A picture of our Airstream from orbit!!??

[mopariac]

We have been working in South Texas for the last 7 months and when we got here, I checked maps of the area to get use to our surroundings. When I viewed Google Earth, the images were taken 6 years ago. I just checked Google Earth again today to plan a birdwatching trip with my camera and low and behold...my truck and trailer are in the image.

[Tmck]

What are the odds!

[HiHoAgRV]

Oh dear...that image is from North Korea's ICBM Targeting System...

[slowmover]

Ah, the unrelenting beauty of a South Texas oilfield lease road campsite.

[brain]

Cool and scary at the same time ...

[mopariac]

Believe it or not, I have quite the oasis just a few miles walk from here where I have been getting bird and wildlife pictures from for the past month. I am creating a blog to showcase some of my pictures and will post the address here as soon as I get it started. Here is an example of what I see there:

[Aviator]

Cool

[mopariac]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Oh dear...that image is from North Korea's ICBM Targeting System...

After reading your post, shooting stars just won't look the same anymore...

[mopariac]

Originally Posted by brain

Cool and scary at the same time ...

I was thinking the same thing

[Steve Bryant]

moparic,
I've had a similar experience before and it does show that "big brother is watching you!" Also, with Goggle maps, it's interesting to go to the street view of your house and see if your vehicle is in the driveway, etc. Bing maps Aeriel view is also interesting and their satellite imagery may be better or worse than Goggle.

Thanks for the thread and the pictures!

Happy New Year,

Steve

[DFlores]

None of this is "satellite" imagery, these photos are from USGS, they are taken by airplanes with onboard GPS. USGS contacts with several aerial companies to obtain these images.

[webspinner]

Originally Posted by DFlores

None of this is "satellite" imagery, these photos are from USGS, they are taken by airplanes with onboard GPS. USGS contacts with several aerial companies to obtain these images.

All satellites, no planes, I'm afraid.

Google Earth Satellites

[DFlores]

If you read the link you provided, it says that the positions are updated via satellite, that is correct, GPS locations are updated continuously, the imagery is not.

[overlander64]

The photos of where I live must have been taken about four months ago. They caught us will all of the cars and Airstreams strewn about the property . . . . .

Kevin

[DFlores]

Google does have satelites, but they are primarily for communication, ie phones

The government and NASA are the photographers, google compiles data from local, state, and federal sources

[DFlores]

The clearest photography comes from the larger appraisal districts, taxing the improvements to your property is an income source for taxing entities, therefore, they can realize a return on the investment in the metropolitan areas.

A new pool on your estate behind the 6 ft wall can no longer be hidden from the tax man.

Google is a smart business, why do something that is already being done thru tax dollars.

Now,....does't that make sense.

This is not just my opinion, but my profession, I have been mapping for IBWC and NPS for twenty years.

[webspinner]

Everything, including Google itself, says that the images are from satellites. The prevalence of such satellites in our skies is what made Google Earth possible.

From the "about" page, it says of Google Earth: "The idea is simple. It's a globe that sits inside your PC. You point and zoom to anyplace on the planet that you want to explore. Satellite images and local facts zoom into view."

Do you have a source for airplane based pictures for Google Earth? I haven't researched it until now and I'd be curious to see more.

Originally Posted by DFlores

If you read the link you provided, it says that the positions are updated via satellite, that is correct, GPS locations are updated continuously, the imagery is not.

"This collection by Analytic Graphics Inc. shows real-time (updated every 30 seconds) positions of 13,000 satellites around the Earth."

From this, I get the idea that the positions of the *satellites* are updated every 30 seconds. This link is just a way of tracking the 13,000 satellites, some of which contribute images to Google Earth.

I used to watch for falling stars when I was out camping. Now I watch for satellites. It never takes long before one or two cruise across the sky. Occasionally I still see a falling star, too.

[webspinner]

"The Google Librarian Central site has up a piece by Mark Aubin, a Software Engineer who works on Google Earth. Aubin explains some of the process behind capturing satellite imagery for use with the product. 'Most people are surprised to learn that we have more than one source for our imagery. We collect it via airplane and satellite, but also just about any way you can imagine getting a camera above the Earth's surface: hot air balloons, model airplanes - even kites. The traditional aerial survey involves mounting a special gyroscopic, stabilized camera in the belly of an airplane and flying it at an elevation of between 15,000 feet and 30,000 feet, depending on the resolution of imagery you're interested in. As the plane takes a predefined route over the desired area, it forms a series of parallel lines with about 40 percent overlap between lines and 60 percent overlap in the direction of flight. This overlap of images is what provides us with enough detail to remove distortions caused by the varying shape of the Earth's surface.'

Cool. I learn something new every day. Thanks, D, for the prompt for further research.

The link above no longer works, but the piece is an intro for further exploration. Off to ring in the new year.

Wishing a Happy New Year to all.

[Wazbro]

Google Maps use to have separate choices for satellite and aerial images, the satellite images would only zoom in so far then you had to switch to aerial. Much nicer that it does it automatically now, just misleading since they don't mention it anymore.

[Steve Bryant]

I worked for Beech Aircraft (AKA Raytheon Aircraft and Hawker Beechcraft), a general aviation manufacturer for 35 years in the area of aviation electronics (avionics). Most of my time was in avionics engineering, but I also worked in technical training for a number of years. During my time at Beech, I worked on special mission airplanes quite a bit and one of the missions was Aerial Survey. Several times, I worked on projects with the Leica RC 30 cameras (usually two installed on the airplane). These were film cameras that took 230 mm images, as I recall. Leica still makes these film cameras and digital backs for the cameras. Here's some information on these imaging systems if you're interested Airborne Imaging - Leica Geosystems - Leica Geosystems. They even make imagers for remotely piloted vehicles (RPV's) as you can see.

Some of these "special mission" systems are used for things like civil activities map-making while at other times they're used to keep track of neighbors (listening, looking, etc.) Hawker Beechcraft | Special Missions: Overview.

Steve