My Google Map Blog

In the past, Google would publish a network linked KML file that showed the outlines of imagery releases, including all historical releases going back to 2009. However, early this year they discontinued it and instead have been publishing a map on the Maps Gallery that only shows the latest release. Also, other than taking a screenshot of the maps, there was no way to save them for later viewing.

Now Google have released a map on the Maps Gallery that once again shows us historical releases. Note that it does not currently include the two latest updates from November 3rd, 2014 and November 8th, 2014. It must also be noted that the dates given are not the dates that the imagery was captured, but rather the dates that the imagery was added to the Google Earth database. In many cases the imagery being added is older than previously existing imagery and gets added to historical imagery rather than the default layer.

There is still no way to extract the KML, which makes further analysis difficult. It would have been fun to do heat maps showing which areas received multiple updates.

If we look at all updates from 2009 to October 2014 we see the map below:

We can see a number of interesting patterns. There is poor coverage over tropical forests, deserts, and northern regions. Tropical forests tend to have cloud cover most of the time, making it difficult to capture imagery with clear skies. Similarly, the northern regions often have snow cover, making it difficult to capture good imagery. It is possible that capturing imagery over deserts is also difficult, or it may simply be that their low populations make them less interesting to imagery providers. Iraq and Afghanistan have received very few updates, presumably for security reasons.

[Update: As pointed out by GEB readers Maarten, Chris and an anonymous email, the ‘Latest Google Earth Imagery Updates’ map has been updated to November 19th 2014.]

The post Google Earth imagery updates 2009 to date appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

It turns out that a few days ago while we were telling you about the new 3D imagery in London, Google had also pushed out quite a lot of fresh satellite imagery. Thanks to ‘munden’, ‘dario’ and ‘Wguayana’ for letting us know about it.

Some of the updated areas include:

• Canada: Halifax
• China: Dinghai, Fangjia, Longtoujing, Nanyaowan, Caoluzhen
• Croatia: Karlovac, Zagreb
• Germany: Heidenheim
• India: Mumbai, New Delhi
• Lebanon: Beirut
• Moldova: Chisinau
• Russia: Putayatin, bukhta Krasheninnikova, Severomorsk, Polyarny, guba Zapadnaya Litsa, Monino, Sevastopol
• Thailand: Bangkok, Phai Ling, Sattahip
• United States: Florida (Carrabelle, Keystone Heights, Tallahassee), Kansas (Kansas City), Maryland (Assateague Island, Princess Anne, Snow Hill), Missouri (Kansas City), Nevada (Las Vegas), Virginia (Cape Charles, Wallops Island)
• Venezuela: Ciudad Guayana, Puerto Piritu

If you find any other updated areas, be sure to leave a comment and let us know.

The post New Google Earth imagery – July 18, 2014 appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

Part of the business model of Google Earth has always been that free access to seeing all of the imagery helped raise the visibility of the satellite and aerial photography businesses.  But, if a business wants to use this imagery, they are supposed to purchase the imagery from the provider mentioned at the bottom of the Google Earth screen (see Google’s geo-permissions guide).

During the past 10 years of Google Earth and Maps development, Google has increasingly developed sources of their own imagery.  Everyone is familiar with their Street View imagery.   Google’s 3D cities (introduced in 2012) are developed using aerial imagery which they also make available in their maps. And, with the purchase of Skybox, Google will soon have their own satellite imagery.

Now Google is taking the next step.  Google has announced their imagery will be available for sale, initially to businesses in the US through their Google Maps for Business imagery program.  The imagery can be used in a variety of ways explained in the program materials, including Google Earth.  Interestingly, in what was perhaps a mistake that fortells the near future, they state they are selling “high-quality satellite photography” in the announcement – although I think they meant to say aerial photography.

It should be noted that using Google Earth historical imagery feature (introduced in 2009), businesses can also view alternative imagery available from other imagery businesses if they are available for their location.  So, although Google is now competing with these businesses, their competitors have equal visibility.

The post Google Begins Selling Their Own Imagery appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

It appears that Google has just pushed out a fresh batch of imagery. Thanks to sharp-eyed GEB reader ‘Munden’ for being the first to let us know about it.

It seems to be quite a huge update, based on the areas we’ve found so far!

• Japan: Ako, Fukui, Himeji, Kahoku, Kanazawa, Nishi
• United States: Arizona (Grand Canyon West airport, Lake Mead), California (Fremont, San Leandro, Sonora, Avery, Tuolumne, Placerville, Diamond Springs, Jackson, San Andreas), Hawaii (island of Kaua’i, island of Ni’ihau), Illinois (Champaign, Mattoon, Moline), Iowa (Davenport, Muscatine), Kansas (Topeka), Mississippi (Jackson), Missouri (Warrensburg, Whiteman AFB), New Mexico (Las Cruces), North Dakota (Fargo), Texas (Anthony, El Paso, Fort Bliss, Houston), Virginia (Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia Beach), Wisconsin (Racine, Milwaukee, Waukeshia, Hartford, West Bend)

If you find any other updated areas, please leave a comment and let us know!

The post New Google Earth Imagery – July 3, 2014 appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

Last week DigitalGlobe, one of the primary suppliers of imagery for Google Earth, was given permission to sell higher resolution imagery. Previously they’ve been limited to selling 50 centimeter imagery, but that limitation has been dropped. They’ll now be able to sell their 41 centimeter imagery, and that will drop to 25 centimeter later this year.

While the difference doesn’t sound like much, Mapbox did a great comparison showing how much better 40 centimeter imagery looks when compared to 50 centimeter imagery.

In short:

If going from 50 cm resolution to 40 cm resolution sounds like a small change at first, remember that we’re talking about square pixels. When square A is only ¼ longer on a side than square B, it contains more than 150% as much area. Therefore, a slightly smaller linear size means a lot more clarity.

No word on when exactly we’ll begin to see this new imagery, but it sounds like we’ll see some of it within the next few months.

(via the Verge)

The post Higher resolution imagery coming to Google Earth appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

It appears that Google has just pushed out a new imagery update! Thanks to GEB readers ‘Z C’, ‘Munden’ and ‘HGy’ for being the first to let us know about it.

As is often the case, you can use Google Maps to determine for sure whether or not a specific area is fresh. This new imagery isn’t in Google Maps yet, so you can compare Earth vs. Maps to see what’s new; the fresh imagery is already in Google Earth, but the old imagery is still in Google Maps. If you compare the two side-by-side and they’re not identical, that means that you’ve found a freshly updated area in Google Earth!

We’re not sure of all of the updated areas yet, but here are a few that some readers have found:

• Belize: Belize City, Xunantich
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo
• China: Shanghai
• Croatia: Zagreb
• Estonia: Lake Vortsjarve
• India: Visakhapatnam
• Israel: East of Arad
• Japan: Fuji, Mt Fuji, Numazu, Ishinomaki, Sendai, Shiogama, Onahama, Ibaraki, Kesennuma, Kamaishi, Miyako, Kuji, Hachinohe, Osaki, Futaba
• United States: Arizona (Phoenix), Florida (Homestead, Lakeland, Miami, Orlando, West Palm Beach), Georgia (Smyrna), Kansas (Salina, Wichita), New Mexico (Albuquerque), Wyoming (Devil’s Tower)

If you find any other updated areas, please leave a comment and let us know!

The post New Google Earth imagery – May 19, 2014 appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

It appears that Google has just pushed out a fresh batch of imagery. Thanks to sharp-eyed GEB readers ‘Horvath’ and ‘Munden’ for being the first to let us know about it.

The imagery has already rolled out to Google Maps, making it difficult to tell what is new and what isn’t. As far as we can tell, the following areas are fresh:

• Hungary: Budapest
• India: Alang
• Lithuania: Klaipeda
• North Korea: Pungchon, Sinpo
• Poland: Moszna
• Russia: guba Zapadnaya Litsa
• South Korea: Busan
• Ukraine: DonetskKharkiv, Kyiv, Luhansk, Svaljava
• United Kingdom: London
• United States: Arizona (Prescott), California (San Francisco, Santa Cruz), Florida (Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Palm Coast, St. Augustine), New Mexico (San Antonio, Stallion AAF, White Sands)

If you find any other updated areas, please leave a comment and let us know!

The post New Google Earth Imagery – May 1, 2014 appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

It appears that Google has pushed out a fresh batch of imagery. Thanks to sharp-eyed GEB readers ‘Jonah’, ‘Munden’, ‘Andreas’ and ‘Horvath’ for letting us know.

The new imagery can already be found in Google Maps, making difficult to know for sure what is new and what is old, but here is a list areas that we know were just updated:

• United States: Alabama (Decatur, Huntsville), California (Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica), Connecticut (Brideport, New Haven), Florida (Cape Canaveral), Maryland (Sharpsburg), Missouri (Joplin, St. Louis), New Mexico (Bisti Badlands), New York (Rochester), Oregon (Crater Lake), South Carolina (Charleston), Tennessee (Murfreesboro, Nashville), West Virginia (Harpers Ferry)
• Yemen: Shaharah

If you find any other updated areas, please leave a comment and let us know!

The post New Google Earth Imagery – April 16, 2014 appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

While Google Earth offers imagery for the vast majority of the planet, there are a variety of places that are intentionally hidden for security or political reasons.

This great article on AtlasObscura.com summarizes many of these hidden areas. They include nuclear plants, air bases, important political facilities and other locations.

Google Earth began blurring or pixelating certain locations upon request. It started with governments. When the site first launched in 2005, images of the White House and the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC were blurred. (They’re not anymore, but the censored version has been replaced with outdated imagery.) Following suit, several countries have official contracts with Google to blur specific sites, among them India and Australia. Meanwhile, somewhat ingeniously, the government of Malaysia went the opposite route and realized that it would reveal its sensitive locations if they were visibly censored, so it chose to leave them unblurred.

The full article digs into more detail about the process and history of hiding imagery in Google Earth, and is well worth reading. Check it out here:
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/investigating-censored-spots-on-google-earth

The post The obscured areas of Google Earth appeared first on Google Earth Blog.

It appears that Google has just pushed out a fresh batch of imagery. Thanks to sharp-eyed GEB readers ‘Schorsch’ and ‘Munden’ for being the first to let us know about it.

Unlike some of the other recent updates, this imagery isn’t yet in the “classic” Google Maps. As a result, you can compare Google Earth to Google Maps to determine what is new; the fresh imagery is already in Google Earth, but the old imagery is still in Google Maps. If you compare the two side-by-side and they’re not identical, that means that you’ve found a freshly updated area in Google Earth!

Some of the updated areas include:

• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bihac
• China: Haipo, Suixi, Dinghai
• Germany: Hamburg
• Greece: Aspropirgos
• India: Mumbai, Hyderabad, Madhurawada, Agra, Nani Rajasthali
• Iran: Tehran, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Bandergaah
• Mexico: Matamoros and Tolentino
• Pakistan: Karachi, Lahore (partial), Township, Faisalabad, Darra, Hattar, Satellite Town
• Russia: Sochi, Adler
• Serbia: Belgrade
• Ukraine: Sevastopol

If you find any other updated areas, please leave a comment and let us know!

The post New Google Earth Imagery – February 25, 2014 appeared first on Google Earth Blog.