The Magic of Satellite Maps
It seems that hardly a day goes by without technology making huge improvements in the way we view the world. Every year computer technology brings something new for us to feast our eyes on. This is especially true of the aspect of technology which is changing the way we view the world itself – satellite technology. This article takes a look at the many exciting aspects of satellite technology and how applications being produced by satellite image data are having a huge effect on the way we see the earth and how we live on it.
The first thing that is striking about the improvement in satellite technology is the pure level of detail available on satellite maps. The first satellite images were produced in the 1950s by the Russian satellite Sputnik. These images, amazing though they were, were little more than a rough image which gave nothing more than a basic idea of the way the earth looks from outer space. Even by the 1970s, when technology had already come a long way, the images produced were still nothing spectacular as far as detail was concerned. The main improvement was that these images were now in color. However, by the 1990s, the detail on satellite maps had become amazing. The early satellite maps showed the globe as little more than a blurred sphere. Nowadays, the average a satellite map, has a detail so precise that you can view and object on the ground that is little more than 2ft. across.
However, the thing that has really brought satellite imagery to the general population is the explosion of Internet technology. And, of course, among the most popular of satellite images are those provided by Google through its Google Maps program. Through the use of this Internet technology, satellite imagery, once confined only to scientists, engineers, and military strategists, is now open to anyone with an Internet connection. Google, of course, is not the only Internet player as far as satellite technology is concerned. Some of the best known satellite images are provided by the very organizations that provided the very first satellite imagery – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA].
Satellite imagery, though, is not just use used for looking at and seeing how the world looks from outer space. Those satellite images are able to produce highly detailed maps and, through the data available, have enabled map makers and technologists to produce the best mapping system that has ever been – the global positioning system [ GPS]. Photographs from outer space may be great to look at, but maybe the best thing that satellite technology has brought to the general population is that a driver need never be lost when driving their car ever again.
As you can see, aerial maps and especially satellite technology is completely changing the way we see the world. If technology continues to increase at the same rate as it has over the last decade in the pictures we will be able to see of the world will be astounding. And maybe no one will ever need to have a paper map in their car ever again!
John Mack is an aerial map enthusiast and runs the website aerialmapworld.com, a site dedicated to everything about satellite and aerial mapping.
Source: www.articlecity.com
