Satellite year map with ruler. Google Maps (Google maps). Google Earth - allows you to enjoy high-resolution images

To observe the Earth's surface for free and view satellite images online, you can use several applications. In Russia, two of them are most popular: Google Maps and Yandex Maps. Both services boast good quality satellite images high resolution most countries.

Yandex maps is an online application from Russian developers, so Russian cities are more accurately detailed in it. It has built-in functionality for viewing traffic load data (large settlements), demographic and geodata. Google maps have equally high-quality satellite images of the territory of the Russian Federation, but data on land plots and traffic are available only for the United States.

View a map of Planet Earth from satellite online

Below you can see the Google map built into the site. For more stable operation of the plugin, we recommend using the Google Chrome browser. If you see an error message, please update the specified plugin and 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 many more opportunities for viewing and studying satellite images and working with a three-dimensional virtual globe.

A 3D satellite map from Google (a downloadable application, not an 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” to quickly move between them;
• view not only the Earth's surface, but also images of other celestial bodies (Mars, Moon, etc.).

You can work with Google satellite maps through a client application or browser. A plugin is available on the official page of the program that allows you to use interactive map on any web resource. It is enough to embed its address in the site’s program code. For display, you can select either the entire surface or a specific area (you will have to enter the coordinates). Control - using a computer mouse and keyboard (ctrl+mouse wheel for zooming, cursor for moving) or using the icons indicated on the map (“plus” - zoom in, “minus” - zoom out, move with the cursor).

The Google Earth service in real time allows you to work with several types of maps, each of which reflects certain data on satellite images. It’s convenient to switch between them “without losing progress” (the program remembers where you “were”). Available viewing modes:

• landscape map from satellite (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.

The satellite image is automatically loaded at the point of approach, so a stable Internet connection is required for operation. For work Google Planet Earth in offline mode 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.

Allows you to obtain spatial information about earth's surface in the visible and infrared ranges of electromagnetic wavelengths. They are able to recognize passive reflected radiation from the earth's surface in the visible and near-infrared ranges. In such systems, radiation hits the corresponding sensors, which generate electrical signals depending on the intensity of the radiation.

In optical-electronic remote sensing systems, as a rule, sensors with constant line-by-line scanning are used. You can select linear, transverse and longitudinal scanning.

The total scanning angle across the route is called the viewing angle, and the corresponding value on the Earth's surface is shooting bandwidth.

Part of the data stream received from a satellite is called a scene. The schemes for cutting the stream into scenes, as well as their size for different satellites, differ.

Optical-electronic remote sensing systems carry out surveys in the optical range of electromagnetic waves.

Panchromatic the images occupy almost the entire visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum (0.45-0.90 microns), and are therefore black and white.

Multispectral(multispectral) imaging systems produce multiple separate images over broad spectral regions ranging from visible to infrared electromagnetic radiation. The greatest practical interest at the moment is multispectral data from new generation spacecraft, including RapidEye (5 spectral zones) and WorldView-2 (8 zones).

The new generation of high- and ultra-high-resolution satellites, as a rule, survey in panchromatic and multispectral modes.

Hyperspectral imaging systems form images simultaneously for narrow spectral zones in all parts of the spectral range. For hyperspectral imaging, it is not the number of spectral zones (channels) that is important, but the width of the zone (the smaller the better) and the sequence of measurements. Thus, a shooting system with 20 channels will be hyperspectral if it covers the range of 0.50-070 microns, with the width of each spectral zone not exceeding 0.01 microns, and a shooting system with 20 separate channels covering the visible region of the spectrum , near, short-wave, mid- and long-wave infrared regions will be considered multispectral.

Spatial resolution- a value characterizing the size of the smallest objects distinguishable in the image. Factors affecting spatial resolution are the parameters of the optical-electronic or radar system, as well as the orbital altitude, that is, the distance from the satellite to the object being imaged. The best spatial resolution is achieved when shooting at nadir; as you deviate from nadir, the resolution deteriorates. Satellite images can have low (more than 10 m), medium (from 10 to 2.5 m), high (from 2.5 to 1 m), and ultra-high (less than 1 m) resolution.

Radiometric resolution determined by the sensitivity of the sensor to changes in the intensity of electromagnetic radiation. It is determined by the number of gradations of color values ​​corresponding to the transition from the brightness of absolutely “black” to absolutely “white”, and is expressed in the number of bits per pixel of the image. This means that in the case of a radiometric resolution of 6 bits/pixel, we have only 64 color gradations, 8 bits/pixel - 256 gradations, 11 bits/pixel - 2048 gradations.

Many users are interested satellite maps online, giving you the opportunity to enjoy a bird's eye view of your favorite places on our planet. There are quite a number of such services on the Internet, but 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 material I will talk about the best high-resolution satellite maps available online in 2017-2018, and also explain how to use them.

What you need to know about online satellite maps?

When creating satellite maps of the earth's surface, both images from space satellites and photos from special aircraft are usually used, allowing photography to be carried out at a bird's eye view (250-500 meters).

Satellite maps of the highest resolution quality created in this way are regularly updated, and usually the images from them are no more than 2-3 years old.

Majority network services do not have the capabilities to create their own satellite maps. They usually 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 displaying 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, photographs for which were taken over the past months (or even years). It is worth understanding that any military objects may be deliberately retouched in order to hide them from interested parties.

Let's move on to a description of the services that allow us to enjoy the capabilities of satellite maps.

Google Maps - view from space in high resolution

Bing Maps – online satellite map service

Among online mapping services of decent quality, you cannot ignore the service " Bing Maps"(Bing Maps), 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 United States.

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 specific satellite, and by clicking on any satellite on the map you will get brief information about it (country, size, launch date, etc.).

Conclusion

To display high-resolution satellite maps online, you should use one of the network solutions I listed. The Google Maps service is the most popular worldwide, 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 on our country’s relations exceeds the similar frequency from Google Maps.

Remember the movie “Men in Black”, where Agent Kay looked through an orbital camera at his beloved watering flowers in the courtyard? The opportunity to see what our Earth looks like from a satellite in real time attracts people from all over the world. Today we will tell you - and show you! - the best fruits of modern Earth observation technologies.

Attention! If you see a dark screen, it means the cameras are in the shadows. Screensaver or gray screen - no signal.

Usually we only get static satellite maps, frozen in time - the details are not updated for years, and it is an eternal summer day outside. Isn't it interesting to see how beautiful the Earth is from a satellite online in winter or at night? In addition, the quality of images of some regions of Russia and the CIS leaves much to be desired. But now all this can be solved in one fell swoop - thanks to , Earth online from a satellite in real time is no longer science fiction. Right on this page you can join thousands of people who are now observing the planet.

At an altitude of 400 kilometers above the planet, where the station is permanently located, NASA installed one developed by private companies. The astronauts themselves or at the commands of the Mission Control Center direct the cameras from which data is transmitted. Thanks to manual control, we can see what the Earth looks like from a satellite online from all sides - its atmosphere, mountains, cities and oceans. And the mobility of the station allows you to view half of the globe in an hour.

How does the broadcast happen?

Thanks to the fact that the cameras are located at the International Station, even minor details are visible to us, which are commented on by scientists, astronauts and professional journalists. However, our Earth is visible online from a satellite in real time thanks to the work of a whole complex of people and machines - in addition to the already mentioned astronauts and the Control Center, the process involves satellite communication transmission technologies, solar power batteries and technical specialists involved in data translation and decoding. Accordingly, the broadcast has its own nuances - knowing them will help you see more and better understand what is happening on the screen.

Our observation point, the orbital station, moves at enormous speed - almost 28 thousand kilometers per hour, and circles the Earth in 90-92 minutes. Half of this time, 45 minutes, the station hangs on the night side. And although on approach the solar panels of the cameras can be powered by sunset light, in the depths the electricity disappears - therefore it is not always available from the satellite. At such moments, the broadcast screen turns gray; Just wait a little and you will be watching the sunrise with the astronauts.

In order to find best time for observations, you will need our special map of the Earth from a satellite - it not only marks the time of passage space station, but also its exact position. This way you can find out when to see your city from space heights, or find a station in the sky with binoculars or a telescope!

We have already mentioned that astronauts and ground control can change the aiming of cameras - they perform not only an entertaining, but also a scientific function. At such moments, planet Earth is not accessible from a satellite in real time - a black or blue screensaver appears on the screen, or already captured moments are repeated. If there are no interruptions in satellite communications, the station is located on the day side of the planet, and the background suddenly changes, then the cameras are filming areas inaccessible to the public due to international treaties. Secret objects and forbidden territories are closed and on static maps, skillfully hidden by photo editors or simply erased. All that remains is to wait for the moment when the situation in the world relaxes, and there will be no secrets from ordinary citizens.

Hidden Features

But don't be upset if the camera isn't working right now! When planet Earth cannot be shown online from satellite, astronauts and NASA find other entertainment for viewers. You will see life inside the International Space Station, astronauts in zero gravity, who talk about their work and what kind of satellite view of the Earth will be shown next. They even allow you to look into the impressively large Mission Control Center. The only negative is that even the speech of Russian cosmonauts is translated into English so that it can be understood by the American employees who manage the Center. Turn off translation to this moment impossible. Also, don’t be surprised by the silence - comments are not always appropriate, and there is no constant sound accompaniment yet.

For those who are predicting the route of cameras using the capabilities provided by a real-time satellite map of the Earth, we have advice - check the date and time settings on your computer. The server that updates the map uses the given International Station motion formula and the time zone of your IP address to predict the position of the orbital cameras. The online map judges what the Earth looks like from a satellite solely based on the device’s time. If your clock is slow or fast relative to the time zone, the station will move east or west accordingly. The use of proxy servers and anonymizers will also affect the results.

You are a participant in a scientific program

You've probably noticed that the quality of the picture of planet Earth from space and live broadcast from satellite often changes - the image is covered with squares or lags behind the audio track. In most cases, it is enough to check the speed of your Internet connection, disable other videos and programs for downloading files, or click on the HD button in the broadcast window. However, if there are interruptions, it is worth remembering that the planet is visible alive only thanks to a large-scale scientific experiment.

Yes, yes - the video on this page is transmitted for a reason. The cameras installed on the International Space Station are part of the High Definition Earth Viewing program, which is still being improved and developed. The cameras are installed by astronauts in conditions isolated from cold and dust, but they are exposed to harsh radiation from the outside. Scientists are experimenting with the difficulties of continuous data transmission in space, ensuring that a map of the Earth from a satellite in good quality exists not only motionless, but also living, dynamic. The results will help improve existing channels and create new ones - even in Mars orbit in the foreseeable future.

So let's stay in touch - new things appear in the world of space every day!

Google Map is one of the most popular services today. It provides users with the opportunity to observe our planet (and not only) from a satellite online in high quality and in real time (sights of the planet in). At some point, the primacy of the schematic map view was captured by the Open Street Maps application. Where everyone in the know can edit a map in Wikipedia style, but this does not change anything and today Google Maps is the most popular online map service. The popularity of cards from this company ranks first long years because of good quality satellite images in any corner of the planet, even Yandex could not provide such quality in its homeland.

Google Maps online

Quality of Google Maps satellite images in 2020

Google continues to improve its brainchild in the form of visualization of our planet, improving the quality and detail of surfaces. More recently, the company has improved its services using new satellite Landsat 8, which can photograph the surface of planet Earth with a resolution of 15/30/100 meters per elementary point. Base satellite images in real time was previously updated only in 2013. At that time, the application used images taken by the Landsat 7 satellite, which was also known for introducing some bugs and glitches into the maps. To compare the quality of images taken by different satellites, pay attention to the screenshot below.

Images taken by different satellites

In the examples given on the screen you can see that the image of the new satellite shows not only improved detail of earthly objects, but also more natural colors. Representatives of Google announced that about 700 trillion pixels of graphic data were spent on assembling a mosaic of the earth's surface of a new generation. Almost 43 thousand powerful computing machines in the Google cloud worked for a week on gluing together pictures.

How to use Google Maps online

Anywhere in the world you can use Google Maps online in high quality using a tablet, mobile phone or computer. Just follow the link https://google.com/maps/ or use the embedded map below and you can find the country, city, and even the route to the museum by entering the desired search parameters. And for mobile devices you can download a special application that is more convenient to use.

To find the way to a laundromat or a cafe that you often visit, simply enter the addresses in the program line and you will no longer need to enter this data every time. At the same time, you can not only view the route to the establishment, but also get acquainted with information that relates to this establishment, for example, opening hours, contact details, etc.

Let's try using Google's satellite map 2020 as an example.

1. Go to the website or open the app on your mobile device.
2. All you have to do is point or touch on the touch screen and you can view the details of that area.
3. In order to find out the distance between cities, right-click on one of them and select “Measure distance” from the drop-down menu. Now the second point can be specified with the left mouse button. If necessary, you can drag the point with the mouse to another location, and the distance information will be updated.
4. To select the “Relief”, “Bike Paths”, “Traffic” mode - select the menu sign (three stripes) and press the desired option. If you are using Apple devices, click the diamond icon with the layer and also click on the desired option.
5. To take advantage high quality 3D images, click on the quadrilateral in the lower left corner. It will say "Satellite", if you need to return to map mode, press it again.
6. To select Street View mode, drag the yellow man to the desired area of ​​the map or simply enter the exact location in the query bar, preferably including your home address.
7. Google Maps high resolution allows you to view streets in historical mode, i.e. how they have changed over time. To do this, throw the little man to the desired place on the map. Select the clock icon and move the time slider to select the desired date.

Amazing Facts About Google Maps

Features and benefits of online maps in real time

From the first days, Google Maps became a revelation for all users. They made it possible to look at cards in a new way, to pay new attention to this tool in general. Everyone who accessed the Internet back in 2005 wanted to immediately use online maps and see their city or country from a satellite.

This seems unthinkable, but today it is possible to view other planets of the solar system in Google app Maps!

Planets in Google Maps

To do this, go to the web version of the program and zoom out the Earth image with the mouse wheel to the maximum. Other planets will appear in the block on the left that you can select to view. There are all the planets of the solar system and several additional satellites. For example, Callisto is a satellite of Jupiter. True, the photographs do not allow us to look at other planets as closely and in detail as happens with the Earth.

Google Maps from satellite in 2019 will allow you to view the surface of the earth and settlements in excellent quality, which cannot be done using a regular card. When drawing up paper and other versions of maps, natural colors, clear contours of the banks of rivers, lakes, colors of areas of the earth and other color schemes are omitted, which is why we have poor orientation. Having looked at a desert area on a regular map, one can only guess what kind of vegetation or relief there is. By accessing Google Maps in real time, you can even see the color and shape of the fence at any address on another continent.

5 strange places that can be seen on Google Maps