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News: Google Maps Satellite/Aerial Photo Update September 8, 2006

September 8, 2006

[Updated: 9-Sep 1550 ET – The scope of this update appears to be very widespread – this list is growing! Also, all the data is now in Google Earth as well! Also, new version of Google Earth 4 Beta is out.]
[Updated: 13-Sep 1500 ET – Also, see details on the new Updated Google Earth Layers]
Just discovered that there has been an update to aerial and satellite photos in Google Maps. So far, I have determined there is new photography for many areas in California and Texas (Now also areas found in NH, CT, NC, GA, NY, FL, WA, OR, entire state of Montana, Coastline of Maine, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Canada). I’m still researching areas that have been affected. Please leave me a comment to this blog entry if you find other locations and I will update them here. So far, the new data has not been migrated to the Google Earth database. So, you can use GE as a comparison tool to determine what has been updated. I expect the Google Earth database will be updated in a few days. (See also GoogleMapsMania follow-up on this story).
Summary of updated data now available in high resolution :

  • Most of California is now in high res. All of California appears to be high res actually. Thanks to GEB reader Jason.
    • “Kerman, Ca”
    • Coastal San Diego – thanks to Digg commenter i440

    Many updates in Texas, but still some remote areas not covered. A lot of east Texas is now high resolution.

    • Example: “San Augustine, Tx”
    • Follow along I-10 in West Texas…lots of new areas there.
  • Areas in North Carolina:
    • Wilmington, NC – new data noticeable along the beach
    • Charlotte, NC
  • Looks like the entire state of Connecticut is in high res now:
    • Hartford, CT
    • Waterbury, CT
    • Southbury, CT
  • Big areas in southeast New Hampshire including:
    • Keene, NH
    • Nashua, NH
  • Florida – Some reports north and east of Orlando, I can confirm along the coast near Daytona as well. Now also up along to St. Augustine. Another report of NW FL. Lots of areas for Florida.
  • The rest of the Netherlands now in high res (thanks to GEB readers: Daan and Alex) – Except some military bases are now “speckled” so you can’t see them.
  • Georgia – (thanks to GEB reader Mickey) – Looks to me like the entire state has some form of high-res photos now
  • The coastline of Maine all new high resolution areas all along the coast from the southeastern tip to Bangor, Maine – (thanks to GEB reader joe)
    • Banghor, Maine
    • Belfast, Maine
  • Looks like the ENTIRE state of Montana – (Thanks to GEB reader etlund)
    • Glacial National Park – very nice scenery. I can’t wait to see this in GE!
  • Big areas in Belgium have been added or updated: – (thanks to GEB reader Maarten)
    • New data for in and around Antwerp, Belgium
    • Updated data for Brussels, Belgium
  • One report so far for Japan: (thanks to GEB reader: Ataka)
    • Takamatsu, Japan – new high-res of this metropolitan area
    • Also Nara, Chofu, machida – thanks to GEB reader akanemaru
  • Norway now has Bergen, Norway and the area surrounding – (thanks to GEB reader Szabolcs)
  • Auckland, New Zealand area has new improved photos – (thanks to GEB reader Rob) – Note: other areas in NZ being reported including Wellington, and Whakatane
  • Report of a new high res photo for Sarnia, Ontario, Canada – Thanks to reader BvO
  • Unconfirmed reports for Memphis, TN; Aspen, CO.
  • Several reports for Hudson Valley area of New York
  • Washington State – County of Clark in SW WA updated – thanks to GEB reader Jesse
  • Oregon – Same update from WA also includes Portland, OR
  • Thailand – One report of some changes in Bangkok including an older photo of one area – thanks to GEB reader Steve

About Frank Taylor

Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.

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PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.

Comments

  1. Daan says

    September 8, 2006 at 2:25 pm

    The rest of The Netherlands can now also be seen in High resolution

  2. Alex says

    September 8, 2006 at 2:27 pm

    Great! Looks like the entire Netherlands are now available in high-resolution satellite-pictures. Hopefully GE follows soon.

  3. pacificdave says

    September 8, 2006 at 2:51 pm

    Schweeeet! I can now see the house I grew up at many years ago in higher res. Thanks for the update.

  4. Mickey says

    September 8, 2006 at 3:05 pm

    It appears that south Georgia is now high res. I’m most familiar with the Albany area, but it appears that most of the state is now complete.
    There are still parts of Michigan that I want to see turned into high res (just north of Grand Rapids), bad sadly it’s still the same images they used to have.

  5. Coreburn says

    September 8, 2006 at 3:12 pm

    Seems to me there is still MUCH of TX that’s not in high resolution. Like the area around Wichita Falls or Lake Ray Roberts which even Yahoo has in high res…

  6. Greg says

    September 8, 2006 at 4:06 pm

    Yes, the Big Sur coast in Northern California is now hi-res! Whoo-hoo!

  7. Maarten says

    September 8, 2006 at 4:14 pm

    I don’t know yet about the rest of Belgium, but I see the city of Antwerp in high res (which is not in GE).

  8. @aka says

    September 8, 2006 at 4:30 pm

    Takamatsu-Shi in Japan can be seen in high resolution.

  9. joe says

    September 8, 2006 at 5:00 pm

    The coast of Maine, all the way to Penobscot Bay, too!

  10. etlund says

    September 8, 2006 at 5:17 pm

    Lots more in Montana too! Including most of Glacier National Park.

  11. Danie says

    September 8, 2006 at 6:03 pm

    Also Franschoek Mountains near Franschoek in South Africa – was lowest resolution before.

  12. Szabolcs says

    September 8, 2006 at 7:24 pm

    The Bergen, Norway data has finally made it in! It seems to be the same data as that found on http://www.bergenskart.no/

  13. Rob says

    September 8, 2006 at 9:59 pm

    And Cape Town, SA – they put high-res over Table mountain

  14. Rob says

    September 8, 2006 at 10:00 pm

    Auckland, New Zealand has been updated with new fotos replacing cloud and the low res bit.

  15. x says

    September 8, 2006 at 11:57 pm

    goleta, CA (near santa barbara) is updated in EARTH, not just web maps. parts of it used to be cloud covered but not anymore, and newer buildings that I think were missing before are now there.

  16. mucbarney says

    September 9, 2006 at 12:25 am

    Munich Germany in very high resolution!

  17. mash says

    September 9, 2006 at 2:32 am

    Y’all should go check out Google Earth now. (Log out and in again if you’ve been running a session for more than two or three hours…)
    Awesome job in cataloging the changes!

  18. Jan Kocbach says

    September 9, 2006 at 4:49 am

    The Bergen, Norway data is now also available in Google Earth. I have not checked if the other data is also available in Google Earth now…

  19. Maarten says

    September 9, 2006 at 4:56 am

    Google Earth has been updated, al least with the pics of the Netherlands and Belgium. Don’t know about the rest; find out yourself and enjoy!!!

  20. £123 says

    September 9, 2006 at 5:29 am

    Munich, Germany, has been updated with new AeroWest data.

  21. Marc B. says

    September 9, 2006 at 6:42 am

    Google Earth has been updated.

  22. Georg says

    September 9, 2006 at 6:44 am

    Many cities and regions in Germany were updated too.
    Munich, Duesseldorf, Karlsruhe, Gelsenkirchen, Erlangen/Fuerth, Ludwigshafen, Schwerte…

  23. Bruce Fitzsimons says

    September 9, 2006 at 7:05 am

    (I updated an old blog entry, now I see this, sorry for the dup).
    Wellington, New Zealand has regressed in time. Overall the quality may have improved (difficult to compare) but I know the current map data is much older than what was there a few weeks ago. It appears they have changed data providers to the Wellington City Council (Municipality). The data is at least a year old, whereas I could see my new (6mth) old car last month.
    This is a pity.

  24. Belgeoblog says

    September 9, 2006 at 7:17 am

    Belgium has new and better pictures of Brussels and Antwerp. And they are visible on Google Earth.

  25. Michael Schaap says

    September 9, 2006 at 8:17 am

    Note that the images for Bergen, Norway are indeed the ones provided by the city council! (They’re listed as “© 2006 Bergen kommune”.)
    Also, all the updates are now in Google Earth as well.
    – Michael

  26. imichaeldotorg says

    September 9, 2006 at 8:41 am

    Maastricht, The Netherlands is now updated as well, apparently on a festival day!

  27. Satellite says

    September 9, 2006 at 8:48 am

    Ok, Google Maps continously update his map. But I think that Yahoo! Maps give us more detailed maps than Google. At the moment, Yahoo is winning the match.
    Mick

  28. akanemaru says

    September 9, 2006 at 8:58 am

    Japan(Nara, Chofu, machida) update!!

  29. jamie says

    September 9, 2006 at 9:57 am

    looks to me like jeruslaem has a much greater resolution

  30. Dave B says

    September 9, 2006 at 10:05 am

    Ogdensburg, NY (very small city in northern NY) is now in hi-res. I can now see the house I grew up in. 🙂

  31. Ed says

    September 9, 2006 at 10:26 am

    Troy, NY is now in satellite!

  32. BvO says

    September 9, 2006 at 10:35 am

    Most of Southern Ontario remains the same, but the City of Sarnia and environs has been upgraded to HiRes.

  33. Tim Froehlich says

    September 9, 2006 at 10:45 am

    Philadelphia’s gotten a makeover, looks like satelite photos c. 2003

  34. Riley says

    September 9, 2006 at 10:46 am

    Rennselear and Troy New York also in High Resolution now for the first time

  35. Steve says

    September 9, 2006 at 11:04 am

    Bangkok, Thailand (On Nut Soi 5) has gone back in time! My condo complex was at least half built before, now it’s all grassy. Actually, now that I can see it, it was kinda nice before.

  36. Robert Clifton says

    September 9, 2006 at 11:50 am

    Portland Oregon and surrounding areas have been updated.

  37. Greger Hagstr�m says

    September 9, 2006 at 12:08 pm

    Our House in Solna, Stockholm is now shows up on the pictures.
    The house was finished two years ago but only the construction site was visible before the update.

  38. Jimmy says

    September 9, 2006 at 12:14 pm

    The area around Omaha, NE has been updated in Google Maps.

  39. Jesse says

    September 9, 2006 at 12:20 pm

    all of Clark County of SW WA has been updated to high res! nice

  40. Brian says

    September 9, 2006 at 12:48 pm

    I believe they updated parts of Kakuda, Japan, as well. If you just type in, “Kakuda, Japan,” you’ll notice the previous crap-satellite images, and then the newer, MUCH better satellite images just above.

  41. Scottish says

    September 9, 2006 at 1:01 pm

    There are some “high resolution” updates to Rochester, New York, but they’re weird… when you zoom in close, the imagery looks like it was drawn in a graphics program… Take a look around the airport here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=ROC&ie=UTF8&z=12&t=k&om=1&iwloc=A
    It just looks odd and artificial, I can’t put my finger on it…

  42. Doug says

    September 9, 2006 at 1:30 pm

    Anyone noticed that 33% of ID is in Hi-Res? I just looked on Google Earth, and it looks like ID is Hi-Res.

  43. raylor says

    September 9, 2006 at 1:59 pm

    google Has to Update big cities, Like Newark!, My house its been up for 2 years now!, and they stll have the grass field where it was, NEwark, NJ- thye dont even have my Address on their database, ( mapquest Does!.)

  44. Riley says

    September 9, 2006 at 2:23 pm

    Regarding the Rochester Airport, it appears that New York GIS is deliberatley blurring “sensitive” infrastructure, like Seaports and Airports in an insane attempt to “protect the public” … blurring the view of an airport on Google Earth does NOTHING to make the public safer and only makes us more ignorant. This practice must be resisted and opposed. Google Earth should abandon its deal with New York GIS and get its own high res views of the areas in question ASAP.

  45. Matt says

    September 9, 2006 at 2:27 pm

    York, Pennsylvania still sucks. Surprise, surprise!

  46. sal says

    September 9, 2006 at 3:14 pm

    thanks for the hard work

  47. ConnMan says

    September 9, 2006 at 4:23 pm

    I can tell you that NOT all of Connecticut is highres – Darien – zip 06820 is not.

  48. Nick says

    September 9, 2006 at 4:47 pm

    I know that at least most of Brookfield, WI was updated – maybe all of WI?

  49. none says

    September 9, 2006 at 5:18 pm

    Boca Raton, FL and surrounding areas has been updated with new and higher resolution images.

  50. trode says

    September 9, 2006 at 5:44 pm

    Google has been busy adding some very high res pics in some ontario cities (sudbury,on) but falls short of some of the larger urban centres still… (barrie, ON w/ 3x the population) and missing cunks of the largest city, toronto still.. but document the corn fields in the surrounding area well. weird.

  51. test says

    September 9, 2006 at 6:27 pm

    Manaus in Amazon state in Brazil was also update.

  52. Tinshed says

    September 9, 2006 at 8:16 pm

    As noted above, the images for Wellington, New Zealand have regressed significantly. There is for example no evidence of the city by-pass construction as there was previously. Quality does appear improved however. Nonetheless it is great to see so many hi-res areas for New Zealand.

  53. JME says

    September 9, 2006 at 9:55 pm

    Matt,
    At this page you can add a network link that should show your York, PA collected in 2003.
    http://cegis2.cas.psu.edu/uci/MapService.aspx?Dataset=77

  54. chewy says

    September 9, 2006 at 10:27 pm

    dang! my house is still on a blurry border between two images! and the imagery of melbourne australia is still almost 4 years old. Look at the MCG! theyve already finished it!

  55. JL says

    September 9, 2006 at 10:57 pm

    St. Louis, Missouri has been updated.

  56. Roger D. Parish says

    September 9, 2006 at 11:39 pm

    Southwest Florida has been updated with hi-res imagery. Fort Myers was hi-res before; now, Lehigh Acres, to the east of Fort Myers, is also. Our daughter’s house shows up as still under construction: they’ve been in the house for about a year and a half.

  57. Stephen says

    September 9, 2006 at 11:39 pm

    McAllen, TX has been updated. Does anyone know if the improvements are 1 foot resolution vice 1 meter?
    Now if only they’d do Raymondville, Lyford, and Sebastian, Tx … I’d be in heaven!!!

  58. Brad says

    September 10, 2006 at 12:58 am

    Dubai is high-res, and updated — now includes Palm and Earth landfill-developments.

  59. tolling says

    September 10, 2006 at 10:22 am

    Palm Beach County seems to be high res now.

  60. Memetic Warrior says

    September 13, 2006 at 9:33 am

    And the mountais and elevations of Holland are now quite accurate!

  61. Shamfred says

    November 24, 2006 at 6:24 am

    The regions of south India particularly kanyakumari and east of kanyakumari are badly seen at high resolution. Please take efforts to correct these. I am eager to see those fertile land’s beauty.

  62. Dave z says

    January 7, 2007 at 7:56 pm

    When can I expect not to see blurry images of 40031 in LaGrange, Kentucky? One section appears OK but the area next to it is blurred. How often does the images get rescanned?

  63. marcel says

    April 4, 2007 at 7:20 am

    The Netherlands is not totally in High Res. This has been said allot of times, but it simply isn’t true. Only a few areas are realy high res (Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam)

  64. Frank Taylor says

    April 4, 2007 at 2:04 pm

    marcel, it’s all a matter of how you define “high res”. Those of us in the Google Earth Community define high resolution as anything higher than 15 meter/pixel resolution. Places with sub-meter resolution (like Rotterdam, The Hague, and Amsterdan) are obviously better than just high res. 🙂

  65. matt says

    May 24, 2007 at 11:50 am

    It’s interesting that all the surrounding states to Idaho, including Canada have all had updates. However, living in Idaho I’ve noticed huge differences in aerial satellite photographs. Including my office building that was built two years ago. Was this an over sight? To not include Idaho in their updates, or do they not think that we would care. Especially as an avid outdoors man who is now equipped with GPS via google maps, but doesn’t provide the most current information seems just a huge dis service to their users in this state.

  66. RussellW says

    June 1, 2007 at 8:31 am

    When will we see a map upgrade for Australia. With the current drought in SE Australian states, it would be good to see the impacts. I am a grower in this area.

  67. Adrian says

    July 2, 2007 at 2:58 pm

    Photos of the Ingolstadt area in Germany appear to have been re-tro dated. Previously, I could see the houses that my neighbours built but now all I see are bare patches of land.

  68. pen says

    July 21, 2007 at 8:24 am

    why does post code area nr14 7wd now show a field when before Christmas it showed the houses that were built there some 5 years ago? also the pictures for post codes rg12 and sl5 now show older views than were there in 2006 – not sure about updates they seem to be backdates!!!! not much use when you’re house- hunting and trying to check out potential areas and what the gardens are like.

  69. boom_box says

    August 20, 2007 at 11:11 am

    Most of the major cities in the Philippines are very clear (Iligan, Manila, Cebu, Davao etc..) but not at the close zoom.. [At(+) does not show the images only one bar from the (+) displays the images with a nice resolution]…i like it.. but its totally outdated nowadays..
    when will google update its map anyway..? i hope it will be sooner since there so many changes in our city..

  70. Renee says

    September 13, 2007 at 12:43 am

    Hi i am wondering if someone can update or tell me when its going to be updated around the QLD area in Australia they are very old shots. Between 4 and 6 yrs old please update soon thanks

  71. Jan Koot says

    September 17, 2007 at 9:36 pm

    I am new to Google Earth and am enjoying it tremendously. I tried to look at the area in NY state that is south of Albany and north of Kingston but it is totally out of focus. The Kingston area is in focus. The affected area is where my wife and I grew up and we would love to see the house we used to live in. Is there an update available?

  72. RoyLMitchell says

    September 19, 2007 at 5:31 pm

    Area GU51 in the UK has now got old maps. Two weeks ago buildings were shown in the area between the railway and the M3 highway.(Turgis Road) Now he whole area is hown as undeveloped although teh roads are still there.

  73. J says

    September 20, 2007 at 2:18 am

    Check out the caribbean. The island of St Lucia is tremendous. I am now seeing roads I didn’t even know existed and I’ve lived there all my life. Many other islands in the Caribbean, like Jamaica, Cuba and Barbados have also been updated.
    Also check out the Hoover Dam, really cool.

  74. Zack says

    September 25, 2007 at 6:20 pm

    hi im Zack and i put in my adress into the fly to bar and clicked search but when i zoom i can’t see my house because it’s nothing but blurr
    (by the way i live in Blairsvlle PA)

  75. Allison says

    October 8, 2007 at 7:21 pm

    Um, when does google earth take it’s photos? Does it take them every fifteen minutes or something like that ? Thanks if you answer my question.

  76. puppies07 says

    October 17, 2007 at 11:47 am

    I live on the NJ shore and my house was built 5 years ago. Google Maps images STILL show a vacant lot where my house is!!
    Please update…

  77. mas says

    October 23, 2007 at 10:26 am

    Although the Tokyo maps in Google are amonng the best and most accurate, the satellite images are really outdated. I’m convinced that Google gets its map and satellite data from different sources.

  78. Karla says

    February 11, 2008 at 12:40 am

    10-15 miles east of Bethany, Missouri is blurry. It was not 3 weeks ago. Can you help?

  79. Selva says

    March 8, 2008 at 4:50 am

    I like to see the satellite map for Entire Thanjavur,Thiruvarur and Nagapatinam Districts of Indian State of Tamilnadu

  80. sagar says

    May 26, 2008 at 6:02 am

    I would like to see the satellite map for Entire Chhindwara Districts of Indian State of Madhya Pradesh.

  81. Yasir says

    August 7, 2008 at 4:05 am

    The map of Karachi, Pakistan is very old (2005). Can someone please update it.
    Whats the policy of Google Earth? when do they update the Maps?
    Yasir.

  82. Vikash Joshi says

    September 13, 2008 at 10:35 am

    It feels very amazing looking the whole world in front of you. I just wanna to know that when will the updated version will come?

  83. gabby says

    November 21, 2008 at 4:44 pm

    I was wondering when Porterville Ca 93257 will show up pictures of properties?

  84. linda says

    November 25, 2008 at 2:46 pm

    I don’t know what happened to the Waxhaw NC area. Last year (or I guess before the upgrade)you could actually see our horses out in the field, now you can barely tell there is a house there it is VERY blurry. I noticed the same poor quality elsewhere any ideas whats going on.

  85. Roland says

    January 15, 2009 at 12:14 am

    Canouan island in the caribbean has not been updated in over a year???

  86. Bruce says

    May 21, 2009 at 10:53 pm

    Taupo, New Zealand has not been updated for a year or two. When you go to Kinloch, Taupo it still shows the old Marina which was altered at least two years ago.

  87. mitch says

    June 3, 2009 at 6:15 am

    Please update Robertson Nsw ASAP
    And lots of people are complaining about the highlands area i.e robertson, moss vale, bowral, albion park and areas around are not getting updated.
    The last update looks like it was 5 years ago.

  88. fatsa says

    July 3, 2009 at 12:51 am

    From my observation of my home in Queens NYC it appears that google earth has updated the picture once a year around spring time (march-may) in the very early AM. Does anyone know if this is a standard routine or is it just random for each area. I’d love to be outside my place the next time the shot is taken. Oh well I’ll just have to stand outside my home every morning the spring of 2010 and hopefully the satellite picks me up… 🙂

  89. Clark says

    July 18, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    “whoopie dee doo” that the coastline is updated i live in south portland MAINE and we still have whole neighborhoods missing from of imagery, whens this going to change? the oldest missing neighborhood is almost 5 years

  90. Hotwheels says

    July 22, 2009 at 12:10 am

    Could you tell me when Australai will get updated.
    thankyou

  91. Cody says

    September 28, 2009 at 12:42 am

    Wichita Kansas is slacking! haha it still shows our house before we moved into it so it looks abandoned lol

  92. Mya says

    March 15, 2010 at 4:43 pm

    Can Newfoundland be updated please?
    About half of St. Albans is missing I go to look up long path road to where the warehouse is suposed to be and the road is not even there.
    The road has existed for over 50 years so I do not know why it isn’t shown. It is mostly the inland parts of the town that are not shown.

  93. Howie says

    April 2, 2010 at 3:12 pm

    When will the Eastern Province of South Africa be updated. There has been no improvement in the last 7 years.

  94. John Seccombe says

    September 3, 2010 at 11:38 pm

    I’ve checked out the Auckland, New Zealand maps and they are at lest 3 years out of date,(noted lack of construction of some major facilities) but yes the resolution is much better.

  95. Lawrence says

    December 22, 2011 at 1:59 am

    I’ve been patiently waiting for the high resolution for Western Mindanao (Philippines) for years. Some areas had 2006 Google imagery. I wish these areas get their turn also. Thanks.



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