GeoEye takes more Google Satellite Images

When I bumped into one of the Google Product Managers for SEA, I asked him why the Philippines (and the rest of South East Asia) doesn’t have enough hi-res imagery on Google Maps, he quips it takes time to gather all of these data. The recent GeoEye-Google partnership seems it will come sooner than later.

The GeoEye-1 satellite was launched into orbit the other day at a height of about 670 kilometers into the atmosphere.

Google used to buy satellite images electronic maps from mapping companies such as Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ (now owned by Nokia), some of which are old data so we don’t get to see better resolutions in some regions.

In other cities like Hyderabad, India, Google does some sort of crowd sourcing where residents are the ones who input street-level maps (to augment the Google Maps, Street View Project). The Google Product Manager explains to em that it’s a private site where volunteers login and fill out additional data to existing maps.

I said in the Philippines, this might be a difficult project since our lawmakers tend to change street names every other year and the MMDA constantly opens and closes roadways and alternate routes. *hehe*

The GeoEye-1 satellite will be able to capture hi-res images with resolution of about 41 centimeters although US restrictions only allow up to 50 cm (that means 1 pixel is equivalent to 0.5 meters in ratio). Google’s current resolution on some areas (including the Philippines) is only about 15 square meters per pixel.