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Google Earth imagery updates – Sport

March 23, 2017

Although the majority of sights we look at in Google Earth imagery are natural disasters or man-made disasters, today we are having a look at a couple of sporting events. These are not coincidence, DigitalGlobe intentionally captured the imagery as part of its FirstLook program.

Australia Open
The Australia Open tennis tournament was held in Melbourne, Australia in January.

The image resolution is not good enough to see players on the courts, but we can see the crowds in the stands.

A number of different courts are in use in the image.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held on November 27th, 2016. The most interesting aspect of this event is the mode of transport used by the spectators. The car parks are nearly empty, but the harbour is packed with yachts and two helicopters can be seen.

Some cars can be seen on the track, but we can’t tell whether this is during the actual race.

There is also an image of Río Cuarto, Argentina, which was captured on January 14th, 2017, in relation to the Dakar Rally, but we were unable to find anything in it in relation to the Rally.

To find the locations mentioned in this post download this KML file.

The Gatlinburg, Tennessee wildfire in Google Earth

March 1, 2017

Google has recently added some imagery relating to wildfires in the south eastern United States.

Gatlinburg, Tennessee
The Great Smoky Mountain wildfires of late November, 2016 was a group of wildfires that affected a number of towns near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee. According to Wikipedia, the fires have claimed at least 14 lives, injured 134, and are one the largest natural disasters in the history of Tennessee. There is a DigitalGlobe false colour image mostly covering the town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, but we can also see the outskirts of Pigeon Forge, which was affected by the fire as well.

Some burnt houses in Gatlinburg, Tennessee

The outskirts of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, showing houses destroyed by the fires.

North Carolina wildfires
Nearby, in North Carolina, there were also a number of wildfires in November. There is a DigitalGlobe image showing two fires burning near Lake Lure, North Carolina.

According to this article about 1000 people were ordered to evacuate Chimney Rock – a small town near the centre of the above image.

Find the above locations in Google Earth with this KML file. We have also marked the extent of the imagery and the extent of the Gatlinburg fire (as seen in the imagery).

A River Runs Red

January 6, 2017

While looking through the recent imagery updates we came across this story about a river in Russia that turned red. DigitalGlobe captured some imagery of the location, including both a colour image and a black and white image, captured on the same day. Unfortunately, Google Earth has a problem that we have previously discussed in that if two overlapping images are captured on the same day, it is impossible to see the image that has been overlapped. In this case, the black and white image has been placed on top of the colour image and since we are specifically looking for colour, this is a problem.

Nickel producer Norilsk Nickel initially denied claims that its nearby metal processing plant was to blame, but later admitted responsibility. A look at the satellite imagery of the area in Google Earth makes it abundantly clear that the plant is responsible, and that the red colour has been leaking for years. There are actually two different streams leading away from the waste water pool and both show clear signs of discoloration. It is not clear from the articles about it which of the streams are in the photos.

The location as seen in Landsat / Sentinel-2 imagery

The stream that runs south of the waste water pool as seen in DigitalGlobe imagery. The water colour appears to vary between green, yellow and brown. But colours in satellite imagery are not always accurate.

The stream that runs north of the waste water pool. The water itself looks a muddy greenish, but the sand is clearly stained red.

To see the above locations in Google Earth download this KML file.

Google Earth Imagery Updates, Italian Earthquake, Burning Man, Train Crash

January 5, 2017

Google recently updated the ‘historical imagery’ layer in Google Earth and we have done a series of posts on the various interesting sights:
Wildfires in the US
More US wildfires, US floods and a Tornado
Floods around the world and the Calais Jungle Migrant camp

Today we are looking at a few more locations around the world.

Italian Earthquakes
Italy suffered two major earthquakes last year in August and October, which we have covered previously (August earthquake, October earthquake. There is now some DigitalGlobe imagery of some of the worst affected areas.

Amatrice, Italy was near the epicentre of the August earthquake.

2016 Burning Man Festival

There are a couple of images of last year’s Burning Man Festival.

Texas train crash
On June 28th, 2016, there was a fiery train crash in Texas involving two freight trains. The Google Earth imagery is from July 3rd, 2016 after some cleanup has been done.

To see the above locations in Google Earth download This KML file.

Google Earth Imagery Updates – Migrants and floods

January 3, 2017

We have recently been looking at the latest imagery updates added to ‘historical imagery’. So far we have been looking at the US, including wildfires and more wildfires, floods and a tornado.

Today we are moving on to other parts of the world.

Calais Jungle
The Calais Jungle was a refugee and migrant camp in Calais, France, situated next to the English Chanel. Most of the people who lived there were trying to get to the United Kingdom. The camp was evacuated and closed in late October, 2016. The latest image in Google Earth is from August, 2016, so we cannot yet see it after the closure. However, we can see how the camp grew between 2013 and 2016.

Speed in milliseconds per image:

Flooding in India, August, 2016
In August, 2016, eastern and central India experienced severe flooding, killing at least 300 people and affecting millions.

This is part of the Ganges flood plain near Patna, India

Extensive flooding near Patna, India even in areas that are not obviously flood plain.

Flooding in Bangladesh, August, 2016
Also due to the same heavy monsoons that caused the flooding in India above, Bangladesh experienced severe flooding, killing at least 42 people. The imagery is from August 23rd and we believe that the worst of the flooding was over by then, but we can still see some flooded areas.

Flooding in Vietnam, October-December, 2016
Central Vietnam experienced severe flooding at least three times from October to December, 2016. The imagery in Google Earth is from early November.

It is often hard to tell, even when comparing with older imagery, what is normally or seasonally wet land (lake, river, flood plain) and what is unusual flooding.

Flooding in Japan, August, 2016
Typhoon Lionrock caused major flooding in northern Japan. The imagery in Google Earth is from after the flood, but we can see some of the damage caused.

To see the above locations in Google Earth download this KML file. We have also outlined the extent of the relevant imagery for each location.