Google Earth: New Imagery Updates

The winter and holiday seasons are quickly approaching but that hasn’t stopped the Google Earth and Maps Imagery Team from updating aerial and satellite imagery throughout the globe. Today, we’d like to share several interesting features identified in this latest release.

The first example shown below is part of an aerial image acquired this past September of the ski slopes in Breckenridge, Colorado. The slopes have already accumulated several inches of snow over the past few weeks and although it’s still very early in the ski season, a third of all ski lifts are now open! If you can’t make it to the mountains quite yet, be sure to experience the next best thing with Street View imagery from some of the most popular ski destinations.

Perspective view of ski slopes in Breckenridge, Colorado

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is full of iconic landmarks from American history. The aerial image shown below, which was acquired this past October, shows some of the most well known buildings along the east bank of the Schuylkill River. At the bottom left of the image are the fifteen structures comprising Boathouse Row, and the upper right shows the Fairmount Water Works and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In the far right corner of the image are the stone steps made famous in the Rocky movies.

Boathouse Row, Fairmount Water Works and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“X” marks the spot in the satellite image below of part of Miramar, Argentina. Of course, the feature is comprised of roads that lead to the town’s central sculpture, Monumento al Gral Alvarado, and the four parks comprising the central plaza.

Miramar, Argentina

As we close in on the Christmas season, it seems appropriate to feature several well known churches that have been updated with new imagery. The first example, shown below, is aerial imagery of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Gdańsk, Poland. The structure is considered one of the largest Brick Gothic buildings ever constructed, and has sufficient space to hold 25,000 people!

Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Gdańsk, Poland

This next example shows updated aerial imagery of Burgos, Spain. In the upper left, is the Burgos Castle, overlooking the Burgos Cathedral in the lower right. This cathedral is famous for its vast size and unique French Gothic architecture.

Burgos, Spain

Finally, below is an updated image of the Calvary Baptist Church of Hi Vista, California, perhaps one of the more notable churches of late. This church was of course used famously in the Kill Bill Vol. I movie as the site of near demise for the heroine, “The Bride.”

Calvary Baptist Church, Hi Vista, California

If you’d like to receive an email notification when the Google Earth and Maps Imagery team updates your favorite site(s), we’ve got just the tool: The Follow Your World application!

These are only a few examples of the types of features that can be seen and discovered in our latest batch of published imagery. Happy exploring!

High resolution aerial updates:
USA: Alamosa, CO; Albany, NY; Altoona, PA; Atlanta, GA; Bartlesville, OK; Bishop, CA; Boise City, OK; Clarksville, TN; Clayton, NM; Edwards, CA; Erie, PA; Georgetown, SC; Great Bend, KS; Guymon, OK; Hot Springs, AR; Lamar, CO; Lawton, OK; Llano, TX; McAlester, OK; Merced, CA; Oklahoma City, OK; Palmdale, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Redding, CA; Roseburg, OR; Scranton, PA; Springfield, MO; Texarkana, TX; Twin Falls, ID; Vail, CO

Poland: Bielsko-Biala, Lubaczowski, Malborski, Mazowieckie, Mielecki, Wolowski, Wolczyn,

Spain: Burgos

Switzerland: Horgen

Countries/regions receiving high resolution satellite updates:
Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Svalbard, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Bank, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

These updates are now available in both Google Maps and Google Earth. For a complete picture of where we updated imagery, download this KML for viewing in Google Earth.

Share|

New Google Imagery – Week of May 16th

The Google Earth and Google Maps Imagery Team has just published its latest batch of satellite and aerial imagery, and as always, there are all kinds of fascinating sites and features to check out.

It’s mid-May and summer is just around the corner. That means vacation! And since many of us like to head to the water for our leisure time, we’ve compiled examples of a few coastal areas that have received updated imagery in our latest release.
In the States, premiere beach vacation spots include the coral-sand beaches that line Miami, Florida. Below is a stretch of the world-famous South Beach within the City of Miami Beach’s City Center district. This high-resolution aerial image was taken this past March, during Spring Break.

 

44th St. Beach, Miami, Florida


If hot, crowded beaches aren’t your thing, there are many cooler places (literally) you could spend your leisure time exploring. Below is a high-resolution aerial image from this past April of Bear Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. In this image, you can see the glacier toe as well as the ice, meltwater, and debris it deposits. This valley outflow glacier is sourced from the Harding Icefield, the largest icefield contained entirely within the United States. If you’re viewing this in Google Earth, be sure to use the Historical Imagery time slider to view how the glacier’s size has changed over time.

Bear Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

 

Finally, here’s a recent satellite image of the entertainment center in the bustling coastal city of Qingdao, in the Shandong Province, China. The city was named China’s most livable city in 2009, and from the image below you can understand why; there are many places to enjoy such as beaches, sport complexes, and the beautiful public space, Hui Quan Square. Indeed, a nice place to visit and explore on your next summer vacation – whether it’s in-person or online. When viewing this area in Google Earth or Maps, you can also explore other parts of the image, such as the finishing touches being put on the Haiwan Bridge, the world’s largest water bridge, spanning 26.4 miles.

 

Hui Quan Square, Qingdao, China

 

Do you have a place you love for which you’d like to receive a notification when the Earth and Maps Imagery team updates the site? We’ve got just the tool: The Follow Your World application!

As always, these are but a few examples of the types of features that can be seen and discovered in our latest batch of published imagery. Happy exploring!

High Resolution Aerial Updates:
USA: Myrtle Beach, Miami, Palm Beach, Lake City, Lynchburg, Lenoir, Dallas, Grand Rapids, Anchorage, Kenai, Tyonek

Countries/Regions receiving High Resolution Satellite Updates:
Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Gambia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Pakistan, Palmyra Atoll, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Helena, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Bank, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

These updates are now available in both Google Maps and Google Earth. To get a complete picture of where we updated imagery, download this KML for viewing in Google Earth.

Share|

New Google Earth imagery coming this week

 

In a bit of a surprise move, rather than allowing us to discover new imagery in Google Earth, Google has pre-announced an imagery update that is due out later this week.

[UPDATE: The imagery is now live in Google Earth. See the bottom of this post for a list of updated areas.]

Part of the update will include some high-quality imagery from Abbottabad, Pakistan, which was captured in May, 2010. They’re offering a preview of that imagery via this KML file.

 

new-imagery.jpg 

In addition, the very new GeoEye imagery of Abbottabad that we mentioned yesterday will be available in the historical imagery feature of Google Earth soon. Remember, historical imagery is sometimes newer than the base imagery.

It sounds like it’s quite a major update, and we’ll be sure to let you know when it goes live. Here is the full list of areas that will be getting fresh imagery:

High Resolution Aerial Updates:
USA: Brookshire, TX; Brownsville, TX; Dallas, TX; Ft Stockton, TX; Hebbronville, TX; Houston, TX; Laredo, TX; McAllen, TX; Milwaukee, WI; Padre Island, TX; Wharton, TX; Zapata, TX;
Australia: Central Coast, New Castle, and Salamander Bay
Norway: Buskerud, Fredrikstad, and Oslo

Countries/Regions receiving High Resolution Satellite Updates:
Algeria, Angola, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Gambia, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, West Bank, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Share|

Introducing Voice Search for Indonesian, Malaysian and Latin American Spanish

We are excited to announce the launch of Voice Search in Indonesian, Malaysian, and Latin American Spanish, making Voice Search available in over two dozen languages and accents since our first launch in November 2008. This accomplishment could not have been possible without the help of local users in the region – really, we couldn’t have done it without them. Let me explain:

In 2010 we launched Voice Search in Dutch, the first language where we used the “word of mouth” project, a crowd-sourcing effort to collect the most accurate voice data possible.The traditional method of acquiring voice samples is to license the data from companies who specialize in the distribution of speech and text databases. However, from day one we knew that to build the most accurate Voice Search acoustic models possible, the best data would come from the people who would use Voice Search once it launched – our users.

Since then, in each country, we found small groups of people who were avid fans of Google products and were part of a large social network, either in local communities or on online. We gave them phones and asked them to get voice samples from their friends and family. Everyone was required to sign a consent form and all voice samples were anonymized. When possible, they also helped to test early versions of Voice Search as the product got closer to launch.

Building a speech recognizer is not just limited to localizing the user interface. We require thousands of hours of raw data to capture regional accents and idiomatic speech in all sorts of recording environments to mimic daily life use cases. For instance, when developing Voice Search for Latin American Spanish, we paid particular attention to Mexican and Argentinean Spanish. These two accents are more different from one another than any other pair of widely-used accents in all of South and Central America. Samples collected in these countries were very important bookends for building a version of Voice Search that would work across the whole of Latin America. We also chose key countries such as Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia to bridge the divergent accent varieties.

As an International Program Manager at Google, I have been fortunate enough to travel around the world and meet many of our local Google users. They often have great suggestions for the products that they love, and word of mouth was created with the vision that our users could participate in developing the product. These Voice Search launches would not have been possible without the help of our users, and we’re excited to be able to work together on the product development with the people who will ultimately use our products.

Share|

Imagery Update – Week of December 12th

‘Tis the season of giving! For those of you who’d like nothing more than to receive the gift of new places to explore on Google Earth and Maps, you’re in luck. Our imagery team’s latest update includes many places that relate metaphorically to the holiday season.
For example, it’s often at the end of the year that we remark “Out with the old, and in with the new.” That concept can also be applied to the below image that captures two military installations located North West of Beijing. You can see the fascinating juxtaposition of the modern Yongning Air Force base (bottom right) and an adjacent section of the ancient Great Wall of China (upper left quadrant) that outlines parts of the Shibapan Ling mountain range. And yes, you really can see the wall from space!
Near Beijing, China
Wouldn’t gold make a great stocking stuffer? Take a look at the below image of Jin Xixin Lake, the dammed section of the Minjiang River also known as the Gold Lake, located south of Mount Wuyi, China. In this image, you can see lots of prime locations that might make great prospecting camps. Get out your pans!
Gold (but no frankincense) near Mount Wuyi, China
Finally, although this time of year is often associated with the Christian-based holidays, when thinking about China, thoughts naturally turn to Buddhism. Just the other day on the Google campus in Mountain View, a group of Tibetan monks visited to build a Sand Mandala and lead a meditation group. In this spirit, I’ve included the below image of the first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet, the Samye Monastery.
A site of enlightenment in Tibet
The examples above only hint at the type and breadth of features that can be seen and discovered in our latest batch of published imagery. Happy exploring and happy holidays!
High resolution aerial updates:
USA: Birmingham AL, Little Rock AK, Peoria IL, Tuscaloosa AL, Worcester MA, Jerome ID, Stevenson WA, Knoxville TN, Morganton NC, and Statesville NC
Canada: Powell River, and Sunshine Coast, BC., Canmore, and Cold Lake
Netherlands: Hilversum
South Africa: Northern, Eastern, and Western Cape, and Limpopo
Sweden: Gävleborgs Län, Jönköpings Län, Uppsala Län, Västerbottens Län, and Västra Götalands Län
Countries receiving high resolution satellite updates:
Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, West Bank, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
These updates are currently only available in Google Earth, but they’ll also be in Google Maps soon. To get a complete picture of where we updated imagery, download this KML for viewing in Google Earth.
Share|