I was having trouble with Google Earth so I uninstalled it and re downloaded the latest free version. I opened it to look at a site for a quote and there was a brand new photo for the area-Sept. 2011.
All the historical imagery in the area shown on Google are the typical Satellite photos and are fuzzy. However, the new photo looks like a low level flight and is really sharp.
Is there any way to access these photos other than Google?
I can get the 2009 satellite photos in county wide format or quad sheet size but I would really like to get these new ones.
BING Maps seem to have pretty sharp images.
Thanks, NonTangent; I hadn't thought of Bing. When I looked at the same area Bing's photo is pretty clear-not quite as sharp as the new Google photo, but way better than the older ortho's that I have.
> BING Maps seem to have pretty sharp images.
That's because Microsoft had the forethought to purchase the industry leading firm producing digital aerial cameras, Vexel. Then they only sell the top line systems to aerial mapping firms that will also fly to produce imagery for Bing Maps
[flash width=560 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/dNID6EbzTrE?version=3&hl=en_US [/flash]
Here's the comparison:
Bing:
not bad
Google 2011:
And the 2009 photos in Google which are the latest available from the state website:
I like the Google 2011 the best. I would like to know how to get them in a format that I can use in a drawing. I know I can send them from Google, but I'd like to get the actual photo.
Many GE images are acquired from free sources. I know in MA, I can scroll through some USDA images along with all the MassGIS images (1996, 2002, 2005, 2009). I'm not sure about the all the federal images (Usually it's an order on CD for a fee situation), but I know the state level images can be downloaded for free. I just notices GE updated the images in my area from a March, 2012 flight. I'm not sure of the source. Sometimes, the bottom of the map will display a reference. Good luck.
Where Bing really excels is the "Birds Eye View".
The newer images from Google in my area are 18" resolution satellite images.
At the bottom of the image is listed the data source:
In my home county, some areas have not been published with the newest images in Google. So you can be looking at a very nice looking image on one half of a property and the other half will be the 1 meter resolution. It makes a big difference.
I use them in my drawings all the time.
File>Save>Save Image......just insert jpeg into drawing software, scale and rotate, and oila, near instant gratification.
Yes, that's how I do it now.
Maybe it's my system, but there is a resolution loss when I do that. With the quality of these new photos, it would be nice to keep the sharp image that I'm seeing.
Hmmmm, I just looked at the saved .jpeg of an ALTA I'm completing and it maintained it's clarity both there and in the drawing itself. Like you say, it must have something to do with your drawing software.
One thing I have had to do on large projects is either zoom in as close as possible or stitch several together for optimal image clarity.
Ahh! I'm thinking of larger projects. My city type surveys have new (2007) high quality images available.
For the larger jobs I can download county size or quad sheet size images. It doesn't work great to export Google for those.
Try using print screen. I use FastStone Image Viewer to CTRL-V (Paste) then use the Crop Board to trim the image down. I usually save as a tif not a jpg, but as the format here is limited, I used jpg.
Eldredge Surveying & Engineering, LLC
This is Google Earth zoomed into a small area of a large project:
Looks good.
Now the same area after exporting a Google plot that covers about a 1/4 of the project area:
If I could get the actual orthos I could put them behind my job, but I just have never been able to use Google for anything large.
Google Earth Pro
Are any of you using Google Earth PRO? Is it worth the $400 subscription fee? What do you get for the money that is useful to a surveyor?
Google Earth Pro
Yes. It is.
That reduction in resolution on saving the image that Mighty Moe showed is dealt with in Google Erath Pro (GEP). There's a High Resolution save function.
With the purchases GEP license, I can use the images in my drawings sent to clients. It's part of the GEP license. Quite frankly, that feature alone is worth $400 a month!
The are a. Umber of other tools that open up for the GEP user, too. Adding irregular polygons is one that comes to mind at th moment.
In short, as one would expect for $400/year, GEP is GE on steroids and very well worth it,