Google Earth: Imagery update- Japan and beyond

It was just two weeks ago that we announced new high resolution imagery of Sendai in support of on-going relief work. Today we’re announcing additional high resolution imagery of Japan, as well as other parts of the world.


Updated areas of Japan include Ishinomaki, Minamisanriku, Hitachi, Kamisu, and Chiba.


Updates in red outline


Ishinomaki, Japan


Also included in this update are images from around the globe. Below are a few of my favorite sights.


Fort Sutter, Sacramento CA


Ice Patterns in Antarctica


Temple of Ramses II, Egypt




Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi



Do you have a place you love that you’d want to receive notification from us when the Earth and Maps Imagery team updates your beloved 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: Sacramento, CA; Columbus, GA
Japan: Ishinomaki, Onagawa, Minamisanriku, Hitachi, Kamisu, Chiba

Countries/Regions receiving high resolution satellite updates:
Canada, USA, Greenland, Mexico, Honduras, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Ireland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Madagascar, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Mongolia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand

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.

Imagery Update – Week of February 21st

We’re just nearly two months into the new year but the Google Earth and Google Maps Imagery team’s aerial and satellite imagery updates keep coming!

Since it’s February, love is in the air and romance is on people’s minds (I mean, why stop at Valentine’s Day). And when it comes to all things amatory, no features and locations conjure up those feelings better than châteaux, castles, and royal wedding sites. Lucky for all our quixotic Earth and Maps users, we’ve got all that and more in our latest batch of published images.

Let’s start with the big one in the room. The Royal wedding isn’t until April, but we’re getting ready for the big day by updating London, UK and wedding-related sites with high-resolution aerial imagery acquired this past June. In the image below, you can see the site of the royal wedding, the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, more commonly referred to as Westminster Abbey. While viewing this site in Google Earth, make sure you turn on the Photos Layer, and check out the several pano360 immersive images that dot the church confines.

Westminster Abbey, London, UK

Let’s move west a bit to the beautiful Emerald Isle. Below we’re looking at Trim Castle and adjacent grounds in the county town of Trim, in County Meath, Ireland. The castle is the remains of Ireland’s largest and dates to the 11th century. As with the Westminster Abbey location, make sure to click on the Photos layer and check out the pano360 images; the immersive images include 360° views of the castle interior.

Trim Castle, Trim, Ireland.

Lastly, let’s take a look below at some new aerial imagery of a section of the Biltmore Estate which contains the châteauesque house, the Biltmore (upper-right section of the image). The house was finished in 1895 and is located near Asheville, North Carolina. It is the largest privately-owned home in the U.S., owned continuously by members of the William Vanderbilt family.

The Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC.

Do you have a place you love that you’d want to receive notification from us when the Earth and Maps Imagery team updates your beloved 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: Asheville, NC; Charleston, WV; Chattanooga, TN; Daytona, FL; Fayetteville, AR; Key West, FL; Perry, FL; Wachula, FL

Ireland: Kells; Navan; Omagh; Strabane; Trim

UK: Greater London; Immingham; Somerset

Switzerland: Valais

Countries/Regions receiving High Resolution Satellite Updates:

Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Macedonia (FRYOM), Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, People’s Republic of the Congo, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, West Bank, 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.

Tools to help the armchair archeologist

A few weeks ago, we showed you a recent case of an “armchair archaeologist” who used Google Earth to discover almost 2,000 archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia.

With more and more stories like this popping up in the past few years, GEB reader “Will from the UK” has built a slick tool to help with the process.

In his words:

I enjoyed your post about the archaeologist who found interesting artifacts in Saudi Arabia using Google Earth. It got me thinking about how to do a systematic search of an area using GE.

There are no tools in GE that help, other than the usual lines / placemarks. Marking an area out using lines is fairly tedious. A grid is a useful solution. I have seen grid generators online, but they tend to come and go, and you need to be online to use them.

I have created a spreadsheet that generates the KML code for a Latitude / Longitude grid. A grid allows a more systematic search to be conducted and also allows more people to take part in a search – the work can be divided between many volunteer searchers.

large-grid.jpg

The resulting spreadsheet is quite impressive, and it is a great way to divide up a large area for more precise searches.

You can download the Excel-based spreadsheet here. The spreadsheet is remarkably powerful, though it has a bit of a learning curve and a few limitations. Fortunately, Will has been generous enough to develop a User Guide (PDF) to help you get started.