That is, it's easy to get free low-res images without a particular time-stamp (such as by using Google Maps, Bing Maps, or Google Earth). I found that the tradeoffs are always the same: cost (you can get nearly anything if you want to pay), resolution, and timestamps. Then, for each one, I explored a bit about what they offered, what they're good at, and the considerations to keep in mind. I started just by collecting the links to many different providers. (And let me know if you find any errors.) Not only does the sheet put everything I find into a single location, but as I read through the results, I'll find different properties of the image providers that I might want to sort or filter. Naturally, if you've got a bunch of sources like this, my natural inclination is to organize them on a Google Spreadsheet. (And, to tell the truth, I was expecting to find something like this on the results page.) One of the more useful results here is " 15 Free Providers" with links to several satellite image services. When faced with a problem like this, I usually start with my "list of" trick, beginnings with a search like this:Īnd sure enough, this gives a set of web pages that have long lists of potential sources (even including 4 ads at the top of the SERP pointing to commercial sources). What are the best resources to get time-stamped satellite images? How can an ordinary SearchResearcher get their hands on satellite images not very long after (or even during!) a major event? So today's Challenge is a kind of collective ask for all people who do SearchResearch:ġ. Getting near-real-time imagery would be great, but often that's outside the budget of many non-professional searchers. As you can appreciate, the big problem is getting your hands on current images-or at least accurately time-stamped images from the not-too-distant past. To see the most precise location possible, Live View uses a new technology invented at Google called global localization that matches up tens of billions of Street View images with what is on your phone to help you identify where you are and which way you should go.The Challenge for last week was to find good aerial or satellite images that are more-or-less in realtime. Being off by a short distance is fine when you’re driving, but this discrepancy can actually point you in the entirely wrong direction when you’re traveling on foot! Live View requires orientation precision down to just a few degrees, which simply isn’t possible using traditional tools like GPS signals. For Live View to work, Google Maps needs to know two things: where your phone is located, and where this location is relative to the rest of your surroundings. Live View, for example, is a tool that uses augmented reality to show you which way to walk, with large arrows and directions overlaid on top of walking navigation. Photos are great, but how are they useful for someone using Google Maps? Well, imagery is woven into every product that Maps provides. How Google Maps uses imagery: (hint - it’s everywhere) In 2019 alone, Street View images from the Google Maps community have helped us assign addresses to nearly seven million buildings in previously under-mapped places like Armenia, Bermuda, Lebanon, Myanmar, Tonga, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe. These trekkers are carried by boats, sheep, camels, and even scout troops to gather high quality photos from multiple angles, often in some of the hardest-to-map places around the world. There’s also the Street View trekker, a backpack that collects imagery from places where driving isn’t possible. Each Street View car includes its own photo processing center and lidar sensors that use laser beams to accurately measure distance. These cameras are athermal, meaning that they’re designed to handle extreme temperatures without changing focus so they can function in a range of environments- from Death Valley during the peak of the summer to the snowy mountains of Nepal in the winter. It can take anywhere from days to weeks, and requires a fleet of Street View cars, each equipped with nine cameras that capture high-definition imagery from every vantage point possible. How we collect imagery: cars, trekkers, flocks of sheep and laser beams
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