Google satellite maps online. Google Maps. Satellite world map mode

Service " Google Maps» (Google Maps) is one of the most powerful mapping services in the world. Its capabilities allow you to enjoy satellite images of the surface of our planet. You can also use the interactive map, easily plot a convenient route from point A to point B, get up-to-date information about traffic jams and much more. At the same time, not all users are fully familiar with the capabilities of this service, which in a certain way prevents its full use. This material is designed to eliminate such “blank spots”; in it I will talk about Google maps, which are available online in real time and in excellent quality, and I will explain in detail how to use their capabilities.

Studying the functionality online service Google Maps

Google Maps is a web service that provides detailed visual information about geographic regions and places around the world. In addition to displaying a conventional road map, the service also offers aerial and satellite imagery of various locations, including images taken using a variety of vehicles.

Google Map includes several popular services:

• The route planner offers the creation of routes for drivers and pedestrians who want to get from point A to point B;
• The Google Maps API makes it possible to insert maps from Google Maps into various websites;
• Google Street View (Google Street View) allows users to view the streets of various cities around the world, virtually moving through them;
• Google Maps for mobile platforms offers GPS navigation mobile devices to position the user on the map;
• Ancillary services offer images of the Moon, Mars, clouds, etc. for astronomers and just amateurs.

To start working with Google maps in full screen, launch the service google.ru/maps. A schematic map of the world will open in front of you (depending on the user’s location, usually this is a map of Europe).

Instructions for using Google maps

Interface Google service Maps looks like this:

Additional options in the Menu item

Also in the Google Maps menu bar, which opens by clicking the menu button at the top left, the following useful options are presented:

• « Satellite» - switches to photographic map display mode created using satellite photographs. Clicking this option again switches the map back to schematic mode;
• « Traffic jams» - shows current ones on this moment traffic jams in large cities. The color gradation from green to red shows the speed of traffic in the indicated traffic jams;
• « Transport» — allows you to display a diagram of public transport movement in the right place;
• « Relief» – will allow you to display the relief of a given area
• « Transfer of geodata» - allows people to track each other's location using Google Maps;
• « My places» — allows you to navigate between places you added in the Google Maps service;
• « Your impressions» - will allow you to add any text impression about any of the places on the map (as well as attach a photo of this place).

Activating Google Maps satellite view

Displaying Google maps using satellite photos is one of the most popular forms of working with the Google Maps service. It allows you to enjoy the view of the desired geographical location, created using satellite images, as well as images from special devices operating at bird's eye height (from 240 to 460 meters).

The resulting photographs are regularly updated (their age is no more than 3 years). They enable each user to enjoy a satellite view of the desired places, visually plot the most convenient road from one place to another, and so on.

Google Earth - allows you to enjoy high-resolution images

Among the capabilities of the Google Maps service is the Google Earth service. In addition to the technology of the already known satellite surface mapping globe, Google Earth allows you to view 3D images of many colorful places, while photos of some famous tourist sites have the highest resolution.

A special feature of this service is also two, in our opinion, main functions:

Conclusion

The Google Maps service allows you to both view satellite maps in real time for free and use various forms navigation to create a user-friendly route. At the same time, Google Maps’ competitors are “Yandex.Maps”, “ Bing Maps", "Apple Maps" and other analogues are generally inferior to Google maps both in coverage area and in general functionality. Therefore, we recommend using Google maps to search and visually view the geographic location you need.

A satellite map of the world allows you to quickly move around the entire planet between any populated areas. Detailed map world from satellite in Russian:

Explore the schematic map or switch to the satellite world map in the lower left corner of the map. Schematic map of the world is a map of countries and cities with street names and house numbers in Russian. The schematic map of the world shows attractions and tourist sites, the location of train stations, shops, restaurants and shopping centers, map highways cities. Satellite world map will allow you to view satellite photographs of the city thanks to images from the Google Maps service.

You can zoom in on the online map, scaling it to streets and house numbers. To change the scale, use the “+” (zoom in) and “-” (zoom out) icons located in the lower right corner of the map. You can also zoom in or out on the map using the mouse wheel. The left mouse button zooms in on the map, the right mouse button zooms out. You can use the mouse to move the interactive map in all directions by using the left mouse button to grab any place on the map.

Interactive world map online is a very convenient and modern guide for exploring the city, its districts and attractions, hotels, places of recreation and entertainment. An online world map can become an indispensable assistant for you in independent travel. Interactive map provided by Google Maps.

How satellite maps of the world are created:

The satellite, passing over the planet, scans the earth's surface and maps are compiled using software. More recently, a few years ago, satellite maps showed the surface of the planet from a height of several kilometers. Now technologies make it possible to make satellite maps from a height of several meters, and in the near future technologies will make it possible to create satellite maps with detail up to 30 centimeters.

What to see on the world map from satellite:

First of all, people look on the map for their country, their hometown, the street and the house in which they live. To do this, you can zoom in on the schematic map of the world to your city, and then turn on the “Satellite” mode in the lower left corner of the map. In exactly the same way, you can travel around all countries of the world online, exploring the sights of countries and cities in real time. Popular places that are often searched for on a satellite map: Reichstag in Berlin (Germany), Acropolis of Athens in Greece, Egyptian pyramids, Italy - the Colosseum in Rome (Ancient Roman arena of gladiator fights, Peterhof in Russia (west of St. Petersburg), the Statue of Liberty in the USA - a symbol of America, the Eiffel Tower in Paris (France), the Great Wall of China.

Google Maps is a leader among modern mapping services providing satellite interactive maps online. At least a leader in the field of satellite images 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 mapping service in the spirit of Wikipedia, where every volunteer can contribute data to 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 Google Maps is where we can find the most detailed satellite photos for the largest regions of any country. Even in Russia such a large and successful company as Yandex cannot surpass the quality and coverage of satellite photographs, at least in its own country.

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

Image quality

Pictures of himself high resolution usually available for the world's largest cities in America, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Asia, Oceania. Currently, high-quality images are available for cities with a population of more than 1 million inhabitants. For less major cities and others settlements Satellite images are only available in limited resolution.

Possibilities

Google Maps or “Google Maps” was a real discovery for Internet users and indeed all PC users, giving an unheard of and previously unseen opportunity to look at their home, their village, cottage, lake or river where they vacationed in the summer - from a satellite. To see it from above, from a perspective 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 photos, fits harmoniously into Google's overall vision of “easily providing everyone with access to any information on the planet.”

Google Maps allows you to see from a satellite simultaneously those things and objects that cannot be observed at the same time when observed from the ground. Satellite maps are different from regular topics, What's on simple maps colors and natural forms of natural objects are distorted by editorial processing for further publication. However, satellite photographs preserve all the naturalness of nature and the objects being photographed, natural colors, shapes of lakes, rivers, fields and forests.

Looking at the map, one can only guess what is there: a forest, a field or a swamp, while on satellite photography it is immediately clear: objects, usually round or oval in shape, with a unique swamp color, are swamps. The light green spots or areas in the photograph are fields, and the dark green ones are forests. With enough experience in orientation in Google Maps, you can even distinguish whether it is a coniferous forest or a mixed one: coniferous has more brown tint. Also on the map you can distinguish specific broken lines piercing the forests and fields of the vast Russian expanses - these are railways. Only by looking from a satellite can one understand that railways have a much greater influence on the natural landscape surrounding them than roads. Also in Google Maps, it is possible to overlay 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 and study in detail the layout and location of houses of any more or less large city. In the "map" mode it is especially convenient to plan your movements around the city if you have already seen enough satellite views of your city.

The search function by house number will easily point you to the desired house, giving you the opportunity to “look around” the area around this house and how you can drive up/approach it. To search for the required object, just type in Russian in the search bar a query like: “City, street, house number” and the site will display to you the location of the object you are looking for using a special marker.

How to use Google Maps

To begin, open some place.

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 mouse in the location you are interested in.

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

What are Google Maps? This is a service that consists of several applications provided for free, and includes the mapping site Google Maps and a route planning program (Google Transit). Google Maps offers satellite views for many cities around the world and includes detailed diagram location of streets, houses, travel routes public transport or a car, a guide to various objects, etc.

Features of work

Google Maps is displayed in two variations:

• an ordinary traditional map (analogous to Mercator maps)

• and satellite images (not online, but taken a certain time ago).

The scale of the maps is also based on the Mercator projection, that is, it is constant and changes from the poles to the equator downwards.

Another separate project of the corporation is closely related to Google Maps - Google Planet, which corresponds to a globe on which the regions of the Earth's poles are clearly visible.

What locations are satellite imagery available for? Not for everyone, but only for large cities in Russia, England, America, Canada and others.

Not all governments have approved such placement and use of images (since the placement of some objects that are clearly visible on maps can be used by terrorists to plan and carry out attacks).

That is why many objects on maps are shaded. Such “classified” objects include, for example, The White house or the Capitol.

Different places on satellite images are shown in different resolutions - the less populated the area, the less detailed it is. Also, some places in the pictures may be hidden due to cloud shadows.

Google Maps online

• switch to satellite mode- lower left corner;
• zoom in/out- lower right corner.

The company barely introduced new service, a wave of interest in satellite images has swept across the world.

The creation of websites began on which satellite images began to be freely available interesting places, unusual architectural landmarks, stadiums, man-made formations.

Since 2008, the US Weather Service began using Google Maps to prepare its forecasts.

It should be noted that not all images were taken from satellites - most of the images were obtained through aerial photography from a height of 300 meters.

Google Maps online maps make fairly extensive use of JavaScript. As the user moves around the map by dragging it, new areas are downloaded from the server and displayed on the page.

If the user is looking for specific objects, the search result is inserted into the sidebar, and the page itself does not require a reload. The location on the map is displayed dynamically via a red marker icon.

• In 2006 year the first version for mobile phones, and in 2007 a second version appeared. A service similar to GPS is used to determine the location of the phone.

• In 2008 year Google Maps could be used for Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian, BlackBerry, Java (from 2+), IOS (Apple), Palm OS (Centro+).

• In 2011 In 2018, the corporation announced that it provides mapping services to more than 150 million customers.

To allow owners of third-party sites to use Maps, Google announced in 2005 a free Maps API (Application Programming Interface) service.

The map can be placed on any website using this technology for interaction software. Today there are more than 350 thousand such sites around the world.