Google Maps now uses Landsat 8 imagery to deliver higher quality visuals
Images in Google Map will now look sharper and more detailed as Google Maps will be using imagery provided by Landsat 8. The new satellite captures images with greater detail, colour accuracy and at a better frequency than its predecessors. This means the images on Google Earth will look a lot clearer now. Landsat is a joint initiative of USGS and NASA and has been used to observe earth since 1972. The Landast 8 was set in orbit in 2013.
If you want to experience the new imagery yourself, simply load up Google Earth or Google Maps on your platform of choice. Mountain View has already integrated the new satellite data from NASA and the US Geological Survey, so the company’s apps and websites are better than ever.
Of course, the Landsat 8 satellite is only one of many sources of imagery for Google’s satellite view. Depending on where you look, and how zoomed in you are, Google will show you images sourced from the US Navy, the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, NOAA, DigitalGlobe, Astrium, and more.
If you only want to see images provided by Landsat, you can head over to the LandsatLook Viewer, and scrub through over forty years worth of visual data of the earth.
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