Google satellite map - Detailed description of the service. Google Maps

Google Maps is a leader among modern mapping services providing satellite interactive maps online. At least a leader in the field of satellite images and in the number of various additional services and tools (Google Earth, Google Mars, various weather and transport services, one of the most powerful APIs).

In the field of schematic maps, at some point, this leadership “was lost” in favor of Open Street Maps - a unique mapping service in the spirit of Wikipedia, where every volunteer can contribute data to the site.

However, despite this, the popularity of Google Maps remains perhaps one of the highest of all other mapping services. Part of the reason is that Google Maps is where we can find the most detailed satellite photos for the largest regions of any country. Even in Russia such a large and successful company as Yandex Can't beat the quality and coverage satellite photos count at least in his own country.

With Google Maps, anyone can view satellite photos of the Earth for free almost anywhere in the world.

Image quality

Pictures of himself high resolution usually available for the world's largest cities in America, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Asia, Oceania. Currently, high-quality images are available for cities with a population of more than 1 million inhabitants. For smaller cities and others settlements Satellite images are only available in limited resolution.

Possibilities

Google Maps or “Google Maps” was a real discovery for Internet users and indeed all PC users, giving an unheard of and previously unseen opportunity to look at their home, their village, cottage, lake or river where they vacationed in the summer - from a satellite. To see it from above, from a perspective from which it would be impossible to see it under any other circumstances. The discovery, the very idea of ​​giving people easy access to satellite photos, fits harmoniously into Google's overall vision of “easily providing everyone with access to any information on the planet.”

Google Maps allows you to see from a satellite simultaneously those things and objects that cannot be observed at the same time when observed from the ground. Satellite maps differ from ordinary ones in that simple maps colors and natural shapes natural objects distorted by editorial processing for further publication. However, in satellite photographs all the naturalness of nature and the objects being photographed is preserved, natural colors, shapes of lakes, rivers, fields and forests.

Looking at a map, one can only guess what is there: a forest, a field or a swamp, while on satellite photography it is immediately clear: objects are usually round or oval shape the unique swamp color is the swamp. The light green spots or areas in the photograph are fields, and the dark green ones are forests. With enough experience in orientation in Google Maps, you can even distinguish whether it is a coniferous forest or a mixed forest: coniferous has a browner tint. Also on the map you can distinguish specific broken lines piercing the forests and fields of the vast Russian expanses - these are railways. Only by looking from a satellite can you understand that railways are much larger highways influence the natural landscape around them. Also in Google Maps, it is possible to overlay maps with the names of regions, roads, settlements on a national scale and the names of streets, house numbers, metro stations on a city scale on a satellite image of an area or city.

Map mode and satellite view mode

In addition to satellite images, it is possible to switch to the “map” mode, in which it is possible to view any territory on the surface of the Earth and study in detail the layout and location of houses of any more or less large city. In the "map" mode it is especially convenient to plan your movements around the city if you have already seen enough satellite views of your city.

The search function by house number will easily point you to the desired house, giving you the opportunity to “look around” the area around this house and how you can drive up/approach it. To search for the required object, just type in Russian in the search bar a query like: “City, street, house number” and the site will display to you the location of the object you are looking for using a special marker.

How to use Google Maps

To begin, open some place.

To move around the map, left-click on the map and drag it in any order. To return to the original position, press the centering button located between the four direction buttons.

To enlarge the map, click on the button "+" or roll the mouse roller when the cursor is over the map. You can also enlarge the map double click mouse in the location you are interested in.

To switch between satellite, mixed (hybrid) and map views, use the corresponding buttons in the upper right corner of the map: Map / Satellite / Hybrid.

What are Google Maps? This is a service that consists of several applications provided for free, and includes the mapping site Google Maps and a route planning program (Google Transit). Google Maps offers satellite views for many cities around the world and includes detailed diagram location of streets, houses, routes for traveling by public transport or car, a guide to various objects, etc.

Features of work

Google Maps is displayed in two variations:

  • an ordinary traditional map (analogous 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 downwards.

Another separate project of the corporation is closely related to Google Maps - Google Planet, which corresponds to a globe on which the regions of the Earth's poles are clearly visible.

For which places are they offered? satellite images? Not for everyone, but only for big cities Russia, England, America, Canada and others.

Not all governments have approved such placement and use of images (since 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 maps are shaded. Such “classified” objects include, for example, The White house or the Capitol.

Different places on satellite images are shown in different resolutions - the less populated the area, the less detailed it is. Also, some places in the pictures may be hidden due to cloud shadows.

Google Maps online

  • switch to satellite mode- lower left corner;
  • zoom in/out- lower right corner.

As soon as the company introduced the new service, a wave of interest in satellite images swept across the world.

The creation of websites began on which satellite images of interesting places, unusual architectural landmarks, stadiums, and man-made formations began to be freely available. Since 2008, the US Weather Service began using Google Maps to prepare its forecasts.

It should be noted that not all images were taken from satellites - most of the images were obtained through aerial photography from a height of 300 meters.

Google Maps online maps make fairly extensive use of JavaScript. As the user moves around the map by dragging it, new areas are downloaded from the server and displayed on the page.

If the user is looking for specific objects, the search result is inserted into the sidebar, and the page itself does not require a reload. The location on the map is displayed dynamically via a red marker icon.

  • In 2006 year the first version for mobile phones, and in 2007 a second version appeared. A service similar to GPS is used to determine the location of 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 2018, the corporation announced that it provides mapping services to more than 150 million customers.

To allow owners of third-party sites to use Maps, Google announced in 2005 a free Maps API (Application Programming Interface) service.

The map can be placed on any website using this technology for interaction software. Today there are more than 350 thousand such sites around the world.

Two Google Maps - diagram and satellite

Hello, dear friends of the portal site!

Two Google Maps (Scheme and Satellite), which can be used to compare any object in any city (street, house) and country in the world. Visibility of a geographical object on the map and view from space (Google satellite map), street panorama (drag the orange man onto the diagram)

Just type the required address in the Google Maps search form. This could be the name of a country, city, street. For a more accurate search, we recommend combining your Google query

Example: Moscow Tverskaya 11, or another address in Moscow (as in any city in the world)

In this case, the Google Maps 2019 database will correctly match the coordinates with the address you typed. Believe me, it will do no worse than +showing interesting and popular places in the world. This sufficiently guarantees the output of the exact location of the search object

By default, two maps show the sunny city of Los Angeles (satellite view and regular one). By changing the suggested scale +/-, you can take a closer look at each street with houses (Los Angeles)

The City of Angels is the second most populous city in the United States. Disneyland (Anaheim) and the Hollywood sign are also located there. By zooming out on the satellite map from the satellite (-), you will witness an interesting metamorphosis. All that's left is to try. Street photos (satellite images) and panoramic views are also available on both maps

By the way, you can find Disneyland itself at these coordinates. Copy Ctrl+C and paste into the search form Ctrl+V

33.810781,-117.918978

Similar interesting things await here when you zoom out (-). By zooming the diagram to the maximum, you can also use the Google Maps “Arrow Spin” tool (appears above the zoom tool).

Also in Los Angeles is the Google office at Los Angeles 340 Main Street (type that to search). One of 70 offices in 40 countries around the world

In some cases, you need to compare two different objects in the same view. Let's say you look at the desired street on a map of the city of Moscow from a satellite - or pictures of roads and squares. First, we find the capital of Russia on the map. Previously, they were able to determine the latitude and longitude of any city in the world. Then switch the map from above to the “Satellite” view (lower left corner). The map in Russian below will remain as is. This is how it looks like to compare two Google Maps:

⬇ List: popular and interesting places on Google Maps (new ones are being added):

  • Zaryadye Park, Moscow 55.751085, 37.628765
  • Belarus, Brest Fortress 52.082599, 23.655529
  • Berlin, Reichstag 52.518712, 13.376100
  • Himalayas, Everest 27.989302, 86.925040
  • Baikonur Cosmodrome 45.996389, 63.563907
  • Mexico, Aztec city 19.692850, -98.843856
  • Monte Carlo, embankment 43.734819, 7.421430
  • Rio de Janeiro, Jesus Christ statue -22.952264, -43.210662
  • Statue “Motherland”, Kyiv 50.426760, 30.563044
  • Statue “Motherland”, Mamayev Kurgan, Volgograd 48.742342, 44.537109
  • Petronas Towers Malaysia 3.157933, 101.711846
  • London "Big Ben" 51.501021, -0.124660
  • France, Channel Tunnel 50.922493, 1.781868
  • Australia, Sydney, Opera House -33.856716, 151.215294
  • UAE Dubai, artificial islands 25.114663, 55.139036

Google Maps service (Google Maps) is one of the most powerful mapping services in the world. Its capabilities allow you to enjoy satellite images of the surface of our planet. You can also use the capabilities of the interactive map, easily plot a convenient route from point A to point B, get up-to-date information about traffic jams and much more. At the same time, not all users are fully familiar with the capabilities of this service, which in a certain way prevents its full use. This material is intended to eliminate such “blank spots”, in it I will talk about Google maps, which are available online in real time and excellent quality, and I’ll explain in detail how to use their capabilities.

Studying the functionality online service Google Maps

Google Maps is a web service that provides detailed visual information about geographic regions and places around the world. In addition to displaying a conventional road map, the service also offers aerial and satellite imagery of various locations, including images taken using a variety of vehicles.


This is what the Google Maps start screen looks like:

Google Map includes several popular services:

  • The route planner offers the creation of routes for drivers and pedestrians who want to get from point A to point B;
  • The Google Maps API makes it possible to insert maps from Google Maps into various websites;
  • Google Street View (Google Street View) allows users to view the streets of various cities around the world, virtually moving through them;
  • Google Maps for mobile platforms offers GPS navigation mobile devices to position the user on the map;
  • Ancillary services offer images of the Moon, Mars, clouds, etc. for astronomers and just amateurs.

To start working with Google maps in full screen, launch the service google.ru/maps. A schematic map of the world will open in front of you (depending on the user’s location, usually this is a map of Europe).

Instructions for using Google maps

The Google Maps service interface looks like this:


Additional options in the Menu item

Also in the Google Maps menu bar, which opens by clicking the menu button at the top left, the following useful options are presented:

  • « Satellite» - switches to photographic map display mode created using satellite photos. Clicking this option again switches the map back to schematic mode;
  • « Traffic jams» - shows current ones on this moment traffic jams in large cities. The color gradation from green to red shows the speed of traffic in the indicated traffic jams;
  • « Transport» — allows you to display a diagram of public transport movement in the right place;
  • « Relief» – will allow you to display the relief of a given area
  • « Transfer of geodata» - allows people to track each other's location using Google Maps;
  • « My places» — allows you to navigate between places you added in the Google Maps service;
  • « Your impressions» - will allow you to add any text impression about any of the places on the map (as well as attach a photo of this place).

Activating Google Maps satellite view

Displaying Google maps using satellite photos is one of the most popular forms of working with the Google Maps service. It allows you to enjoy the view of the desired geographical location, created using satellite images, as well as images from special devices operating at bird's eye height (from 240 to 460 meters).

The resulting photographs are regularly updated (their age is no more than 3 years). They enable each user to enjoy a satellite view of the desired places, visually plot the most convenient road from one place to another, and so on.


Google Earth - allows you to enjoy high-resolution images

Among the capabilities of the Google Maps service is the Google Earth service. In addition to the technology of the already known satellite surface mapping globe, Google Earth allows you to view 3D images of many colorful places, while photos of some famous tourist sites have the highest resolution.

A special feature of this service is also two, in our opinion, main functions:


Conclusion

The Google Maps service allows you to both view satellite maps in real time for free and use various forms navigation to create a user-friendly route. At the same time, Google Maps' competitors - Yandex.Maps, Bing Maps, Apple Maps and other analogs are generally inferior to Google maps both in coverage area and in general functionality. Therefore, we recommend using Google maps to search and visually view the geographic location you need.

Google Maps is a leader among modern mapping services that provide satellite interactive maps online. At least a leader in the field of satellite imagery and in the number of various additional services and tools (Google Earth, Google Mars, various weather and transport services, one of the most powerful APIs).

In the field of schematic maps, at some point, this leadership “was lost” in favor of Open Street Maps - a unique mapping service in the spirit of Wikipedia, where every volunteer can contribute data to the site.

However, despite this, the popularity of Google Maps remains perhaps one of the highest of all other mapping services. Part of the reason is that Google Maps is where we can find the most detailed satellite photos for the largest regions of any country. Even in Russia such a large and successful company as Yandex cannot surpass the quality and coverage of satellite photographs, at least in its own country.

With Google Maps, anyone can view satellite photos of the Earth for free almost anywhere in the world.

Image quality

The highest resolution images are usually available for the largest cities in the world in America, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Asia, Oceania. Currently, high-quality images are available for cities with a population of more than 1 million inhabitants. For smaller cities and other populated areas, satellite imagery is only available in limited resolution.

Possibilities

Google Maps or “Google Maps” was a real discovery for Internet users and indeed all PC users, giving an unheard of and previously unseen opportunity to look at their home, their village, cottage, lake or river where they vacationed in the summer - from a satellite. To see it from above, from a perspective from which it would be impossible to see it under any other circumstances. The discovery, the very idea of ​​giving people easy access to satellite photos, fits harmoniously into Google's overall vision of “easily providing everyone with access to any information on the planet.”

Google Maps allows you to see from a satellite simultaneously those things and objects that cannot be observed at the same time when observed from the ground. Satellite maps differ from ordinary maps in that on simple maps the colors and natural forms of natural objects are distorted by editorial processing for further publication. However, satellite photographs preserve all the naturalness of nature and the objects being photographed, natural colors, shapes of lakes, rivers, fields and forests.

Looking at the map, one can only guess what is there: a forest, a field or a swamp, while on satellite photography it is immediately clear: objects, usually round or oval in shape, with a unique swamp color, are swamps. The light green spots or areas in the photograph are fields, and the dark green ones are forests. With enough experience in orientation in Google Maps, you can even distinguish whether it is a coniferous forest or a mixed forest: coniferous has a browner tint. Also on the map you can distinguish specific broken lines piercing the forests and fields of the vast Russian expanses - these are railways. Only by looking from a satellite can one understand that railways have a much greater influence on the natural landscape surrounding them than roads. Also in Google Maps, it is possible to overlay maps with the names of regions, roads, settlements on a national scale and the names of streets, house numbers, metro stations on a city scale on a satellite image of an area or city.

Map mode and satellite view mode

In addition to satellite images, it is possible to switch to the “map” mode, in which it is possible to view any territory on the surface of the Earth and study in detail the layout and location of houses of any more or less large city. In the "map" mode it is especially convenient to plan your movements around the city if you have already seen enough satellite views of your city.

The search function by house number will easily point you to the desired house, giving you the opportunity to “look around” the area around this house and how you can drive up/approach it. To search for the required object, just type in Russian in the search bar a query like: “City, street, house number” and the site will display to you the location of the object you are looking for using a special marker.

How to use Google Maps

To begin, open some place.

To move around the map, left-click on the map and drag it in any order. To return to the original position, press the centering button located between the four direction buttons.

To enlarge the map, click on the button "+" or roll the mouse roller when the cursor is over the map. You can also enlarge the map double click mouse in the location you are interested in.

To switch between satellite, mixed (hybrid) and map views, use the corresponding buttons in the upper right corner of the map: Map / Satellite / Hybrid.

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