Comments on: Google to buy GeoEye satellite imagery

Google Maps and Google Earth will get a new infusion of higher-resolution imagery from the GeoEye-1 satellite, due to launch from a California Air Force base September 4.

[Manhattan2]

Satellite imagery is so 20th century. There is a better way to view planet earth. Sensible Ventures and the Manhattan 2 Project has it, and it may be flying over head or riding down your street right now.

[OldManCoyote1]

Arrrggg!

You left out the most important fact (if it's available). How often will Google refresh it's imagery data base? Relatively frequent replacement with new imagery would make Google's data much more useful.

[webmasteh]

National Security Agency (http://www.nsa.gov/) and Information Awareness Office at DARPA (http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/) under the the Defense Intelligence Agency (http://www.dia.mil/) will not allow updated higher, nor allowable resolution images, nor updated in a timely interval other than assigned to contractors for global public use. Reason for this is to allow all agencies and government contractors to air-brush high risk security mapped areas in all North America's. Canada is a higher risk do to Canadian/American government facilities. Canada is more air-brush then American mappings. This is common public information, but you have to dig for it and many times over have to pay for the information since 911.

[bud_bud]

It will be interesting to see how quickly this new data propogates to Google Earth. There is already plenty of imagery that is better than this one pixel per 20 inches standard on Google Earth, most likely aerial photography donated by local land developers who want as many as possible to see the details of an area. But it would indeed be interesting if at least the entire US would be updated to this resolution within a month. I would bet against it.

Anyone reading know how often the sattelite actually passes an area, how long it would take for its orbits to stitch together into a seamless whole?

[targen]

webmasteh: I think much of this could be automated. If Google has a secrecy contract signed with these agencies (not saying they do), then I am sure that with a list of known areas to cover up they could simply supply older information or simply blur the locations. Alternatively the same result could be achieved by delegating the process to the NSA. Doing so could ensure that no image is more than a few weeks old, depending on atmospheric conditions. Probably the hardest task is to recognise cloud cover and those areas, in favour of non-cloud cover versions.

[Hypotenuse]

There is little or no impediment to GeoEye providing imagery with immediate turnaround...other than cost. Faster delivery = higher price. Since Google is notoriously aggressive in their valuations of imagery (another way to say !cheap!) and there really is no compelling day-to-day reason to have current data, it's unlikely you'll see much new data soon.

The width of the sensor swath is about 15km (~9.5mi) so it'll take a while to collect a seamless image map of the globe. A long while. Assuming clouds don't get in the way. Since they do, knock 60% off the acquisition rate for that, and another 50% off the acquisitions rate over time for a particular area unless you're going to pay extra for a custom collect.

Since Google is unlikely to pay the going rate for custom work (but the US government is, in some cases) you'll probably see Google 'filling in the gaps' for areas of interest around the world where airplanes haven't yet, or can't, fly. And leveraging the acquisitions for which others are paying 'full retail'

[mdwychoff]

The best satellite images also come in late winter/early spring when there is nothing (leaves/snow) on the ground and no leaves on the trees. The Google Maps and Google Earth images of my area of North America were taken in early to mid April. I can tell because forsythia is showing full yellow color, yet none of the trees have full leaves.

[buzzeit]

Considered the world's most-accurate commercial imaging satellite, the GeoEye-1 had been undergoing calibration and inspection since it was launched on Sept. 6 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
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A second satellite, GeoEye-2, slated to launch in 2011 or 2012, will have a resolution of 25 cm, company representatives promised. However, Google's satellite imagery will not likely get more detailed because of the 50-cm regulation.

[buzzeit]

A second satellite, GeoEye-2, slated to launch in 2011 or 2012, will have a resolution of 25 cm, company representatives promised. However, Google's satellite imagery will not likely get more detailed because of the 50-cm regulation.(http://www.casino366.com/).

[Ed8r]

Meanwhile, some of my neighborhood is still over 1 year old . . . and this is not a remote area, either.