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September 05, 2008

Google Earth Imagery Update - September 5, 2008

[UPDATE SEPTEMBER 9th: Google has released the details on this imagery update. But, you may find more information on the locations in this post here.]

Google has quietly pushed out a new imagery update finally. The last real imagery update was in July (not counting the smaller one for Beijing for the Olympics). I'm still trying to determine the updated areas. If you find some new imagery (the easiest way to tell is to compare the imagery with Google Maps which doesn't have the update yet - click the Google Maps button above the imagery in Google Earth). Here's the list so far (UPDATED Sept 6, 1345 EDT):

  • Houston, Texas

  • State of West Virginia

  • Western half of Turkeyhas medium resolution Spot Image satellite coverage for the whole country

  • Areas of Australia also have new medium resolution Spot Image

  • Metropolitan area of Chicago - excluding downtown (thanks Patrick!)

  • Barcelona, Spain (Roy) - Barcelona unconfirmed - I see no new stuff compared to Google Maps

  • Madrid, Spain

  • Paris, France (Roy)

  • Cannes, Antibes, Nice, St. Tropez, Orleans, and Monaco - French Riviera area (Martin)

  • East Massachusetts (Roy)

  • Westchester County and Albany, NY (Roy)

  • Prague, Cz (Iñigo)

  • Near Toronto, Quebec City, part of Ontario (including Belleville, Prince Edward County) - Canada (Iñigo, AKB, Philip)

  • Palermo, Turin - Italy (Iñigo)

  • Zurich, Switzerland (Iñigo)

  • Greek Islands - including Kythnos, Gyaros, Syros, Polyaigos, Milos, and more

  • Greece - Most of Greece now has at least medium resolution Spot Image

  • Slovakia - entire country has new high res imagery (gulo)

  • Cartagena (southwest), Spain (Martin)

  • Manitoba (southeast), Canada (fengshui)

  • Near Chiang Khong, Near Three Pagodas Pass, Thailand (Pete)

  • Luang Prabang, Laos (Pete)

  • Near Hanoi, Vietnam

  • Phillipines - lots of areas - see comment by Eugene Villar

  • Kobe, Kyoto, Japan (Munden)

  • Southwest Montreal, Canada - lots of areas in southern Canada

  • Northern border of Mexico - several GeoEye strips - e.g. see southwest of El Paso

  • Lisbon, Portugal

(Reload this post to get the latest list)

Posted by FrankTaylor at September 5, 2008 06:09 PM

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Comments

I noticed new imagery in the Chicago area excluding Downtown. It's much better than what was there.

Posted by: Patrick at September 5, 2008 06:22 PM

Paris was updated.

Barcelona looks new.

East Massachusetts is new (I live there, WHOOPEEE!!)

Westchester County NY

Albany

Posted by: Roy at September 5, 2008 06:26 PM

CZ: Prague
Canada: Some areas near Toronto
France: Paris, the french riviera
Italy: Palermo, Turin
Switzerland: Zürich

Posted by: Iñigo at September 5, 2008 06:40 PM

Quebec City has been updated

Posted by: AKB at September 5, 2008 06:48 PM

Many areas in Ontario, including Belleville, and parts of Prince Edward County.

Posted by: Philip at September 5, 2008 07:20 PM

Eastern Massachusetts may be newer, but it looks much worse.

It's lower in resolution, and the imagery is way overexposed. Roads and houses are bright white and colors all washed out.

Comparing the town I live in, Groton, in Google Earth and Google Maps -- well, there's no comparison.

:-(

Posted by: Mark at September 5, 2008 07:37 PM

French Reviera between St. Raphael and the italian border including Cannes, Antibes, Nice and Monaco.

Posted by: Martin at September 5, 2008 08:06 PM

Looks like Slovakia has new, more detailed coverage

Posted by: gulo at September 5, 2008 08:10 PM

I forgot some more...
In France: St Tropez, Orleans
In Spain: Cartagena, excluding the military areas

Posted by: Martin at September 5, 2008 09:17 PM

Some intermittent coverage added to the southeast corner of Manitoba (Falcon Lake, Pinawa area)

Posted by: fengshui at September 5, 2008 09:18 PM

Wollongong & area surrounding Lake Illawarra, NSW, Australia now has v high resolution imagery. I can now see my Kingswood!

Posted by: Pete at September 5, 2008 09:20 PM

Near Chiang Khong, Thailand.
Near Three Pagodas Pass, Thailand.
Luang Prabang, Loas.

Posted by: Pete at September 5, 2008 09:38 PM

It's not only Paris in France which get more recent imagery (from Oct 2007 versus may 2004) but all the state (Ile de France)
a few areas in big suburbs of the same state get more detailed imagery

Posted by: Julien at September 5, 2008 10:15 PM

Philippines: lots of spots; kinda hard to enumerate but I'll try:

* northern Nueva Vizcaya and southern Ifugao (GeoEye)
* most of the rest of Pampanga and Bulacan is now covered (GeoEye)
* South China Sea coasts of northern Zambales and southern Pangasinan (GeoEye)
* southern tip of Bataan is now updated (GeoEye)
* a spot in eastern Laguna (GeoEye)
* a spot in Occidental Mindoro (DigitalGlobe, GeoEye)
* a few areas on Leyte island (DigitalGlobe, GeoEye)
* southwestern parts of Iloilo (GeoEye)
* western half and the southeastern tip of Siquijor (GeoEye)
* western extremities of Bohol, including some parts of Panglao Island (GeoEye)
* Swathes of eastern Bukidnon and eastern Cotabato (GeoEye)
* coastal areas of Davao del Sur (GeoEye)
* coastal areas of Sultan Kudarat (GeoEye)
* parts of Zamboanga del Sur (GeoEye)
* most of Basilan is now covered (GeoEye)
* a spot on Palawan (GeoEye)
* a spot in Quezon (GeoEye)
* a spot in Davao Oriental (GeoEye)

Posted by: Eugene Villar at September 5, 2008 10:49 PM

Haven't had much chance to look around, but Didsbury, Alberta (small town north of Calgary) has higher res imagery now.

Posted by: Jason at September 5, 2008 11:22 PM

There is also some new imagery directly west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Posted by: Mark at September 5, 2008 11:43 PM

The towns of Bouna & Boundoukou in NE Côte d'Ivoire (West Africa) now have higher resolution.

Posted by: None at September 6, 2008 01:08 AM

In Japan: areas around Kobe are now in very crisp resolution, Kyoto is in fantastic resolution, and a large North-South strip of imagery west of Tokyo received an update. It includes Kamakura and Fujisaw up north to just south of Chofu.

Posted by: Munden at September 6, 2008 01:29 AM

Japan: Actually, there are more updates along the edge of Tokyo, particularly next to the spot I mentioned previously. For instance, Yokosuka up through Yokohama and Kawasaki. (even a little further to the north on the west side of Kawasaki)

Posted by: Munden at September 6, 2008 01:32 AM

Some parts in Southern Albania in the district of Përmet and Korça have been updated but they have low resolution.

Posted by: Edi at September 6, 2008 10:12 AM

The Chicago and the french updates are really great. Also Prague is great, but why does google refuse to update Minneapolis? The downtown area imagery must be from summer 2003 and the rest of the city is much lower res than most other major american cities. Still, Thank you google!

Posted by: Marc at September 6, 2008 11:05 AM

Both Canberra and Hobart in Australia has been updated :)

Posted by: Iñigo at September 6, 2008 02:16 PM

In Ontario, Canada; Bracebridge/Huntstville/Washago with large areas filled in following up Hwy 11 from Washago to Calander.
The towns Leamington, Matheson, Schreiber.
Also in Ontario a wide strip from Lindsay up through Fenelon Falls, Coboconk and Minden.

Nova Scotia: Yarmouth, Port Hastings/Port Hawkesbury
New Brunswich: Campbellton
PEI: Port Borden
Alberta: Red Deer, Drumheller

Posted by: Bootprint at September 6, 2008 02:16 PM

Yokosuka Japan

Posted by: Rene73 at September 6, 2008 02:53 PM

In Thailand I find the following so far: Thung Song (Nakhon Si Thammarat), Wiang Kaen (Chiang Rai), Pang Mapha, Mae La Noi, Mae Sariang, Sop Moei (Mae Hong Son). In brackets the province.

Posted by: Andy at September 6, 2008 03:06 PM

Nice job
But what about Meddle east, Makkah special this holy month for Muslims "Ramadhan"
Makkah's images are very old
Any way Thanx Google

Posted by: Mohammad Fathy at September 6, 2008 05:24 PM

Good updates!

Plz, update: Brazil, Governador Valadares.

Posted by: APF at September 6, 2008 05:25 PM

In Chicago, they also added street numbers near the intersections. This is great, because not all streets are numbered (like 87th St. is at 8700 South), so it's helpful for people who navigate Chicago via numbers.

Posted by: Steven Vance at September 6, 2008 05:41 PM

imuris, sonora, mexico now it looks worse :(
lots of clouds and shadows on top.

Posted by: Canoro at September 6, 2008 06:13 PM

I live in eastern mass so thats how i noticed the imagery update. I was very disappointed. Slightly lower resolution, and it was taken in the middle of summer (july 29) so you can only see half as much because of the leaves

Posted by: Greg at September 6, 2008 06:52 PM

Nice updates. On a related note: Street View camera cars have been spotted in the Netherlands, so hopefully we'll get an update soon....

Posted by: dapascha at September 6, 2008 08:55 PM

SCOTLAND there appear to be a few patches of "new" higher resolution imagery, although some years old, most notably a strip running south of Edinburgh, and possibly around the Clyde.

However, much of these patches has been photographed in less than ideal conditions - cloud, mist, and long shadows - which perhaps illustrates the problems of getting good imagery in high latitudes where clear skies are rare, and much of the wonderful terrain of Scotland remains frustratingly obscure.

Posted by: Chris at September 7, 2008 05:05 AM

Indonesia: higher res image of Tomohon, North Sulawesi.

Posted by: Rick at September 7, 2008 05:57 AM

A lot of South Western Ontario Canada is now Higher-res.

This includes pretty well all of Middlsex county (excluding the London area update that occurred a few months ago), and parts of Lambton, Kent, Essex counties, as well as bits of Haldimand/Norfolk and Elgin counties.

Posted by: Gary at September 7, 2008 12:00 PM

There is new imagery around the city of Aschaffenburg, Germany which is both newer and mor detailed then the previous one. Judging by various details, I'd estimate the new material being from summer 2006.

Posted by: Sebastian at September 7, 2008 12:05 PM

Austria: A stripe in the center of Austria including the mountainous area of the Rax.

Posted by: Ernst M. Kofler at September 7, 2008 04:04 PM

Apalit, Pampanga has been made clear, but an old picture..
nice job :)

Posted by: Joe Rees at September 7, 2008 07:37 PM

PARIS whilst it's good to have more extensive high resolution coverage around the city, the new images of the city photographed in late October seem grainy and to have less well defined detail in comparison with those they have replaced. There is the same issue with the most recent update of London.

Maybe there is too much emphasis on updates for their own sake. Is a city wide deterioration in image quality worth the benefits of seeing relatively minor changes in the landscape? Or should the priority be extension of high resolution coverage, plus upgrading information in layers to add more value to the imagery?

Posted by: chris at September 7, 2008 07:38 PM

Google Lat Long in its set of cryptic clues (only published on 8 September) refers to a better view of a city of a hundred spires, and there certainly is a rectangle of very good high resolution coverage (April 2007) centred on Oxford UK (city of "dreaming spires"), but is it new?

Posted by: chris at September 8, 2008 04:50 PM

New High-res sections of the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Also east Grampians National Park, Sunset National Park around the Murray River, the Mornington Peninsular near Melbourne, sections of far-east Gippsland and large coral reefs around Cairns,

Posted by: Wyn Richards at September 9, 2008 01:28 AM

100 spires = Prague

"Google Lat Long in its set of cryptic clues (only published on 8 September) refers to a better view of a city of a hundred spires, and there certainly is a rectangle of very good high resolution coverage (April 2007) centred on Oxford UK (city of "dreaming spires"), but is it new?"

Posted by: Josef at September 9, 2008 11:50 AM

updated 2004 to 2006 higher-rez image:

Greater Vancouver, Canada: City of New Westminster

Posted by: peter at September 10, 2008 12:43 AM

Never uk?

Posted by: Smiffy at September 10, 2008 02:22 PM

I was wondering as Hong Kong Disneyland was opened two years ago , but the images over there was still a construction site , what a interesting place!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Dave at September 11, 2008 11:47 PM

A big (and long awaited) imagery update in the province of Québec.

Now, all major city have high resolution, specifically :

- Québec City : already mentionned. It as to be said that the really hi-resolution imagery for this city is aerial photography rather that satelite ones. See http://www.groupealta.com/.
- Trois-Rivières
- Shawinigan
- Sherbrooke
- Granby
- Drummondville
- Maybe some in the Sagunay-Lac-Saint-Jean region

Also a lot of high-resolution imagery scattered across the province, including smaller cities like :
- La Tuque
- Grand-Mère
- Porneuf.

It seems that this new update was pushed out by Google after september 9 because it wasn't there last week.

Posted by: Pierre-Yves St-Louis at September 15, 2008 11:44 AM

Imagery update in Voronezh (Russia). Ilyushin Design Bureau aircraft manufacturer factory is new in GE (51°38'55.69"N 39°15'29.59"E).


Rene73

Posted by: Rene73 at September 23, 2008 12:04 PM

Someone knows it can with what speed Geo Eye 1 does picture ? According to side Geo Eye1 does the 350000km2 of colourful pictures and / or ( I do not it know just this) the 600000km2 of black and white pictures.Word: and , or do the great difference, because "and" it marks that these in track doings the black and white pictures be faked in colour also { the surface of lands [ without Arktyka and antarktyda ]= 134569258km2 so the black and white pictures will be for about 225 days ,colourful ( if would was done it first):in 385 days (horibly long) there now to do if would it simultaneously this would occupy 384 and picture black and white day were together to it can even earlier

Posted by: Pitgen at September 29, 2008 02:50 PM

Looking forward for the latest update on Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Some major parts of Kuala Lumpur are blury with a lot of clouds. Hope Google Earth experts could replace with new imagery.

Posted by: nuaro at October 3, 2008 12:04 AM

Geo Eye 1 if would did only he managed black and white pictures he would to to 04.10 to make it for area size Rasia and colourful for area USA - actualization with what reason one may in GE so?

Posted by: Pitgen at October 3, 2008 04:33 PM

Google Earth Imagery Update - 13.10.2008

Spain: Menorca,Ibiza, Formentera, Mallorca

Czech Republic:

Germany

Posted by: Rene73 at October 13, 2008 01:30 PM

There are no updates for Greece for more than 3 years now

Posted by: Sofia at October 20, 2008 02:59 AM

@Sofia: That's actually not true. If you look through the image update announcements on this blog, you'll see there have been a number of updates for Greece and its islands over the past 3 years. In fact, last month there was a huge update for Greece.

However, as with almost all countries, there are some places where new imagery is more accessible than others. Usually the big cities get updated more often than small towns and remote villages. There is more money to be made by imagery companies in the bigger cities. Even the US, where Google is based, and is home to more satellite and aerial imagery companies than anywhere, has places where imagery hasn't changed since Google Earth was released. It's all matter of imagery availability, and time to process all the data. The Earth is a big place, and the atmosphere is full of dust, clouds, smog - it's hard to get the planet covered with good quality imagery. And don't forget, the sun needs to be overhead too. Getting all those factors aligned is hard.

Posted by: Frank Taylor at October 20, 2008 08:09 AM

well the image updates of india are 6 to 7 years old,how can we see the latest images of india?

Posted by: sushil periwal at November 1, 2008 05:14 AM

When will be the satellite imagery to be update for Malaysia?
FYI. There have huge developments in my area (Klang, Malaysia)- (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Malaysia&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=31.784549,78.75&ie=UTF8&ll=2.991385,101.442776&spn=0.078171,0.153809&t=h&z=13).
However, I am still cannot get the latest satellite imagery from Google map.
Thank you.

Posted by: Kent Ling at November 8, 2008 12:12 PM

How I could get the latest imagery for Borneo island, Indonesia..?

I want to help government to solve flood disaster that happen in Samarinda City.

In November 2008, the flood sticken happen twice.
Thousands of house get flooding...

Thank you for your help..

Posted by: Kiki at December 2, 2008 04:16 AM

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