While Google Earth lists its images as 'approximately one to three years old,' users are never entirely sure the date an image was shot. The center of the image is where the image is sharpest, while the outlying regions of the photo become increasingly blurry as you move to the edges.

The Google Earth image, while an accurate representation of the area, is distinct in several ways: On close inspection of the images, some differences become clear. The following image of the same location was captured by Satellite Imaging Corporation:

The first image was available through Google Earth: Now, compare the following satellite images of the Lagos, Nigeria airport. Next, view a satellite photo from Satellite Imaging Corporation's QuickBird image gallery:

While the image quality of Google Earth far surpasses anything that has been available at the free consumer level in the past, it still doesn't come close to matching the detail and quality of a custom high-resolution satellite image shot by one of the major satellites.įollowing is an image of the Hurghada beachfront in Egypt, shot with MAXAR's QuickBird satellite via Google Earth: Google Earth Pro free download is available at: Google Earth Pro, which includes, among other enhancements, faster performance and better measurement tools. While Google Earth satellite imagery doesn't match the quality of traditional high-resolution satellite images, it is an excellent way to determine the coordinates of a location you'd like to study further.

Google Earth is a great addition to the growing set of software solutions devoted to viewing satellite image data from around the world.

Satellite image of address