Many users are interested in online satellite maps, which provide an opportunity to enjoy a bird's eye view of your favorite places on our planet. There are a sufficient number of such services on the network, while all their diversity should not be misleading - most of these sites use the classic API from Google Maps. However, there are also a number of resources that use their own tools to create high quality satellite maps. In this article, I will talk about the best high-resolution satellite maps available online in 2017-2018, and also explain how to use them.
When creating satellite maps of the earth's surface, both images from space satellites and photos from special aircraft are usually used, which allow photographing at a bird's-eye height (250-500 meters).
The highest quality resolution satellite maps created in this way are regularly updated, and usually the images from them are no more than 2-3 years old.
Most network services do not have the ability to create their own satellite maps. Usually they use maps from other, more powerful services (usually Google Maps). At the same time, at the bottom (or top) of the screen, you can find a mention of the copyright of a company for the demonstration of these maps.
Viewing real-time satellite maps is currently not available to the average user, since such tools are used primarily for military purposes. Users have access to maps, photos for which were taken over the past months (or even years). It should be understood that any military facilities can be deliberately retouched in order to hide them from interested parties.
Let's move on to the description of services that allow us to enjoy the capabilities of satellite maps.
Google Maps - high resolution view from space
Bing Maps - online satellite map service
Among online mapping services of decent quality, one cannot pass by the Bing Maps service, which is the brainchild of Microsoft. Like other resources I have described, this site provides fairly high-quality photos of the surface, created using satellite and aerial photography.
Bing Maps is one of the most popular mapping services in the US. The functionality of the service is similar to the analogues already described above:
At the same time, using the search button, you can determine the online location of a particular satellite, and by clicking on any satellite on the map, you will get brief information about it (country, size, launch date, and so on).
Conclusion
To display high-resolution satellite maps online, you should use one of the network solutions I have listed. The most popular on a global scale is the Google Maps service, so I recommend using this resource to work with satellite maps online. If you are interested in viewing geolocations on the territory of the Russian Federation, then it is better to use the Yandex.Maps toolkit. The frequency of their updates in the relations of our country exceeds the same frequency from Google Maps.
Russia or the Russian Federation is a unique country that combines European and Asian features. The map of Russia is striking: the country occupies a vast territory of 17 million km2 and is located simultaneously on the territory of Northern Asia and Eastern Europe.
143 million people live in Russia. The Russian Federation is a kind of "melting pot of nations": representatives of more than 200 nationalities live here. The country is a federal republic with a presidential form of government. The territory of the country is divided into 46 regions, 9 territories, 21 republics, 4 autonomous districts, one autonomous region and 2 federal cities. It is noteworthy that the Kaliningrad region is located on the territory of the European Union and has no borders with the Russian Federation.
Today Russia is one of the dynamically developing states that make world politics. The Russian Federation is a member of numerous world political organizations such as the UN and the G8. Despite the relative stability and significant development of the country after the fall of the Soviet regime, the Russian economy is largely dependent on energy resources, in particular on oil and gas prices.
The capital of Russia is Moscow - one of the most expensive and beautiful cities in the world.
Historical reference
The Russian Federation is the successor of several states. The country traces its history back to 862, when Kievan Rus was formed. In the 12th century, numerous Russian principalities were located on the territory of Russia, which in the 15th century merged into the Russian state. In 1721, Tsar Peter I created the Russian Empire. In 1917, the revolutionary movement of socialism overthrew the monarchical regime and formed first the Russian Republic, then the RSFSR, and in 1922 the USSR.
During the Soviet regime, the country was separated from other countries of the world by the "Iron Curtain", some of the consequences of which have not yet been eliminated. In 1991, the USSR collapsed and the Russian Federation appeared.
must visit
Russia is a country on the territory of which there are many cultural, historical and natural monuments. It is recommended to visit the business and cultural centers of the country - Moscow and St. Petersburg, Lake Baikal, the cities of the "Golden" and "Silver" rings, Orthodox monasteries and temples, the Caucasian Reserve, the volcanoes of Kamchatka and much more.
Interactive map of Russia- a modern and convenient way to find the desired map of any region or city. This map allows you to view cities both in satellite mode and in schematic map mode. You can watch from a satellite with the ability to zoom in on any city and switch between different providers and map types. Additional services are available - real-time cloud photos, traffic jams (only for large cities), terrain photos, a weather layer displaying the current weather for each settlement, and a brief forecast for the next 4 days.
For most objects on the map of Russia - Google Maps satellite photos are considered the best in quality
The quality of satellite photography often varies by region, as satellite images need to be constantly updated. Therefore, different providers may have different photo quality for a particular city or region. However, the best quality photos in most cases are from Google Maps. Photos of Yandex maps are often worse in quality, but they can be newer, so for new buildings you can get by with Yandex. OVI maps - surprisingly in some cases it has better photos even than in Google Maps,
Open Street Maps
OSM is a phenomenon of the modern computer society, because the map is made up of ordinary people (volunteers, volunteers), (unlike the 2gis map and others). But despite this, OSM is considered the most accurate and detailed map not only for Russia, but for the whole world. Even such giants as Yandex or Google cannot map as accurately and efficiently as a community of enthusiastic amateur cartographers does. New buildings (namely, it is easy to determine the relevance and “freshness” of the map from them) are almost always present on OSM (and even the foundations of new buildings), while in Google and Yandex they may be present alternately, or not present at all. In addition, Open Street Maps is probably the only map that displays paths in parks and forests and many other additional objects that are usually not available on other services.
Russia - physical map one file, which shows the largest cities, the main ranges and plains. The map is very clear and easy to understand, although not detailed enough.
Physical card - option 2
Each user at least once was interested in how to find their home using aerial photographs.
Surprisingly, access via the Internet to this information is now completely free.
Thanks to the launch of commercial Earth observation, internet tools have become available to us that make it easy to see your home from space.
In our modern space age, there are more than 8,000 satellites that are constantly orbiting the Earth.
The vast majority of them receive data and transmit encoded .
Many of them are equipped with high power cameras. Just look up into the sky and you will definitely see a satellite trail after the satellite passes overhead.
But how can you access these satellite data and aerial photographs of your home?
Satellite images of the entire Earth
If you just want to look at satellite images of the entire planet, you have some simple solutions.
You can go to the NASA weather forecasters website. Every three hours, images taken by NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite appear on the site.
This is a release of images of the entire hemisphere of the planet Earth.
From these images, you can see the main changes in weather patterns affecting different hemispheres of the Earth.
The images are so accurate that you can see a specific place on Earth at the closest possible approximation.
In these photographs, the maximum realism is striking. The weather changes that you see in these pictures are happening on the planet right now.
If you don't want to watch videos, but just want to enjoy the extraordinary hemispheres of the Earth, these are the pictures you need.
Also on the Internet you can find amazing new satellite images of the Earth that come from the 3rd generation Meteosat spacecraft of the European Space Agency.
Approximation. Looking at satellite images of houses
If these weather satellite photos aren't enough for you, let's see how to zoom in close enough to see the houses from space.
To do this, we need the best tool on the market today, in my opinion, . All you need is a web browser and an internet connection.
On first launch, the user is presented with a satellite view over North America.
You can then zoom in or move the camera around the surface to see any place on Earth.
You can also enter the exact address you want to see.
Once you do this, you will have free access to satellite imagery of the house you entered. You can save the image or print it.
Another interesting tool is Google Earth. It can be accessed via this link: http://earth.google.com.
The main difference between Google Maps and Google Earth is that you have to download and install the corresponding application on your local computer (they have versions for PC, Mac, Linux and even iPhone).
Once you have downloaded and installed , you can see a 3D view of the Earth that you can zoom in and out of.
You can also rotate a 3D model of our planet. You can enter your address and look at your home from above.
In Google Earth, the print function works much better than in Google Maps, since the printer is used for printing directly, and not through a web browser.
There are those among modern users who prefer not to use the products of this search engine leader, suspecting that the company's technical engineers are spying on them.
Microsoft's service used to be called MSN Maps, now the developers have changed the name to Bing Maps, completely updating the interface and functionality.
The Yahoo service service is called Yahoo Maps and it is very similar to Google Maps.
There is a big difference between these two services.
There is a cool app on the internet that lets you see both apps side by side.
Comparing them, you can understand that the latter are worked out in more detail.
And most cities are best viewed through this application.
Where do all these photos come from?
Google Maps and other popular mapping services are really just clients.
They, just like users, use satellite communications services, which actually download these photos from space.
There are several major service providers on the market, including Geoeye.
Geoeye's main competitors are Digitalglobe and Spot Image.
Each company has a fleet of satellites that they use to monitor the Earth.
Their technical capabilities make it possible to shoot tiny Earth objects.
The smallest object that has been recorded so far is about 45 cm (18 inches) in size.
In other words, a 45cm object will look like a single pixel in a photograph.
Private satellites that monitor our planet around the clock:
- GeoEye - 5 satellites: IKONOS, OrbView-2, OrbView-3, GeoEye-1, GeoEye-2 (in 2013).
- DigitalGlobe - 4 satellites: Early Bird 1, Quickbird, WorldView-1, Worldview-2
- Spot Image - 2 satellites: Spot 4, Spot 5
Each of these services allows customers to purchase satellite imagery directly, but the prices are extremely high: hundreds or even thousands of dollars for specific satellite images.
It is usually not possible to buy photos directly from the company that owns the satellite.
Most often in such cases, they use the services of international intermediaries.
Average users are better off sticking to free sources.
When you look at these amazing images from space, you may be surprised at the accuracy and detail. In fact, this is far from the most up-to-date data.
At the moment, in the public domain, you can find pictures of two years ago.
More up-to-date data is bought out by special services, intelligence organizations and never goes into free access.
But, if you are burning with a thirst for up-to-date information, you should turn to other sources that will give you a live view of the Earth from space.
For example, you can access a live feed from NASA's International Space Station.
About 40% of the time, if you go to their site, you will be able to see a video of the Earth from the space station.
Another service called Urthecast launched a high definition camera feed from the International Space Station in 2013 to broadcast video of the Earth from space.
Navigation
Google Maps is not just a popular program used by a company, but it is also one of the most popular maps used for hybrid web apps.
This makes Google Maps a very popular and versatile tool that is used in a variety of ways.
It is used in localization applications, in weather forecasting services.
Learning to use the app is easy. This will help you navigate various map-based mashups.
Although some of these hybrids change some of the default settings.
But knowing Google Maps will allow you to quickly adapt to small changes in software mapping.
Tip: while reading the instructions for using the application, try moving the maps to a separate browser window. You will be able to practice in parallel while reading helpful tips.
What are Google Maps? It is a service that consists of several applications provided free of charge and includes the mapping site Google Maps and a route planning program (Google Transit). Maps from Google offer a satellite view of many cities on the planet and include a detailed layout of streets, houses, ways to travel by public transport or car, a guide to various objects, and more.
Features of work
The Google Maps map is displayed in two variations:
- conventional traditional map (similar to Mercator maps)
- and satellite images (not online, but taken a certain time ago).
The scale of the maps is also based on the Mercator projection, that is, it is constant and changes from the poles to the equator in the direction of decreasing.
Another separate project of the corporation is closely connected with Google Maps - Google Planet, which corresponds to the globe, on which the regions of the Earth's poles are clearly visible.
For which places are satellite images offered? Not for everyone, but only for big cities in Russia, England, America, Canada and others.
Not all governments have approved such placement and use of images (because the placement of some objects that are clearly visible on maps can be used by terrorists to plan and carry out attacks).
That is why many objects on the maps are shaded. Such "secret" objects include, for example, the White House or the Capitol.
Different places on satellite images are given in different resolutions - the less populated the area, the less detailed it is. Also, some places in the pictures may be hidden due to the shadow of the clouds.
Google maps online
- switch to satellite mode- lower left corner;
- zoom in/zoom out- lower right corner.
As soon as the company introduced a new service, a wave of interest in satellite images swept around the world.
The creation of sites began, on which satellite images of interesting places, unusual architectural sights, stadiums, and anthropogenic formations began to be freely available. Since 2008, the US Weather Service has been using Google Maps to prepare its forecasts.
It should be noted that not all images are made from a satellite - most of the images were obtained thanks to aerial photography from a height of 300 meters.
Google Maps online maps make extensive use of JavaScript. As the user moves around the map by dragging it, new parcels are loaded from the server and displayed on the page.
If the user is looking for specific objects, then the search result is inserted in the sidebar, and the page itself does not require a reload. The location on the map is displayed dynamically through a red marker icon.
- In 2006 The first version for mobile phones appeared in 2007, and the second version appeared in 2007. A GPS-like service is used to locate the phone.
- In 2008 year Google Maps could be used for Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian, BlackBerry, Java (from 2+), IOS (Apple), Palm OS (Centro+).
- In 2011 In 2007, the corporation announced that it was providing mapping services to more than 150 million customers.
So that third-party site owners could use Maps, Google announced in 2005 the free Maps API (Application Programming Interface) service.
The map can be placed on any site using this technology for software interaction. To date, there are more than 350 thousand such sites around the world.
For free observation of the Earth's surface and viewing satellite images online, you can use several applications. In Russia, two of them are the most popular: Google Maps and Yandex Maps. Both services boast good quality satellite imagery in high resolution for most countries.
Yandex maps is an online application from Russian developers, so the cities of Russia are more accurately worked out in it. It has built-in functionality for viewing traffic congestion data (large settlements), demographic and geodata. Google maps have no less high-quality satellite images of the territory of the Russian Federation, but data on land and traffic are available only for the United States.
Watch a map of Planet Earth from a satellite online
Below you can see the Google map embedded on the site. For more stable operation of the plugin, we recommend using the Google Chrome browser. If you see an error message, then update the specified plugin, then reload the page.
Watch Google Earth from satellite, in real time online:
Another advantage of Google Maps is the presence of a client application for working with satellite images. This means that the service can be accessed not only through a browser, but also through a pre-downloaded program. It has much more opportunities for viewing and studying satellite images, working with a three-dimensional virtual globe.
Google 3D satellite map (downloadable app, not online version) allows you to:
- use a quick search for the desired objects by name or coordinates;
- take screenshots and record high quality videos;
- work offline (preliminary synchronization via the Internet is required);
- use a flight simulator for more convenient movement between objects;
- save "favorite places" for quick movement between them;
- view not only the Earth's surface, but also images of other celestial bodies (Mars, the Moon, etc.).
You can work with Google satellite maps through a client application or a browser. A plug-in is available on the official page of the program that allows you to use an interactive map on any web resource. It is enough to embed its address in the program code of the site. For display, you can select both the entire surface and a specific area (you will have to enter the coordinates). Management - using a computer mouse and keyboard (ctrl + mouse wheel to zoom, cursor to move) or using the icons indicated on the map ("plus" - zoom in, "minus" - zoom out, move with the cursor).
The Google Earth real-time service allows you to work with several types of maps, each of which reflects certain data on satellite images. It is convenient to switch between them “without losing progress” (the program remembers where you “were”). Available view modes:
- satellite landscape map (geographical objects, features of the Earth's surface);
- physical map (detailed satellite images of the surface, cities, streets, their names);
- schematic geographic map for a more accurate study of surface images.
A satellite image is automatically uploaded at the point of approach, so a stable Internet connection is required to work. To use Google Earth offline, you need to download an application for Windows or another operating system. Its operation also requires the Internet, but only for the first launch, after which the program synchronizes all the necessary data (satellite images of the surface, 3D models of buildings, names of geographical and other objects), after which it will be possible to work with the received data without direct access to the Internet.
