Google Maps is one of the most popular services today. It provides users with the opportunity to observe our planet (and not only) from a satellite online at high quality and in real time (the sights of the planet in). At some point, after all, the championship of the schematic view of maps was intercepted by the application " open street Maps. Where everyone in the know can edit a Wikipedia-style map, but this does not change anything, and today Google Maps is the most popular online map service. The popularity of the cards of this company is in the first place long years due to the good quality of satellite images in any corner of the planet, even Yandex could not provide such quality in its homeland.

Google Maps Online

Google continues to improve its brainchild in the form of visualization of our planet, improving the quality and detail of surfaces. More recently, the company has improved its services using the new Landsat 8 satellite, which can photograph the surface of the planet Earth with a resolution of 15/30/100 meters per elementary point. The real-time satellite imagery database was only updated in 2013 before. At that time, the application used images taken by the Landsat 7 satellite, which is also known for introducing some bugs and crashes into the maps. To compare the quality of images taken by different satellites, pay attention to the screen below.

Images taken by different satellites

In the examples on the screen, you can see that the image of the new satellite shows not only improved detail of terrestrial objects, but also more natural colors. Google representatives announced that about 700 trillion pixels of graphic data have been spent on collecting a new generation of mosaics of the earth's surface. Almost 43 thousand of the most powerful computers in the Google cloud worked for a week on gluing pictures.

How to use Google Maps online

Anywhere in the world you can use Google Maps online in high quality using a tablet, mobile phone or computer. Just follow the link https://google.com/maps/ or use the built-in map below and you can find the country, city and even the way to the museum by specifying the desired search parameters. And for mobile devices you can download a special application which is more convenient to use.

To find your way to a laundromat or cafe that you often visit - just enter the addresses in the program line and you will no longer need to enter this data every time. At the same time, you can not only view the paved road to the institution, but also get acquainted with the information that relates to this institution, for example, opening hours, contact details, etc.

Let's use an example to use a map from Google from satellite 2018.

  1. Go to the website or open the app on your mobile device.
  2. You just need to point with the cursor or touch on the touch screen, and you can view the details of this area.
  3. In order to find out the distance between cities, right-click on one of them and select "Measure distance" from the drop-down menu. Now the second point can be specified with the left mouse button. If necessary, the point can be dragged with the mouse to another location, the distance information will be updated.
  4. To select the mode "Relief", "Bike paths", "Traffic jams" - select the menu sign (three bars) and press the desired option. If you are using Apple devices, click on the diamond icon with the layer and also on the desired option.
  5. To take advantage of high quality 3D images, click on the square in the lower left corner. It will say "Satellite", if you need to return to map mode, press it again.
  6. To select the Street View mode, drag the yellow man to the desired area of ​​the map, or simply enter the exact location in the query bar, preferably with a home address.
  7. High-resolution Google Maps allows you to view streets in historical mode, i.e. how they have changed over time. To do this, throw the little man on the right place on the map. Select the clock icon and move the time slider to select the desired date.

Surprising Facts About Google Maps


Features and benefits of online maps in real time

From the first days Google Maps became a discovery for all users. They made it possible to look at the cards in a new way, to pay attention to this instrument in a new way. Everyone who accessed the Internet back in 2005 sought to immediately use online cards and see your city or country from a satellite.

It seems unthinkable, but today there is an opportunity to view other planets solar system in the Google Maps app!

Planets in Google Maps

To do this, go to the web version of the program and move the image of the Earth to the maximum with the mouse wheel. Other planets will appear on the left in the block, which you can select to view. There are all the planets of the solar system and a few more of their satellites. For example, Callisto is a moon of Jupiter. True, the pictures do not allow us to view other planets as closely and in detail as it happens with the Earth.

Google maps from a satellite in 2018 will allow you to view the surface of the earth and settlements V excellent quality, which cannot be done using a regular card. When compiling paper and other versions of maps, natural colors, clear contours of the banks of rivers, lakes, coloring of land areas and other color schemes are omitted, which is why we have poor orientation. Looking through the desert regular map one can only guess what kind of vegetation or relief is there. Turning to Google Maps in real time, you can even see the color and shape of the fence at any address on another continent.

In contact with

For free observation of the Earth's surface and viewing satellite images online, you can use several applications. In Russia, two of them are the most popular: Google Maps and Yandex Maps. Both services boast good quality high-resolution satellite images of most countries.

Yandex maps is an online application from Russian developers, so the cities of Russia are more accurately worked out in it. It has built-in functionality for viewing traffic congestion data (large settlements), demographic and geodata. In maps from Google at least high-quality pictures from a satellite of the territory of the Russian Federation, but data on land plots and traffic are only available for the USA.

Watch a map of Planet Earth from a satellite online

Below you can see the Google map embedded on the site. For more stable operation of the plugin, we recommend using the Google Chrome browser. If you see an error message, then update the specified plugin, then reload the page.

Watch Google Earth from satellite, in real time online:

Another advantage of Google Maps is the presence of a client application for working with satellite images. This means that access to the service can be obtained not only through a browser, but also through a previously downloaded program. It has much more opportunities for viewing and studying satellite images, working with a three-dimensional virtual globe.

Google 3D satellite map (downloadable app, not online version) allows you to:

  • use a quick search for the desired objects by name or coordinates;
  • take screenshots and record high quality videos;
  • work offline (preliminary synchronization via the Internet is required);
  • use a flight simulator for more convenient movement between objects;
  • save "favorite places" for quick movement between them;
  • view not only the Earth's surface, but also images of other celestial bodies(Mars, Moon, etc.).

You can work with Google satellite maps through a client application or a browser. A plug-in is available on the official page of the program that allows you to use an interactive map on any web resource. It is enough to embed its address in the program code of the site. For display, you can select both the entire surface and a specific area (you will have to enter the coordinates). Management - using a computer mouse and keyboard (ctrl + mouse wheel to zoom, cursor to move) or using the icons indicated on the map ("plus" - zoom in, "minus" - zoom out, move with the cursor).

The Google Earth real-time service allows you to work with several types of maps, each of which reflects certain data on satellite images. It is convenient to switch between them “without losing progress” (the program remembers where you “were”). Available view modes:

  • satellite landscape map (geographical objects, features of the Earth's surface);
  • physical map(detailed satellite images of the surface, cities, streets, their names);
  • schematic geographic map for a more accurate study of surface images.

A satellite image is automatically uploaded at the point of approach, so a stable Internet connection is required to work. For Google's work Planet Earth in offline mode, you need to download an application for Windows or another operating system. Its operation also requires the Internet, but only for the first launch, after which the program synchronizes all the necessary data (satellite images of the surface, 3D models of buildings, names of geographical and other objects), after which it will be possible to work with the received data without direct access to the Internet.

Russia or the Russian Federation is a unique country that combines European and Asian features. The map of Russia is striking: the country occupies a vast territory of 17 million km 2 and is located simultaneously on the territory of Northern Asia and Eastern Europe.

143 million people live in Russia. Russian Federation is a kind of "melting pot of nations": representatives of more than 200 nationalities live here. The country is a federal republic with a presidential form of government. The territory of the country is divided into 46 regions, 9 territories, 21 republics, 4 autonomous regions, one autonomous region and 2 federal cities. It is noteworthy that the Kaliningrad region is located on the territory of the European Union and has no borders with the Russian Federation.

Today Russia is one of the dynamically developing states that world politics. The Russian Federation is part of numerous world political organizations such as the UN and the G8. Despite the relative stability and significant development of the country after the fall of the Soviet regime, the Russian economy is largely dependent on energy resources, in particular on oil and gas prices.

The capital of Russia is Moscow - one of the most expensive and beautiful cities in the world.

Historical reference

The Russian Federation is the successor of several states. The country traces its history back to 862, when Kievan Rus. In the 12th century, numerous Russian principalities were located on the territory of Russia, which in the 15th century merged into Russian state. Since 1721, Tsar Peter I created Russian empire. In 1917, the revolutionary movement of socialism overthrew the monarchical regime and first formed Russian republic, then the RSFSR, and in 1922 the USSR.

During the Soviet regime, the country was separated from other countries of the world by " iron curtain”, some of the consequences of which have not yet been eliminated. In 1991, the USSR collapsed and the Russian Federation appeared.

must visit

Russia is a country on the territory of which there are many cultural, historical and natural monuments. It is recommended to visit the business and cultural centers countries - Moscow and St. Petersburg, Lake Baikal, cities of the "Golden" and "Silver" rings, Orthodox monasteries and temples Caucasian Reserve, volcanoes of Kamchatka and much more.

Interactive map of Russia- a modern and convenient way to find the desired map of any region or city. This card allows you to view cities both in satellite mode and in schematic map mode. You can watch from a satellite with the ability to zoom in on any city and switch between different providers and map types. Additional services are available - real-time cloud photos, traffic jams (only for large cities), terrain photos, a weather layer displaying the current weather for each settlement, and a brief forecast for the next 4 days.

For most objects on the map of Russia - Google Maps satellite photos are considered the best in quality

The quality of satellite photography often varies by region, as satellite images need to be constantly updated. Therefore, different providers may have different photo quality for a particular city or region. However, the best quality photos in most cases are from Google Maps. Photos of Yandex maps are often worse in quality, but they can be newer, so for new buildings you can get by with Yandex. OVI maps - surprisingly in some cases it has better photos even than in Google Maps,

Open Street Maps

OSM is a phenomenon of the modern computer society, because the map is simple people(volunteers volunteers), (unlike the 2gis map and others). But despite this, OSM is considered the most accurate and detailed map not only for Russia, but for the whole world. Even such giants as Yandex or Google cannot map as accurately and efficiently as a community of enthusiastic amateur cartographers does. New buildings (namely, it is easy to determine the relevance and “freshness” of the map from them) are almost always present on OSM (and even the foundations of new buildings), while in Google and Yandex they may be present alternately, or not present at all. In addition, Open Street Maps is probably the only map that displays paths in parks and forests and many other additional objects that are usually not available on other services.

Russia - physical map one file, which shows the largest cities, the main ranges and plains. The map is very clear and easy to understand, although not detailed enough.

Physical card - option 2

Many users are interested in online satellite maps, which provide an opportunity to enjoy a bird's eye view of your favorite places on our planet. There are a sufficient number of such services on the network, while all their diversity should not be misleading - most of these sites use the classic API from Google Maps. However, there are also a number of resources that use their own tools to create high quality satellite maps. In this article, I will talk about the best high-resolution satellite maps available online in 2017-2018, and also explain how to use them.

When creating satellite maps earth's surface commonly used as snapshots from space satellites, and photos from special aircraft, allowing you to take pictures at a bird's-eye height (250-500 meters).

Satellite maps created in this way highest quality permissions are updated regularly, and usually the images from them are no more than 2-3 years old.

Most network services do not have the ability to create their own satellite maps. Usually they use maps from other, more powerful services (usually Google Maps). At the same time, at the bottom (or top) of the screen, you can find a mention of the copyright of a company for the demonstration of these maps.


Viewing real-time satellite maps is currently not available to the average user, since such tools are used primarily for military purposes. Users have access to maps, photos for which were taken during recent months(or even years). It should be understood that any military facilities can be deliberately retouched in order to hide them from interested parties.

Let's move on to the description of services that allow us to enjoy the capabilities of satellite maps.

Google Maps - high resolution view from space

Bing Maps - online satellite map service

Among cartographic online services of decent quality, you cannot pass by the Bing Maps service, which is the brainchild of Microsoft. Like other resources I have described, this site provides fairly high-quality photos of the surface, created using satellite and aerial photography.


Bing Maps is one of the most popular mapping services in the US.

The functionality of the service is similar to the analogues already described above:

In this case, using the search button, you can determine online location specific satellite, and by clicking on any satellite on the map you get brief information about it (country, size, launch date, and so on).


Conclusion

To display high-resolution satellite maps online, you should use one of the network solutions I have listed. The most popular on a global scale is the Google Maps service, so I recommend using this resource to work with satellite maps online. If you are interested in viewing geolocations on the territory of the Russian Federation, then it is better to use the Yandex.Maps toolkit. The frequency of their updates in the relations of our country exceeds the same frequency from Google Maps.

Google Maps is a leader among modern mapping services providing satellite interactive maps online. At least the leader in the field of satellite imagery and in the number of various additional services and tools (Google Earth, Google Mars, various weather and transport services, one of the most powerful APIs).

In the field of schematic maps, at some point, this leadership was “lost” in favor of Open Street Maps, a unique Wikipedia-style mapping service where each volunteer can enter data on the site.

However, despite this, the popularity of Google Maps remains perhaps one of the highest of all other mapping services. Part of the reason is that it is in Google Maps that we can find the most detailed satellite photos for the most extensive regions of any country. Even in Russia such a large and successful company How Yandex cannot surpass the quality and coverage of satellite photographs, at least in their own country.

With Google Maps, anyone can view satellite photos of the Earth for free from almost anywhere in the world.

Image quality

The highest resolution images are usually available for the largest cities in the world in America, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Asia, Oceania. Currently, high-quality imagery is available for cities with more than 1 million inhabitants. For smaller cities and other localities, satellite images are only available in limited resolution.

Possibilities

Google Maps or "Google Maps" was a real discovery for Internet users and indeed for all PC users, giving an unheard of and unprecedented opportunity to look at their home, their village, cottage, lake or river where they rested in the summer - from a satellite. To see it from above, from such an angle, from which it would be impossible to see it under any other circumstances. The discovery, the very idea of ​​giving people easy access to satellite photographs, fits harmoniously into the overall Google concept of "easy access to all users to any information on the planet."

Google Maps allows you to see from the satellite at the same time those things and objects that cannot be observed at the same time when observed from the ground. Satellite maps differ from regular maps in that they simple maps colors and natural shapes natural objects distorted by editorial processing for further publication. However, all the naturalness of nature and shooting objects, natural colors, shapes of lakes, rivers, fields and forests are preserved in satellite photographs.

Looking at the map, one can only guess what is there: a forest, a field or a swamp, while on a satellite photo it is immediately clear: objects are usually round or oval in shape of a unique marsh color and there are swamps. Light green patches or areas in the photo are fields, while dark green are forests. With sufficient experience of orientation in Google Maps, you can even distinguish between coniferous forest or mixed: coniferous has a more brown tint. Also on the map you can distinguish specific broken lines piercing the forests and fields of the vast Russian expanses - this railways. Only looking from the satellite can you understand that the railways are much larger highways affect the natural landscape around them. Also in Google Maps it is possible to superimpose maps with the names of regions, roads, settlements on a national scale and the names of streets, house numbers, metro stations on a city scale on a satellite image of an area or city.

Map Mode and Satellite View Mode

In addition to satellite images, it is possible to switch to the "map" mode, in which it is possible to view any territory on the surface of the Earth, to study in detail the layout and location of houses of any more or less big city. In the "map" mode, it is especially convenient to plan moving around the city if you have already seen enough satellite views of your city.

The house number search function will easily point you to right house giving the opportunity to "look around" the area around this house and how you can drive up / approach it. To search for the required object, it is enough to type in Russian in the search bar a query like: "City, street, house number" and the site will show you the location of the object you are looking for with a special marker.

How to use Google Maps

To get started, open a location.

To move around the map, left-click on the map and drag it in any order. To return to the original position, press the centering button located between the four direction buttons.

To enlarge the map - click on the button "+" or roll the mouse roller when the cursor is over the map. You can also enlarge the map double click mice in the place you are interested in.

To switch between satellite, mixed (hybrid) view and map, use the corresponding buttons in the upper right corner of the map: Map / Satellite / Hybrid.