5 ms·

I wonder how this will affect the Maps data that Google/Apple/Microsoft has.

by dpcx 13y ago

Demiurge 13y ago
It probably won't, because its not very high resolution. Landsat is more about the spectrum coverage, 8 bands including infrared, and temporal coverage, a pass every 16 days, since 1984. This is useful for scientific studies. Google/Apple/Microsoft buy their data from private satellites that at a much higher resolution and in plain visible RGB, and they only need a single cloud-free composite from any time, which is why some of the Google imagery doesn't have new buildings. Google does store and provide Landsat and MODIS datasets in their Google(c)(tm) Maps Engine, and Earth Engine, for science related applications.
- avar 13y ago
  > Google/Apple/Microsoft buy their data from private satellites The Google coverage people are most familiar with (i.e. major cities) is not from private satellites, but private aerial surveys.
  - dualogy 13y ago
    Maybe in the US and other select regions, certainly not globally though.
    - sp332 13y ago
      Moscow, Russia: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=moscow&hl=en&ll=55.750666,37.627788&spn=0.021472,0.055747&geocode=+&hnear=Moscow,+gorod+Moskva,+Russia&t=k&z=15 https://maps.google.com/maps?q=moscow&hl=en&ll=55.75... Tokyo, Japan: https://www.google.com/maps?q=tokyo&ll=35.689143,139.695239&spn=0.015493,0.027874&sll=43.2308015,-71.547514&sspn=0.24667465403978758,0.5769903376016519&t=k&hnear=Tokyo,+Japan&z=16 https://www.google.com/maps?q=tokyo&ll=35.689143,139.695... Tunis, Tunisia: https://www.google.com/maps?q=Tunis,+Tunisia&ie=UTF8&ll=36.818621,10.167267&spn=0.00791,0.013937&sll=55.75204360000007,37.618829999999974&sspn=0.018709412056083227,0.05664722281290087&t=k&hnear=Tunis,+M%C3%A9dina+de+Tunis,+Tunis,+Tunisia&z=17 https://www.google.com/maps?q=Tunis,+Tunisia&ie=UTF8&#38... Monrovia, Liberia: https://www.google.com/maps?q=monrovia,+liberia&hl=en&ll=6.300028,-10.796809&spn=0.00474,0.006968&sll=35.689143,139.695239&sspn=0.015493,0.027874&t=k&hnear=Monrovia,+Greater+Monrovia,+Montserrado,+Liberia&z=18 https://www.google.com/maps?q=monrovia,+liberia&hl=en&#3... Niue (a tiny island nation 1,500 miles off the coast of New Zealand): https://www.google.com/maps?q=niue&hl=en&ll=-19.010302,-169.805245&spn=0.002254,0.003484&sll=6.300028,-10.796809&sspn=0.00474,0.006968&t=k&hnear=Niue&z=19 https://www.google.com/maps?q=niue&hl=en&ll=-19.0103... So yeah, I think it's pretty global.
      - jpdus 13y ago
        everything you posted (except Tokyo) is satellite imagery only as far as i can see - so where is your point?
        sp332 13y ago
        Really? In Niue you can see the lines on the basketball court. The best commercial satellite imagery I know if is about .5 meters (20 inches). Now that I look at it though, the Moscow one is pretty fuzzy...
        jofer 13y ago
        "Detect" and "resolve" are two different things when it comes to imaging. You can detect the lines on the court because they're bright white on dark background. However, you can't tell if it's one line or two parallel white lines less than ~1m apart. In other words, you can't accurately measure the width of an object less than the resolution of the imagery, even if you can tell that it's present. The Niue imagery is ~1m resolution. If you hunt around a bit, you can find a few cars. Note that you can measure their width, but it's difficult to do.
      - dualogy 13y ago
        So 5 cities must mean the same as 200 countries now? Also except Tokyo these are all extremely low-res at my high-speed end, hinting towards Satellite imagery.
  - jofer 13y ago
    That used to be the case, but these days it is mostly satellite data. The newer civilian satellites (a lot of them are dual-purpose military/civilian) are capable of resolutions below 1m. ~2m resolution satellite imagery has been available for over a decade now (e.g. the IKONOS and recent SPOT satellites). I think (?) most of Google's imagery currently comes from the GeoEye-1 satellite, which they partially funded.
    - jofer 13y ago
      Just to make to make what I'm saying more clear: I'm certainly not disagreeing that the highest zoom levels in major cities are aerial photographs. The city-block level imagery available globally is from satellite, though. For example, compare this (probably satellite, little building lean and ~1m resolution): http://goo.gl/maps/mJadH http://goo.gl/maps/mJadH To this (definitely aerial, lots of "lean" and ~10-20cm resolution): http://goo.gl/maps/WYnvE http://goo.gl/maps/WYnvE
- grecy 13y ago
  How can I see just the infrared?

I wonder how this will affect the Maps data that Google/Apple/Microsoft has.

by dpcx 13y ago

I wonder how this will affect the Maps data that Google/Apple/Microsoft has.

It probably won't, because its not very high resolution. Landsat is more about the spectrum coverage, 8 bands including infrared, and temporal coverage, a pass every 16 days, since 1984. This is useful for scientific studies. Google/Apple/Microsoft buy their data from private satellites that at a much higher resolution and in plain visible RGB, and they only need a single cloud-free composite from any time, which is why some of the Google imagery doesn't have new buildings. Google does store and provide Landsat and MODIS datasets in their Google(c)(tm) Maps Engine, and Earth Engine, for science related applications.

avar 13y ago
> Google/Apple/Microsoft buy their data from private satellites The Google coverage people are most familiar with (i.e. major cities) is not from private satellites, but private aerial surveys.
- dualogy 13y ago
  Maybe in the US and other select regions, certainly not globally though.
  - sp332 13y ago
    Moscow, Russia: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=moscow&hl=en&ll=55.750666,37.627788&spn=0.021472,0.055747&geocode=+&hnear=Moscow,+gorod+Moskva,+Russia&t=k&z=15 https://maps.google.com/maps?q=moscow&hl=en&ll=55.75... Tokyo, Japan: https://www.google.com/maps?q=tokyo&ll=35.689143,139.695239&spn=0.015493,0.027874&sll=43.2308015,-71.547514&sspn=0.24667465403978758,0.5769903376016519&t=k&hnear=Tokyo,+Japan&z=16 https://www.google.com/maps?q=tokyo&ll=35.689143,139.695... Tunis, Tunisia: https://www.google.com/maps?q=Tunis,+Tunisia&ie=UTF8&ll=36.818621,10.167267&spn=0.00791,0.013937&sll=55.75204360000007,37.618829999999974&sspn=0.018709412056083227,0.05664722281290087&t=k&hnear=Tunis,+M%C3%A9dina+de+Tunis,+Tunis,+Tunisia&z=17 https://www.google.com/maps?q=Tunis,+Tunisia&ie=UTF8&#38... Monrovia, Liberia: https://www.google.com/maps?q=monrovia,+liberia&hl=en&ll=6.300028,-10.796809&spn=0.00474,0.006968&sll=35.689143,139.695239&sspn=0.015493,0.027874&t=k&hnear=Monrovia,+Greater+Monrovia,+Montserrado,+Liberia&z=18 https://www.google.com/maps?q=monrovia,+liberia&hl=en&#3... Niue (a tiny island nation 1,500 miles off the coast of New Zealand): https://www.google.com/maps?q=niue&hl=en&ll=-19.010302,-169.805245&spn=0.002254,0.003484&sll=6.300028,-10.796809&sspn=0.00474,0.006968&t=k&hnear=Niue&z=19 https://www.google.com/maps?q=niue&hl=en&ll=-19.0103... So yeah, I think it's pretty global.
    - jpdus 13y ago
      everything you posted (except Tokyo) is satellite imagery only as far as i can see - so where is your point?
      - sp332 13y ago
        Really? In Niue you can see the lines on the basketball court. The best commercial satellite imagery I know if is about .5 meters (20 inches). Now that I look at it though, the Moscow one is pretty fuzzy...
        jofer 13y ago
        "Detect" and "resolve" are two different things when it comes to imaging. You can detect the lines on the court because they're bright white on dark background. However, you can't tell if it's one line or two parallel white lines less than ~1m apart. In other words, you can't accurately measure the width of an object less than the resolution of the imagery, even if you can tell that it's present. The Niue imagery is ~1m resolution. If you hunt around a bit, you can find a few cars. Note that you can measure their width, but it's difficult to do.
    - dualogy 13y ago
      So 5 cities must mean the same as 200 countries now? Also except Tokyo these are all extremely low-res at my high-speed end, hinting towards Satellite imagery.
- jofer 13y ago
  That used to be the case, but these days it is mostly satellite data. The newer civilian satellites (a lot of them are dual-purpose military/civilian) are capable of resolutions below 1m. ~2m resolution satellite imagery has been available for over a decade now (e.g. the IKONOS and recent SPOT satellites). I think (?) most of Google's imagery currently comes from the GeoEye-1 satellite, which they partially funded.
  - jofer 13y ago
    Just to make to make what I'm saying more clear: I'm certainly not disagreeing that the highest zoom levels in major cities are aerial photographs. The city-block level imagery available globally is from satellite, though. For example, compare this (probably satellite, little building lean and ~1m resolution): http://goo.gl/maps/mJadH http://goo.gl/maps/mJadH To this (definitely aerial, lots of "lean" and ~10-20cm resolution): http://goo.gl/maps/WYnvE http://goo.gl/maps/WYnvE
grecy 13y ago
How can I see just the infrared?