The best satellite map. Satellite map of Russia online. Satellite map: application and purposes
Remember the movie "Men in Black", where Agent Kay through the orbital camera looked at his beloved, watering flowers in the courtyard of the house? The ability to see how our Earth looks from a satellite in real time attracts people from all over the world. Today we will tell you - and show you! - the best fruits of modern Earth observation technologies.
Attention! If you see a dark screen, it means the cameras are in the shade. Screensaver or gray screen - no signal.
Usually we only get static satellite maps frozen in time - details are not updated for years, and an eternal summer day reigns on the street. Isn't it interesting to see how beautiful the Earth is from a satellite online in winter or at night? In addition, the quality of images in some regions of Russia and the CIS leaves much to be desired. But now all this is solved in one fell swoop - thanks, the Earth online from a satellite in real time is no longer a fantasy. Right on this page, you can join the thousands of people who are now watching the planet.
At an altitude of 400 kilometers above the planet, where the station is permanently located, NASA has installed, developed by private companies. The astronauts themselves or at the command of the Mission Control Center direct the cameras from which the data is transmitted. Thanks to manual control, we can see what the Earth looks like from a satellite online from all sides - its atmosphere, mountains, cities and oceans. And the mobility of the station allows one to examine half of the globe in an hour.
How does the broadcast take place?
Due to the fact that the cameras are located on the International Station, even insignificant details are noticeable to us, which are commented on by scientists, astronauts and professional journalists. However, our Earth is visible online from a satellite in real time thanks to the labor of a whole complex of people and machines - in addition to the already mentioned cosmonauts and the Control Center, satellite communication technologies, solar power batteries and technical specialists who translate and decode data are involved in the process. Accordingly, the broadcast has its own nuances - their knowledge will help you see more and better understand what is happening on the screen.
Our observation point, an orbital station, moves at a tremendous speed - almost 28 thousand kilometers per hour, and orbits the Earth in 90-92 minutes. Half of this time, 45 minutes, the station hangs on the night side. And although on approach the solar cells of the cameras can be powered by the light of the sunset, in the depths the electricity disappears - therefore, it is not always available from the satellite. At such times, the broadcast screen turns gray; it is worth a little wait, and you will meet the dawn together with the astronauts.
To find the best time for observations, our special map of the Earth from the satellite will be useful to you - it marks not only the time of passage of the space station, but also its exact position. So you can find out when to see your city from a space height, or find a station in the sky with binoculars or a telescope!
We have already mentioned that astronauts and ground control can change the aiming of cameras - they perform not only an entertainment, but also a scientific function. At such moments, the planet Earth from the satellite is not available in real time - a black or blue screensaver appears on the screen, or the moments already filmed are repeated. If there are no interruptions in satellite communications, the station is on the daytime side of the planet, and the background has suddenly changed, then the cameras are filming areas inaccessible to the public in connection with international treaties. Secret Objects and forbidden territories are also closed on static maps, cleverly hidden by photo editors or simply overwritten. It remains only to wait for the moment when the situation in the world relaxes, and there will be no secrets from ordinary citizens.
Hidden opportunities
But don't be discouraged if the camera is not functioning right now! When planet Earth cannot be shown online from satellite, astronauts and NASA find other entertainment for the audience. You will see the life inside the International Space Station, astronauts in zero gravity, who talk about their work and what kind of view of the Earth from the satellite will be shown next. Allows a glimpse into even the impressively large Mission Control Center. The only negative is that even the speech of the Russian cosmonauts is translated into English so that the American employees who run the Center can understand it. Disable translation to this moment impossible. Also, do not be surprised at the silence - comments are not always appropriate, and there is no permanent soundtrack yet.
For those who predict the route of cameras using the capabilities of a real-time satellite map of the Earth, we have a tip - check the date and time settings on your computer. The server that updates the map uses the given International Station motion formula and the time zone of your IP address to predict the position of the orbital cameras. The online map judges how the Earth looks from a satellite solely by the time of the device. If your clock is lagging or rushing relative to the time zone, the station will move east or west, respectively. The use of proxy servers and anonymizers will also affect the result.
You are a member of a scientific program
Surely you have noticed that the quality of the image of the planet Earth from space live broadcast from the satellite often changes - the image is covered with squares or lags behind the sound track. In most cases, it is enough to check the speed of your Internet connection, disable other videos and programs for downloading files, or click on the HD button in the broadcast window. However, if there are interruptions, it is worth remembering that the planet can be seen alive only thanks to a large-scale scientific experiment.
Yes, yes - the video on this page is transmitted for a reason. The cameras installed on the International Space Station are part of the High Definition Earth Viewing program, which is still being improved and developed. The cameras were installed by astronauts in conditions isolated from cold and dust, but they are exposed to harsh radiation from the side. Scientists are experimenting with the difficulties of seamless data transfer in space, ensuring that a map of the Earth from a satellite in good quality existed not only motionless, but also living, dynamic. The results will help improve existing channels and create new ones - even in orbit on Mars for the foreseeable future.
So stay in touch - new things appear in the world of space every day!
What are Google Maps? This is a service that consists of several applications, provided free of charge, and includes a map site Google maps and a program for plotting a route (Google Transit). Google maps offer satellite views for many cities on the planet and include a detailed map of the location of streets, houses, routes for travel by public transport or cars, a guide to various objects, and more.
Features of work
Google Maps is displayed in two variations:
- an ordinary traditional card (analogous to Mercator cards)
- and satellite images (not online, but taken a certain time ago).
The scale of the maps is also based on the Mercator projection, that is, it is constant and changes from the poles to the equator in the direction of decreasing.
Another separate project of the corporation is closely connected with Google Maps - Google Planet, corresponding to a globe, on which the areas of the Earth's poles are clearly visible.
For which places are offered satellite imagery? Not for everyone, but only for the big cities of Russia, England, America, Canada and others.
Not all governments have approved such placement and use of imagery (as the placement of some objects, clearly visible on maps, can be used by terrorists to plan and carry out attacks).
That is why many objects on the maps are shaded. Such "classified" objects include, for example, the White House or the Capitol.
Different locations on satellite images are shown in different resolutions - the less populated the area, the less detailed it is. Also, some places in the pictures may be hidden due to the shadow of the clouds.
Google Maps online
- switch to satellite mode- lower left corner;
- zoom in / out- lower right corner.
As soon as the company introduced a new service, a wave of interest in satellite imagery swept around the world.
The creation of sites began on which satellite images were freely available. interesting places, unusual architectural landmarks, stadiums, man-made formations.
Since 2008, the US Meteorological Service has been using Google Maps to prepare its forecasts.
It should be noted that not all images were taken from the satellite - most of the images were obtained thanks to aerial photography from a height of 300 meters.
Online Google Maps uses JavaScript extensively. When the user moves around the map by dragging it, new areas are loaded from the server and displayed on the page.
If the user is looking for specific objects, then the search result is inserted in the sidebar, and the page itself does not require reloading. The location on the map is displayed dynamically through a red marker icon.
- In 2006 the first version for mobile phones, and in 2007 a second version appeared. A service similar to GPS is used to determine the location of the phone.
- In 2008 year Google Maps could be used for Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian, BlackBury, Java (from 2+), IOS (Apple), Palm OS (Centro +).
- In 2011 the corporation announced that it provides mapping services to more than 150 million customers.
To enable third-party site owners to use Maps, Google announced a free Application Programming Interface (API) Maps service in 2005.
The map can be placed on any site using this technology for interaction software... Today there are more than 350 thousand such sites around the world.
Allows you to receive spatial information about the earth's surface in the visible and infrared ranges of lengths of electromagnetic waves. They are capable of detecting passive reflected radiation from the earth's surface in the visible and near infrared ranges. In such systems, the radiation hits the appropriate sensors that generate electrical signals depending on the intensity of the radiation.
In optoelectronic remote sensing systems, as a rule, sensors with continuous line-by-line scanning are used. Can be distinguished linear, transverse and longitudinal scanning.
The total scan angle across the route is called the angle of view, and the corresponding value on the surface of the Earth is bandwidth.
Part of the data stream received from the satellite is called a scene. The schemes for cutting the stream into scenes, as well as their size for different satellites, differ.
Optical-electronic ERS systems carry out surveys in the optical range of electromagnetic waves.
Panchromatic the images occupy almost the entire visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum (0.45-0.90 microns), therefore they are black and white.
Multispectral(multispectral) imaging systems generate multiple individual images for broad spectral areas ranging from visible to infrared electromagnetic radiation. The greatest practical interest at the moment is represented by multispectral data from spacecraft of a new generation, including RapidEye (5 spectral zones) and WorldView-2 (8 zones).
New generation satellites of high and ultra-high resolution, as a rule, survey in panchromatic and multispectral modes.
Hyperspectral imaging systems form images simultaneously for narrow spectral zones in all parts of the spectral range. For hyperspectral imaging, it is not the number of spectral zones (channels) that is important, but the width of the zone (the smaller, the better) and the sequence of measurements. So, a survey system with 20 channels will be hyperspectral if it covers the range of 0.50-070 microns, while the width of each spectral zone is not more than 0.01 microns, and a survey system with 20 separate channels covering the visible region of the spectrum , near, shortwave, mid and far infrared regions, will be considered multispectral.
Spatial resolution- a value that characterizes the size of the smallest objects distinguishable in the image. The factors affecting the spatial resolution are the parameters of the optoelectronic or radar system, as well as the orbital altitude, that is, the distance from the satellite to the object being surveyed. The best spatial resolution is achieved when shooting in nadir, while deviating from nadir the resolution deteriorates. Space images can be of low (over 10 m), medium (10 to 2.5 m), high (2.5 to 1 m), and ultra-high (less than 1 m) resolution.
Radiometric resolution is determined by the sensitivity of the sensor to changes in the intensity of electromagnetic radiation. It is determined by the number of gradations of color values corresponding to the transition from the brightness of absolutely "black" to absolutely "white", and is expressed in the number of bits per pixel in the image. This means that in the case of a radiometric resolution of 6 bits / pixel, we have only 64 color gradations, 8 bits / pixel - 256 gradations, 11 bits / pixel - 2048 gradations.
Interactive map of Russia this is satellite photo high resolution, compiled from many space pictures into one image.
For increase satellite image of Russia use the navigation bar in the upper left corner.
Satellite maps cities of Russia:
This card works on the technologies of the service Google Earth.
In 2005, one to two months after the appearance of Google Maps, Google introduced an interesting program called Google Earth, which is shown as a virtual globe with which you can contemplate objects in three-dimensional model photographed from space with high quality. The Russian version is the version called "Google Earth".
For a visual representation, a three-dimensional model of the entire globe is used, and the height above sea level is taken into account. Mainly two interfaces are used to display this 3D model, such as OpenGL or DirectX. The user using the so-called "virtual camera" can freely move around the virtual globe, looking at places of interest.
There are two types of this program - free and paid version of Google Earth. Free version Uses a single geodatabase that consists of multiple imagery and additional custom layers. The free version of Google Earth has a number of features, such as measuring the distance of the path, saving and printing images, the ability to open Google Maps in the browser, search for suitable places and routes, detailed review places. Remarkably, major cities have more detailed views with hotels, gas stations, street names, house numbers, shops, and more.
There is an opportunity to create your own special marks, design paths and polygons, superimpose your images over images taken from space satellites. Such special tags are saved to files and can be exchanged with other people who also use this program.
To determine the shooting date, just hover the mouse over the area of interest and Google Earth will show the day and month of the shooting.
Google maps is the leader among modern mapping services providing satellite interactive maps online. At least a leader in the field satellite imagery and by 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 area 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 enter data on 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 it is in Google Maps that we can find the most detailed satellite photos for the most extensive regions of any country. Even in Russia, such a large and successful company as Yandex. cannot surpass the quality and coverage of satellite photos at least in their country.
With Google Maps, anyone can view satellite images of the Earth for free almost anywhere in the world.
Image quality
Images of the highest resolution are usually available for the largest cities in the world in America, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Asia, Oceania. High quality imagery is currently available for cities with more than 1 million inhabitants. For smaller cities and others settlements satellite images are only available in limited resolution.
Possibilities
Google Maps or "Google Maps" were a real discovery for Internet users, and indeed for all PC users, giving an unheard-of and previously unheard-of opportunity to look at their home, their village, cottage, lake or river where they had a rest in the summer - from a satellite. To see it from above, from such an angle, from which it would be impossible to look under any other circumstances. The discovery, the very idea of giving people easy access to satellite photos, fits in harmoniously with Google's general concept of "making it easy for all users to access any information on the planet."
Google maps allow you to see from the satellite at the same time those things and objects that cannot be observed simultaneously when observing from the ground. Satellite maps differ from ordinary maps in that simple maps colors and natural forms of natural objects are distorted by editorial processing for further publication. However, satellite photographs preserve all the naturalness of nature and objects of photography, natural colors, shapes of lakes, rivers, fields and forests.
Looking at the map, one can only guess what is there: a forest, a field or a swamp, while on a satellite photo it is immediately clear: objects, as a rule, are round or oval in shape, of a unique swamp color, and there are swamps. Light green spots or areas in the photo are fields, and dark greens are forests. With sufficient experience in navigating Google Maps, you can even distinguish between coniferous forest or mixed: coniferous has a brownish tint. Also on the map you can distinguish specific broken lines piercing forests and fields of immense Russian expanses - this is railways... Only by looking from a satellite can one understand that railways affect the natural landscape around them much more than highways. Also in Google Maps it is possible to superimpose 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 a terrain 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; big city... In the "map" mode, it is especially convenient to plan your movements around the city if you have already seen enough satellite views your city.
The house number search function will easily point you to the desired house, giving you the opportunity to "look around" the area around this house and how you can approach / approach it. To find the desired object, just type in Russian in the search bar a query like: "City, street, house number" and the site will display the location of the object you are looking for with a special marker.
How to use Google Maps
First, open a 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 directional buttons.
To enlarge the map - click on the button "+" or roll the mouse wheel when the cursor is over the map. You can also enlarge the map double click mouse in the place of interest.
To switch between satellite, mixed (hybrid) and map views, use the corresponding buttons in the upper right corner of the map: Map / Satellite / Hybrid.
