Maps to walk the streets. Where to look for historical satellite images
Navigation charts can be needed in a variety of situations. Either you are lost in the forest, or you are looking for the necessary street in the city. A service that can help you deal with this is Google Maps. It consists of a couple of applications. Namely: from the site Google Maps and Google Transit (routing software). Thanks to the fact that Google transmits data directly from the satellite, using these maps you can find out detailed diagram routes, house numbers, street names, and how you can walk or ride (by car, bus, bicycle) to your destination.
This service is a large reference book covering many areas of life: from traveling to planning a walk or going on vacation.
Appearance
The map can be displayed for users in two versions:- traditionally ( topographic map, analogue of Mercator);
- satellite images (not in online mode, but made some time ago).
A sister project to Google Maps, Google Planet (corresponds to a globe), complements the service of images of the Earth's poles.
Peculiarities
Not all countries disclose information about the location of their facilities. Therefore, places on the map where there are classified areas shaded. These include, for example, The White house, Capitol.Different areas of land have different resolutions on the map. The lower the population density of an area, the less details are known about it. Some places on the map are hidden under clouds. Although not all objects were taken from the satellite. The images of some of them were obtained thanks to aerial photography from a height of 300 meters or more. In such places, the detail of the terrain reaches high values.
Service interface
Google Maps is very easy to use. This app was made for people and that's how it works. On the left side there is a button for switching the appearance of cards ( topographical or satellite view). And on the right side of the screen the user can find zoom buttons ( increase and decrease).The system allows its users to enter the address or name of an object and obtain information about its location, address, coordinates, appearance. For some areas, a “what’s there” recognition service is available, and Google Maps will show which object (gas station, museum, store, theater) is located there.
Google online maps javascript service is widely used. New areas of the map appear on the page as the user moves it around the screen. If the address of a specific object has been entered, the page is reloaded and the location of the desired place is displayed on the map with a dynamic red marker icon.
So that the map can be hosted by owners of other sites, Google has announced a free service: API Maps(Application Programming Interface) in 2005. This map can be added to any area of the site. them on this moment there are more than 350 thousand worldwide.
About Google Maps
As of 2011, Google announced that it provides its mapping service to more than 150 million customers. This makes the service one of the largest and most ambitious Internet navigation services.Interactive Google Maps is a free service, courtesy of Google Corporation, which does not contain advertising, but only provides high-quality and verified information about the location and purpose of objects around the world.
Satellite map Russia - high-resolution images taken from space by orbital stations. The image that the user sees consists of many individual images. High quality used on orbital stations, equipment made it possible to achieve highest quality shooting. As a result, on the screens mobile devices, on PC monitors we have access to high-precision, high-resolution photographs, the image on which is very accurate and clear.
The satellite map of Russia displays high-resolution images in real time. You can see almost all Russian cities on them. By zooming in and out of objects, moving the cursor over individual sections of the map, you will be able to view streets, buildings, individual structures and squares. The larger the city, the more detailed the satellite map section will be for it.
Satellite map online in real time 2016 - exploring the country together
High resolution satellite maps online 2016 - a set of high-precision images through which you can study settlements of different sizes at a specific point in time. The user, selecting the object and scale he needs, receives a snapshot of it at the same point in time. By selecting the appropriate parameters instead of the “satellite view” mode, you can display the image:
- landscape view;
- schematic representation of Russia and its individual cities;
- Satellite view - real image.
Online high-resolution satellite maps of 2015-2016 are the most user-friendly models of interactive map images from the website service. They will allow you to travel throughout the entire state, from anywhere in the world. Satellites make it possible to track current data on the location and condition of certain objects from different settlements vast Russia.
Google Maps is a leader among modern mapping services that provide 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 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 regular maps in that they 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.
Every user has at least once wondered how to find their home using aerial photographs.
The surprising thing is that access to this information via the Internet is now completely free.
Thanks to the launch of commercial Earth observations, we now have access to online tools 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 in Earth orbit.
The vast majority of them receive data and transmit encoded.
Many of them are equipped with high power cameras. Just look at the sky and you are sure to see the satellite's trail after the satellite passes overhead.
But how can you access this satellite data and aerial imagery of your home?
Satellite images of the entire Earth
If you just want to look at satellite images of the entire planet, you have several 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 an entire hemisphere of planet Earth.
From these pictures you can see the main changes weather conditions, affecting different hemispheres of the Earth.
The pictures are so precise that you can see specific place on Earth as close as possible.
These photographs are striking in their extreme realism. 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, which come from the Meteosat 3rd generation 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 enough to see 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.
When launched for the first time, the user receives a view from a satellite located above North America.
You can then zoom in or pan the camera across the surface to see any location on Earth.
You can also enter the exact address, which you want to see.
Once you do this you will receive free access to satellite images of the house whose address you indicated. You can save the image or print it.
Another interesting tool, this 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 a version 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.
You can also rotate the 3-dimensional model of our planet. You can enter your address and view your home from above.
Google Earth's print function works much better than Google Maps because it uses a printer directly to print rather than through a web browser.
Among modern users there are those who prefer not to use the products of this leader search engines, suspecting that the company's technical engineers are spying on them.
Microsoft's service was previously called MSN Maps, but now the developers have changed the name to Bing Maps, completely updating the interface and functionality.
Yahoo's service is called Yahoo Maps, and it is very similar to Google Maps.
Between these two services there is a big difference.
You can find a cool app on the Internet that allows you to see both of these 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 communication services to actually download these photos from space.
There are several major service providers in the market, including Geoeye.
Geoeye's main competitors are Digitalglobe and Spot Image.
Each company has a fleet of satellites that they use to observe the Earth.
Their technical capabilities make it possible to photograph tiny objects on Earth.
The smallest object that has been recorded so far is about 45 cm (18 inches).
In other words, a 45cm object will appear as one pixel in the 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 imagery.
It is usually not possible to purchase photographs directly from the company that owns the satellite.
Most often in such cases they use the services international mediators.
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 current data.
At the moment, photographs from two years ago can be found in the public domain.
More current data is purchased by intelligence agencies and intelligence organizations and is never made publicly available.
But if you have a burning thirst to receive up-to-date information, it is worth turning 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 website, you will be able to see a video of 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 Earth from space.
Navigation
Google Maps is not just a popular program used by the company, but it is also one of the most popular maps used for hybrid web applications.
This makes Google Maps a very popular and versatile tool that is used in various directions.
It is used in localization applications and weather forecasting services.
Learning to use the application is easy. This way you can navigate through various map-based hybrid web apps.
Although some of these hybrids change some of the default settings.
But knowledge of Google Maps will allow you to quickly adapt to small changes in software display.
Tip: While reading the instructions for using the application, try moving the cards to a separate browser window. You can practice in parallel by reading useful tips.
Google Virtual Map of Mars is an Internet application that is very similar to Google Earth, the map of Mars is also made on this engine. This color map of Mars is nothing more than a 3d topographic map of Mars. This gives us an idea of the heights of the area. This Google map of Mars also lets you switch between visible and infrared views in real time. The switch buttons are in the upper right corner.
Control
In Google Maps of Mars, you can move up, down, left, or right using the arrow buttons in the top left corner of the screen. To zoom in and out of the Google Mars map, simply move the tool's slider. It is also on the left side.
This map of Mars, based on images from the Mars Odyssey probe, is a mosaic of images obtained from orbit.
If you're wondering why Google Mars maps are clearer in infrared, it's because the planet's clouds and dust are transparent to infrared light.
Additional features
In the search bar, you can look for objects that interest you, for example Mount Olympus - Olympus mons and read its description and detailed photographs. To return to the map, press "Backspace". There is also a search for pre-selected groups: spacecraft, mountains, volcanoes, craters, canyons, etc. To do this, click on the corresponding link to the right of the Google icon.
Topographic map of Mars
Pyramids and Face on Mars
If you don't know how to Google Mars pyramids, it's pretty easy. The Google Mars program allows you to quickly search. You can view the coordinates on Google Mars, but searching for them does not work.
Region Cydonia
Cydonia, some translate as Cydonia, is a plateau located in the northern hemisphere of the planet and famous for the fact that the numerous hills of this region, according to the first images of the Viking 1 orbiter, resembled the Face (by the way, Google Mars, allows you to see in one click), the Sphinx and pyramids.
Subsequently, more detailed images of the Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft ( Google service Mars also uses their photographs) showed that these hills have nothing to do with the activities of supposedly intelligent representatives of the planet, and what previously seemed quite meaningful figures appeared in the form of an ordinary Martian landscape. However, interest in these formations does not fade and therefore pyramids on Mars are quite easy to find on Google Mars. Just type Cydonia in the search bar and switch to infrared mode. The Google satellite map of Mars shows the Face and just below the pyramid. We hope that with Google Mars you will constantly discover new finds for yourself.
The Google coordinates of the Mars pyramid are as follows - 40.75N, 9.46W. By the way, the Google planet Mars pyramid coordinates allow you to calculate the coordinates quite easily, just select the object you are interested in and the necessary information of interest will appear in the drop-down menu.
Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris is the longest and deep canyon in the Solar System. She is her companion high mountain in the solar system - Olympus volcano, which is also located on the red planet. This couple demonstrates what extremes can be found using Google Mars online. To find a valley it is enough to command line cards type “Valles Marineris”.
Valley dimensions
The Valles Marineris is about 4,000 km long and 200 km wide, in some places the depth reaches 7 km. It runs along the equator and covers almost a quarter of the planet's circumference, or 59% of its diameter. The Google map of Mars shows that the Valles Marineris system is a network of interconnected depressions that start in the west and Google shows this well. Noctis Labyrinthus or “Labyrinth of Night” is considered the beginning of the Valles Marineris. Canyon runs through various areas with chaotic terrain (ridges, crevasses, and plains mixed together) before ending in the Chryse Planitia basin.
The most common theory for the formation of such a huge canyon is that it was formed by stretching of the surface layer. The theory is confirmed by erosion and destruction of the rift wall. Rift valleys usually form between and during the formation of two mountain ranges.
History of discovery
The mighty canyon is named after NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft, which first photographed it. close range in 1971-1972 Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, ahead of the Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions.
Valles Marineris on Mars has been the focus of many scientists' attention due to its geological past. It indicates that Mars used to be much wetter and warmer. If you are looking interesting places on Google Mars, then this valley is rightfully in the TOP5.
Software updates
In 2012 Google program Mars has been significantly updated. The reason for this was that by that time there were as many as three orbiters circling the red planet in orbit, continuously imaging the surface in different ranges and with different resolutions.
Much of Google Mars' content is now captured by the Context Camera (CTX) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The Google map of Mars has a pretty good resolution - 6 meters per pixel - this is significantly better than most of the images of our Earth in Google Maps (about 15 meters per pixel) and significantly exceeds previous photographs of the planet.
Telescope in orbit
The latest Google Mars map shows individual areas of the surface with a resolution of 25-30 cm per pixel! This is thanks to the HiRISE camera, which is installed on the MRO satellite. The HiRISE camera is actually a telescope with a main mirror diameter of 30 cm! Despite the monstrous detail, it will take many years to completely map the planet with such resolution, so scientists are interested in the most relevant regions of the planet and the work sites of the Mars rovers, of which there are now two (Curiosity and Opportunity).
A collection of photographs captured by the HiRISE camera
To view in full screen mode, use the button at the top right.
Don't forget that so bright colors planets are due to the fact that the camera captures part of the infrared range. Images taken using different filters and wavelengths are necessary to identify various features surface and mineral deposits.
Google Mars has paid a lot of attention to Gale Crater. A new version Google Mars shows new satellite images in gray tones, so they are easy to distinguish from old ones and remember that these are not artifacts of Google Mars, despite the fact that Google map Quite a lot of interesting objects have been discovered on Mars.
Lava tubes on the surface
Quite interesting formations are collapsed lava tubes - channels that are formed during the uneven cooling of lava that flows from the slopes of the volcano. So the virtual map of Mars allows you to look not only at well-known objects, but also at quite rare geological formations. However, the Google Mars map is just high-detail images, so we recommend Google Mars 3D maps, which quite well convey the feeling of being on an alien planet. I’m especially pleased that recently it has become possible to watch Google Mars in Russian. So the Mars Google Mars application is not only a good visualization and technology demonstration tool, but also a whole multimedia entertainment center that allows you to make exciting trips around the red planet.
3D view
The Google Mars 3D map allows you not only to explore the planet, but also to virtual trip, because the relief map of Mars conveys the surface of the distant planet much more realistically. In 3D mode, users can enjoy a bird's eye view of the surface of the planet, and Google's 3D map of Mars makes it possible to virtually move to the most popular objects, consider the “Face on Mars” and Olympus Volcano.
This view from the Google Mars satellite was obtained using NASA's modern Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express, as well as from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
A little about the planet itself
After Earth, almost the only place in the solar system, which could shelter people. But there are many things we must overcome on the red planet.
Orbit
The orbit of the planet of the “god of war” ranks second in eccentricity in the solar system. Only Mercury's orbit has a greater eccentricity. At perihelion it is located at a distance of 206.6 million km from the Sun, and at aphelion 249.2 million km. The average distance from it to the Sun (the so-called semi-major axis) is 228 million km. One revolution of Mars takes 687 Earth days. The distance to the Sun changes depending on the gravitational influence of other planets, and the eccentricity can change over time. As recently as about 1,350 million years ago, it had a nearly circular orbit.
At its closest point, it is located approximately 55.7 million km from Earth. The planets come closest to each other every 26 months. Due to the vast distance, a trip to Mars will take 10 months to a year, depending on how much fuel we use.
Size
Mars is very small and the global topographic map of Mars shows that its area is very small. Mars is only 6,792 km across, about half the diameter, and only 10% of the mass of Earth. Google's satellite map of Mars allows you to view the planet as if you could stand on its surface. Mars, but unfortunately does not convey to us that we would experience only 30% of the gravity on the surface of the Earth.
Seasons
Mars, like all planets solar system, has an axis tilt of about 25.19 degrees. This tilt is similar to Earth's, so it has seasons. Martian seasons are longer than Earth's because the year on Mars is almost twice as long as the Earth's year. The dramatically varying distance between Mars at aphelion and perihelion means its seasons are out of balance.
Day
One day on Mars is only a few minutes longer than on Earth. You can adapt quickly. Another advantage is that the tilt of the Martian axis is very similar to the Earth's; it is a pity that the online map of Mars from the satellite does not show this.
Conditions
But Mars has a very inhospitable environment. It is only 1% of the thickness of the Earth's atmosphere. It consists mainly of carbon dioxide. You won't be able to breathe in such an atmosphere. Night temperatures can drop to -100°C, even in the height of summer at the equator. Interactive map Mars in high resolution shows the huge polar ice caps at the planet's poles.
One of the most important problems lies in the absence of a magnetosphere on the planet. Here on Earth, radioactive particles from space are deflected away from the surface, but on Mars there is no protection.
Finally, I recommend watching the popular science film The Mars Underground.
Aerospace engineer and President of the Mars Society, Robert Zubrin dreams of sending humans to the red planet in the next 10 years.
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