Google Earth Blog

The amazing things about Google Earth


tips

Five tips to help you interpret a satellite image

We often feature some of the amazing images from the NASA Earth Observatory on our site, and they’ve recently published a post that gives some additional insight on how learn more about any satellite imagery that you come across.

zambezi_oli_2013241

Their main tips include:

  • Look for a scale: Sometimes the big picture can be more important than high-res details.
  • Look for patterns, shapes, and textures: Even clouds can give clues to the landscape below.
  • Define colors: Different satellite instruments can ready colors differently, so be aware of what you’re looking at.
  • Find north: If the image is in Google Earth, either built-in or using an image overlay, finding north is as easy as pressing the letter “n” on your keyboard.  However, if you find other imagery online you may have to be careful as north isn’t always at the top of the image.
  • Consider your prior knowledge: If you already know what happened in an area (recent fire, for example) it can make it easier to determine what you’re looking at.

It’s a great article, so click here to read the full entry on the Earth Observatory site.

“Why does Google Earth keep tilting the view when I zoom in?”

We’ve had a number of emails from users lately that are complaining that Google Earth tilts their view as they zoom in, and it’s difficult to get the view “fixed”.  In this article we’ll show you how to prevent that from happening, and how to fix it if it does.

First, you need to understand why Google Earth does this.  As they add more 3D buildings to Google Earth (particularly all of the new 3D Imagery), Google wants to make sure people understand that they can tilt to view the 3D buildings instead of just viewing it from above.

In the early days of Google Earth, the problem was the opposite — many people assumed it was a flat view like Google Maps and didn’t realize you could tilt your view at all!

Regardless, the “auto-tilt while zooming in” can be a bit annoying at times.  Fortunately, it’s easy enough to fix.  Go into your [Tools] –> [Options] menu, then click the “Navigation” tab at the top.  In there, click the button next to “Do not automatically tilt while zooming” and you should be good to go.

tilt-while-zooming

If by chance you find yourself tilted and want to get back to a vertical position, it’s very easy to do.  Just press the “U” key on your keyboard (short for Up) and your view will automatically go back to being completely vertical.  You can also press the “R” key (short for Reset) which will make your view vertical and also face you toward the north.

To learn more, check out this post for a full list of Google Earth navigation tips.