Aerial Maps Provide Amazing Satellite Imagery
If you’re looking for live satellite imagery, you may be out of luck. The technology does exist, but it hasn’t been introduced into North America.yet. But even though you can’t get an image in real-time, you can certainly get a snapshot of any place in the world and get an approximate idea of what it looks like. You can view the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. You can take a stroll in Washington Park in Portland. You can even see the White House in all its glory! Let’s explore some of the different online satellite and aerial images available today.
Google Earth
Since it’s Google, you know it’s gotta be good. Google is one of the leading technology companies in the world. They have both an online experience (http://maps.google.com) and a download application called Google Earth (http://earth.google.com). Their online images include street view, traffic, map, satellite, and terrain. The images are crisp and clear. I’d rank them as the second best in terms of high resolution imagery.
Yahoo! Maps
Yahoo! Maps is an online application that lets you view images in street mode, satellite mode, or a hybrid (which shows satellite images with street labels included). You don’t need an account or have to download anything. You simply go to http://maps.yahoo.com and get started!
The images provided by Yahoo! are strong contenders as far as the best resolution. I’ve personally looked at the earth through each of the listed services. I feel that Yahoo! ranks first among the best high-resolution topographic satellite images.
Microsoft Virtual Earth
What doesn’t Microsoft offer? Microsoft Virtual Earth is a very nice program which lets you pretty much do the same thing you can do with Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps. Their software is also very sophisticated and their images are outstanding. Really, it’s hard to tell which aerial imagery is the best—it really depends on the location you’re viewing. Of course, people who tend to like Microsoft products will lean towards this option. Meanwhile, those who tend to dislike Microsoft will choose either Yahoo! or Google.
Flash Earth
Flash Earth is an application created by Paul Neave that uses Flash and JavaScript to let the user view the planet via numerous web sites though one graphical interface. The source code used to create the application is technically illegal, but the user is in no danger of legal ramifications for using the site—only its creator. Currently the sites whose images can be accessed through Flash Earth are Microsoft Virtual Earth, Yahoo! Maps, NASA, Ask! Maps, and OpenLayers. Google Maps was among the list a few months ago, so apparently they took legal action or requested their data be removed. Anyway, it is a very cool application, and is the one I typically use to have different views at my fingertips.
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