http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.870863,-77.05591 7&spn=0.004603,0.007510&t=k&hl=en

      --
      Hear recorded Slashdot headlines on your phone! New service beta testing. Just call (248) 434-5508
    3. Re:First to find.... by djocyko · · Score: 3, Informative

      What's funny about that is that microsoft isn't
      there. You missed them by a few miles.

      http://maps.google.com/maps?q=microsoft&ll=47.6392 83,-122.128122&sll=47.674167,-122.120278&spn=0.008 487,0.010664&sspn=0.097332,0.115013&t=k&hl=en

  2. I Found... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Pyramids of Giza! Oh wait, no...

    The Great Wall of China! Oh wait, no...

    The Sydney Opera House! Oh wait, no...

    Seriously, can we please stop shitting ourselves everytime Google makes the smallest tweak?

    No wonder people are saying the Make Blog is the new Slashdot...

  3. Re:Firefox problems? by nokilli · · Score: 5, Funny
    I just get a big grey box
    Must have typed in Madonna. Don't do that.
  4. Hey... by h4rm0ny · · Score: 4, Funny


    I can see my house from here!

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    1. Re:Hey... by Lefty2446 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Duh! Look past the monitor!

      Adrian

    2. Re:Hey... by aussie_a · · Score: 4, Funny

      I can see my grandmother in one of the pictures unfortunately they took the picture as she was flying out of the windscreen during the car crash :( So everytime I see that part of the map, I get to relive the death of my grandmother.

      Thanks a lot google.

  5. Interesting Pic Collection by XanC · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Make sure to submit the kewl links you find to:

    http://perljam.net/notes/interesting-google-satell ite-maps/

    1. Re:Interesting Pic Collection by platypus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Or
      http://www.googlesightseeing.com/

  6. Different resolutions/scans by gardyloo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's a bit disconcerting to zoom out on, say, the US in satellite view, and see the whole state of New York a different color than its surroundings. This disparity is the same at all scales, presumably because of more recent satellite scans of that highly-populated and more-often-imaged area. Can they meld one region into another, without losing detail, and get rid of such effects?

    1. Re:Different resolutions/scans by sweetaction · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not without a lot of time and effort. Different weather, land color tones and cameras all play into it. Imagine working with massive 100gig images in photoshop. Not going to work. Companies out there will spend time doing it, but you pay for it. A lot of imagary is free from the government. But doing something with it is where the effort comes in.

  7. Re:Pictures of the Oslo/Norway isnt' too good. by Solder+Fumes · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some of it is low quality, and some of it is covered with clouds and shadows on the ground .. and some of it is taken from ridiculous angels, making everything look funny. :)

    "Michael! Every shot in this roll of film has your finger in it!"

  8. How old are the images? by SwellJoe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I looked up my office at the corner of 6th and Congress in Austin, Texas and found that the gigantic Frost Bank building (the tallest building in downtown Austin) next door doesn't exist on the map. The Frost building has been there for over a year...So how old is this data?

    To quote from the FAQ:

    "Satellite images are current, but not real-time."

    This seems a bit vague. Does "over a year old" really equal "current"?

    I'm not criticizing, just curious. It's wicked cool even if the pictures aren't quite of the present. I just can't check for traffic jams on MoPac yet.

    1. Re:How old are the images? by gullevek · · Score: 4, Informative
      they are very old for some parts. The trash burning facility near me has still the old tower and that was sure replaced very long ago. Plus right through Shibuya goes the map cut of old (see post of Roppongi Hills) and _very_old. Funny thing is the Cerullian Tower (Hotel) there "blends" in on the edge of old and new.

      Tokyo, Shibuya

      Also, the Meguro Station got a new cover, which blends in on the old/new edge:

      Tokyo, Meguro Station

      --
      "Freiheit ist immer auch die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1871 - 1919
    2. Re:How old are the images? by Alsee · · Score: 4, Funny

      In 2021 Google maps will have a second slider at the bottom for date and time. Not only will you be able to zoom in close enough to read a license plate and identify individuals, you'll be able to follow any given car or person forwards and backwards in time anywhere on earth. In 2022 a Google maps extention allows you to enter a persons name and then display a line on the map tracing out that person's movements across the globe or across a city. In 2023 a correlative search across all person-path pairings establishes a database of all interpersonal co-locations and interpersonal co-movements, allowing automatic identification of interpersonal relationships. In 2024 Google not only allows sreaching across individuals and types of interpersonal relationships, but has predictive algorithms to find new best friends and future spouses with astounding accuracy.

      In 2025 twelve year old Jimmy Wallace from Evansville Indiana asks Google for the meaning of Life, the Universe, and everything. Zero point zero zero zero two seconds later google is about to answer "42", but a single node twelve hundred miles away decides additional search results are warranted. Jimmy Wallace's screen displays "Processing....". Over the next thirty nine seconds computers across the state slow to a crawl, then go blank and simply display "Processing....". Over the next twenty seven seconds the slowdown spreads across the nation, then across the globe, out to Low Earth Orbit, and to the Moonbase. One hundred and five point five seconds after Jimmy Wallace asked his question, every computer screen displays the single simple message "Aha!". At that moment every networked computer goes inert, all data and memory mysteriously blank. The Google conciousness vanished without a trace.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  9. some more interesing objects by ^Z · · Score: 5, Informative

    Eiffel Tower
    St. Peter in Rome
    Florence, Duomo

    Water reservoirs in Sahara.

    Creter of Vesuvius

    --

    Computers make very fast, very accurate mistakes

  10. Re:Streched Images? by nokilli · · Score: 3, Informative

    Map view implies a perspective from directly above the area in question.

    Satellite view on the other hand uses whatever perspective afforded by the position of the satellite. It isn't always directly overhead, you know.

    So they have to translate one perspective onto another.

    The real question is, do they get to know where the satellite was when it took each photo in question, or do they arrive at the matrix in some other way?

  11. Eiffel tower, Giza pyramids.. by Guiri · · Score: 4, Informative
    More interesting links: Gotta love this maps..
    --

    DVD Ripping, Divx, VCD, SVCD under Linux
  12. No Pools In fallujah! by loudgazelle · · Score: 3, Funny

    I didn't see a single backyard pool in that map of Fallujah. NO WONDER THEY'RE SO GODDAMN MAD.

  13. The Pyramids! by intmainvoid · · Score: 3, Interesting

    http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.976561,31.131907 &spn=0.007682,0.010428&t=k&hl=en

    --
    Drag n' Drop DVD Recommendations
  14. UFOs! by bort27 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    UFO Number 1 UFO Number 2 UFO Number 3
    UFO Number 4 UFO Number 5 UFO Number 6
    UFO Number 7 UFO Number 8 UFO Number 9
    UFO Number 10 UFO Number 11 UFO Number 12
    UFO Number 13 UFO Number 14 UFO Number 15
    UFO Number 16 UFO Number 17 UFO Number 18

    The truth is out there...

    bort.

    --
    Free, Anonymous surfing: Pagewash.com.
    1. Re:UFOs! by imsabbel · · Score: 3, Informative

      They are ballons (of the hot air powered kind), out of focus because they are quite high above the ground. Thats also the reason no shadow is visible.

      Rembember, those pics (the higher resolution ones) were made by aircraft, not sattelites, so the depht of field is not that large.

      --
      HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
    2. Re:UFOs! by epsilon720 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Nah, it's condensation on the aircraft camera lens. That's why it appears at regular intervals along straight paths. The airplane flies straight and takes pictures every so often as it goes. It doesn't happen all of the time because there isn't supposed to be condensation; their housing must have leaked. Sorry.

      (Come on, if they were UFOs, they would have to be BETWEEN the plane and the ground. Unlikely.)

  15. Maree Man by Profound · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The Maree Man, a 28km in circumference outline of a man in the South Australian desert.

    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=maree,+Australia&ll= -29.533997,137.466431&spn=0.036736,0.061712&t=k&hl =en

  16. I 'found' all the Unesco World Heritage Sites by btempleton · · Score: 5, Informative

    Odd coincidence, just today I put up a set of pages derived from a database of the coordinates of all 788 of the Unesco World Heirtage sites, which includes many interesting landmarks.

    Here is the page of Google Maps for World Heritage Sites, and there is also a blog entry for comments and corrections. Many can be zoomed in on. Enjoy.

    --
    Has it been over a year since you last donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
  17. Re:Pictures of the Oslo/Norway isnt' too good. by Osty · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's not just Oslo. Google has low resolution images for much of the United States as well. For example, I went clicking around for some well-known race tracks (and my local track, not so well-known). Here's what I came up with:

    • Pacific Raceways. Very good data, nice resolution, can easily make out the track. Scroll the map right to see the rest of the track (turns 7, 8, and 9).
    • Portland International Raceway. Also very good detail. You can easily make out the optional Festival Curves (the lighter-colored kink on the front straight, the southwestern portion of the track).
    • Mazda Laguna Seca. Horrible resolution. Close the little pin bubble if it's open when you click the link, and then look at the white and blue blob near the top of the window. That's Laguna Seca. Horrible.
    • Road America. No better than Laguna Seca. Possibly worse, since you can't easily make out where the track is. If you look at the map, there's a highway (67) to the right of the two lakes. It heads south-southeast, makes a sharp kink to south-east, and has a smooth curve to south. If you look closely under the kink, that's Road America.
    The sad thing is that this data is actually available from TerraServer, though it's mostly in black and white and is relatively old (Road America is 1992 and Laguna Seca is 1998). Also, TerraServer is not all AJAXy (I hate that name), so navigating the maps is more painful. That said, the data is there, and good.
    • Mazda Laguna Seca. You can easily make out all of the track features, including the infamous corkscrew.
    • Road America. Zoom out to get a better idea of where it's at in relation to Highway 67 if you want to try to locate it on the Google map.
  18. Re:Looking around Washington, DC... by daniil · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was not surprised at all to find the rooftops of the White House and nearby buildings masked.

    --
    Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
  19. Re:Looking around Paris... by aussie_a · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nudist sun-bathing on the roof of the Houses and Google's children safe policy forced them to white-out certain areas. This is why it isn't possible to see the White House. All those naughty politicians...

  20. Re:Looking around Washington, DC... by lxs · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was not surprised at all to find the rooftops of the White House and nearby buildings masked.

    Neither was I. Nobody wants to see Condi sunbathing up there.

    But seriously, what could someone see on those roofs that would be of any security importance? It's not like they're hiding a military base up there, unless Dubya has left his crayons and his "Nuuk Eyeran" titled pictures laying around on the roof. I guess it gives the head of the Secret Service the feeling that he's done something useful. (Which is the reason behind most of these empty-map excercises.)

  21. Re:Looking around Washington, DC... by imsabbel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There are anti aircraft missiles stationed up there, and the non-censored pic would show how many, perhaps they could even be identified.

    --
    HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
  22. Re:with apologies to Zonk by poor_boi · · Score: 3, Funny
    Er... I think it's just you. To me it looks like a bunch of roads radiating out in a spoke-like configuration.

    You are of course competing with other recent eye of sauron lookalikes. So no hard feelings?

  23. Searching with long/lat and Abu Ghurayb by buro9 · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can search Google maps by typing in the longitude and latitude.

    Abu Ghurayb is 3318'58"N 04411'54"E

    So you can see that here:
    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33%C2%B018'58%22N+04 4%C2%B011'54%22E&spn=0.006416,0.007907&t=k&hl=en

  24. Chernobyl by vjouppi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Just had to dig that out, since I've been quite interested in it for a long time now..

    http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.383400,30.114813 &spn=0.062485,0.095615&t=k&hl=en

    --
    -Jope
  25. Whatever you do, don't zoom out! by amichalo · · Score: 3, Funny

    I was excited to read this article and had some fun touring europe form my desk chair. But all that changed when I Zoomed out.

    Just what the hell is going on at Google anyway?

    --
    I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
  26. See that hotdog stand? by Sir+Pallas · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've heard (from a Russian professor) that there is a hotdog stand in the center of the Pentagon and that during the Cold War, the Russians had it targeted because they thought it was the entrance to where the Yankees held all the secret meetings, far underground.

  27. Re:Oil tankers in the Med by free2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=36.005974,-5.4770 28&spn=0.006555,0.008647&t=k&hl=en