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Google Earth Imagery Update – September 5, 2008

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)

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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Filed Under: Google Earth News, Sightseeing

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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. Patrick says

    September 5, 2008 at 6:22 pm

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

  2. Roy says

    September 5, 2008 at 6:26 pm

    Paris was updated.
    Barcelona looks new.
    East Massachusetts is new (I live there, WHOOPEEE!!)
    Westchester County NY
    Albany

  3. Iñigo says

    September 5, 2008 at 6:40 pm

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

  4. AKB says

    September 5, 2008 at 6:48 pm

    Quebec City has been updated

  5. Philip says

    September 5, 2008 at 7:20 pm

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

  6. Mark says

    September 5, 2008 at 7:37 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.
    🙁

  7. Martin says

    September 5, 2008 at 8:06 pm

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

  8. gulo says

    September 5, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    Looks like Slovakia has new, more detailed coverage

  9. Martin says

    September 5, 2008 at 9:17 pm

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

  10. fengshui says

    September 5, 2008 at 9:18 pm

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

  11. Pete says

    September 5, 2008 at 9:20 pm

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

  12. Pete says

    September 5, 2008 at 9:38 pm

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

  13. Julien says

    September 5, 2008 at 10:15 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

  14. Eugene Villar says

    September 5, 2008 at 10:49 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)

  15. Jason says

    September 5, 2008 at 11:22 pm

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

  16. Mark says

    September 5, 2008 at 11:43 pm

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

  17. None says

    September 6, 2008 at 1:08 am

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

  18. Munden says

    September 6, 2008 at 1:29 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.

  19. Munden says

    September 6, 2008 at 1:32 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)

  20. Edi says

    September 6, 2008 at 10:12 am

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

  21. Marc says

    September 6, 2008 at 11:05 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!

  22. Iñigo says

    September 6, 2008 at 2:16 pm

    Both Canberra and Hobart in Australia has been updated 🙂

  23. Bootprint says

    September 6, 2008 at 2:16 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

  24. Rene73 says

    September 6, 2008 at 2:53 pm

    Yokosuka Japan

  25. Andy says

    September 6, 2008 at 3:06 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.

  26. Mohammad Fathy says

    September 6, 2008 at 5:24 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

  27. APF says

    September 6, 2008 at 5:25 pm

    Good updates!
    Plz, update: Brazil, Governador Valadares.

  28. Steven Vance says

    September 6, 2008 at 5:41 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.

  29. Canoro says

    September 6, 2008 at 6:13 pm

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

  30. Greg says

    September 6, 2008 at 6:52 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

  31. dapascha says

    September 6, 2008 at 8:55 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….

  32. Chris says

    September 7, 2008 at 5:05 am

    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.

  33. Rick says

    September 7, 2008 at 5:57 am

    Indonesia: higher res image of Tomohon, North Sulawesi.

  34. Gary says

    September 7, 2008 at 12:00 pm

    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.

  35. Sebastian says

    September 7, 2008 at 12:05 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.

  36. Ernst M. Kofler says

    September 7, 2008 at 4:04 pm

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

  37. Joe Rees says

    September 7, 2008 at 7:37 pm

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

  38. chris says

    September 7, 2008 at 7:38 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?

  39. chris says

    September 8, 2008 at 4:50 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?

  40. Wyn Richards says

    September 9, 2008 at 1:28 am

    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,

  41. Josef says

    September 9, 2008 at 11:50 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?”

  42. peter says

    September 10, 2008 at 12:43 am

    updated 2004 to 2006 higher-rez image:
    Greater Vancouver, Canada: City of New Westminster

  43. Smiffy says

    September 10, 2008 at 2:22 pm

    Never uk?

  44. Dave says

    September 11, 2008 at 11:47 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!!!!!!!!

  45. Pierre-Yves St-Louis says

    September 15, 2008 at 11:44 am

    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.

  46. Rene73 says

    September 23, 2008 at 12:04 pm

    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

  47. Pitgen says

    September 29, 2008 at 2:50 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

  48. nuaro says

    October 3, 2008 at 12:04 am

    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.

  49. Pitgen says

    October 3, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    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?

  50. Rene73 says

    October 13, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Google Earth Imagery Update – 13.10.2008
    Spain: Menorca,Ibiza, Formentera, Mallorca
    Czech Republic:
    Germany

  51. Sofia says

    October 20, 2008 at 2:59 am

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

  52. Frank Taylor says

    October 20, 2008 at 8:09 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.

  53. sushil periwal says

    November 1, 2008 at 5:14 am

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

  54. Kent Ling says

    November 8, 2008 at 12:12 pm

    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.

  55. Kiki says

    December 2, 2008 at 4:16 am

    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..

  56. Yas says

    December 6, 2008 at 2:51 am

    What about updates for the UK. I have a newly purchased version of google earh and am looking at imagery that is about 3 years old….

  57. Pitgen says

    January 3, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    Why me updated since the silent-update 90% of the Poland-silent any photos GEOEYE We do have 350,000 km2 photos a day-that is, to date, Google should be 32000000km2 (where they are)

  58. frankiemac says

    January 5, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    When is the British Isles going to be updated? I have the lattest Goggle Earth and looking at my home location, it is at least 3 or more years old. My town has had major changes in the last two years and I would like to see them on satellite

  59. wajdi says

    June 19, 2009 at 11:41 am

    Hi,
    I live in Tunisia and in the city of Kairouan and it seems that the satellite image of my city are way too old (5 years or more). Do you know how can we request Google earth to update it ?
    Thanks

  60. Sarfraz says

    July 17, 2009 at 11:35 am

    Hi! I am a resident of Islamabad, Pakistan. how can i find out that the imagery has been uploaded in my area…i really need to use the updated pictures in a project proposal!
    Any help will be appreciated.
    Thanks and Regards.

  61. Jack Parry says

    September 13, 2009 at 5:03 pm

    Why is the clarity of the imagery for Wales and the West Midlands, Shrewsbury in particular, so much worse now than a year ago?

  62. alu says

    September 23, 2010 at 4:07 am

    i hope you could fix the one in the BANAUE RICE TERRACES, ifugao.

  63. Tom says

    October 10, 2010 at 3:50 pm

    Palmer, Alaska is and always has been low-resolution in Google Earth. So has the rectangle just west of Wasilla, Alaska. Your high-res images around Wasilla appear to be almost 10 years old, because entire subdivisions have sprung up there in the past decade. For example, 3 miles NW of downtown Wasilla your high-res image shows wilderness, but your roads (plus street photos) show an accurate rendition.
    The fishing village of Seldovia, Alaska is also low-resolution, while the surrounding wilderness is high-resolution.
    Your roads shown at 62 02’05.91″ N, 150 03’59.88″W have no connection with reality. They simply don’t match what’s there, as a glimpse of the current Google Earth image quickly reveals.
    Otherwise, you’re doing a fantastic job, guys. We’re just interested in seeing more high-res images in populated areas, is all. If they’re current within the past 3-4 years then that’s ok, but low-res images are really frustrating when you’re trying to show a friend how to get to your house, etc.
    BTW, Google Earth’s fantastic Flight Simulator has inspired me to go to school to get my private pilot’s license! Very well done, on that app! I’ve flown your F16 all around the world, including dive-bombing Russian ‘boomer’ submarines berthed in northern Russia. Much better than Microsoft Flight Simulator (I bought MSFS, tried it, and quickly un-installed it), for this purpose. Wonderful 3D reality and perfect flying conditions: Always a full tank of fuel and the weather is clear, calm, and it’s daylight all around the planet. It’s even quite acceptable using just my trackball. Opened up my world!

  64. Roger Davis says

    November 11, 2010 at 5:18 pm

    I’m REALLY tired of Street View pictures that are so washed out that details are just not present. Sometimes outlines are about all that can be seen. Can’t these be reprocessed without reshooting the whole world?



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