Google Earth (Photo : REUTERS/GERARDO GARCIA)
Google Earth's images will have more detail now thanks to the new imagery from Landsat 8 plus the advanced processing techniques that were used to stitch them altogether.
In the past, Google Earth relied heavily on the Landsat 7 which unfortunately experienced a hardware failure more than a decade ago. The result was that the images captured had heaps of missing data, making them blurry and unreliable at times.
Landsat 8 from the United States Geological Survey and NASA was launched in 2013 and it began taking photos twice the amount compared to its predecessor. In addition, it also captures with better color reproduction and more detail which means some roads and landmarks will be seen better.
Google Earth Engine Program Manager Chris Herwig said that they processed millions of images to select the "clearest pixels" which they then stitched together into the new greatly detailed seamless image, PC Magazine has learned. He added that they needed to mine data from nearly a petabyte of the Landsat imagery in order to make the image as cloud-free and detailed as possible.
Users can now see the product of their hardwork in any of Google's navigation apps such as Google Earth and Google Maps. It might take time for smartphones to download the new data but it will be worth it considering that they will be able to see more of the Earth compared to the app's previous images.
Landsat 8 was said to be capturing 725 scenes each day which is a step up compared to the Landsat 7's 438-scene count daily, ZDNet reported. Google said that there was a total of 700 trillion pixels that they needed to sort out in order to choose the best of the best images.
Google also used the same Earth Engine API that other scientists also use for a variety of experiments and tracking at a global scale. It is also used for tracking global tree gain and loss, mapping ghte global surface water over several years which is also used for tracking global warming effects and for making accurate predictions for malaria outbreaks which can help lessen the impact by significant percentages.
