Google Maps is Getting Old...

Kokkei Mizu · #1 Posted **Feb 1, 2011, 6:08 AM**

I was looking at the Satellite Imagery in Google Maps the other day, and noticed that it is quite old. There are no clues that the Renaissance ever existed.

http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear...81.252168&spn=0.003179,0.004823&t=h&z=18

Also, Google Street view is getting out-dated as well, as you can see the site for the second Renaissance Tower is untouched.

http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear...6tzuUWjLcU0NNkYX5Q&cbp=12,20.69,,0,-3.11

Anybody else know of any other areas in London that have dramatically changed since Google Maps updated their imagery. It would be fun to share some links.

Simpseatles · #2 Posted **Feb 1, 2011, 1:46 PM**

It's not from Google Maps, but the cities website has satelite images taken from April 2010. It clearly shows the first Renaissance, but work hasn't started on the second.

Just click on the Aerial photos option for 2010, on the left menu, and zoom in (there are also options to get rid of properties, street names, and other things that get in the way).
http://webmap.london.ca/mapclient/main.a...x?s=/Maps/default.htm&Provider=SVC&K10=0

It seems that they have satelite images of the city for every year since 1998, so it's interesting to see how things have progressed over the years. It's a great record.

manny_santos · #3 Posted **Feb 1, 2011, 4:18 PM**

London's satellite images are much more up-to-date than some areas. For example, the ones for Belleville are from 2002.

Whisper09 · #4 Posted **Feb 1, 2011, 5:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simpseatles

It's not from Google Maps, but the cities website has satelite images taken from April 2010. It clearly shows the first Renaissance, but work hasn't started on the second.

Just click on the Aerial photos option for 2010, on the left menu, and zoom in (there are also options to get rid of properties, street names, and other things that get in the way).
http://webmap.london.ca/mapclient/main.a...x?s=/Maps/default.htm&Provider=SVC&K10=0

It seems that they have satelite images of the city for every year since 1998, so it's interesting to see how things have progressed over the years. It's a great record.

Wow, thanks I never knew about that..... This is pretty much what I am going to look at all day.

MrSlippery519 · #5 Posted **Feb 1, 2011, 6:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whisper09

Wow, thanks I never knew about that..... This is pretty much what I am going to look at all day.

Ya they seem to update that at least yearly.

Simpseatles · #6 Posted **Feb 1, 2011, 6:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whisper09

Wow, thanks I never knew about that..... This is pretty much what I am going to look at all day.

No problem! When I found out about it I did the same thing!

K85 · #7 Posted **Feb 2, 2011, 12:06 AM**

The roundabout.

haljackey · #8 Posted **Feb 2, 2011, 12:51 AM**

Google likes to update their images every 4 years.

London's air photos for Google Earth and Maps were taken on May 2, 2006. I would assume we're due to an update sometime soon.

Bear in mind that London isn't as big as other cities, and thus might take a bit longer to update as it isn't as "urgent".

MolsonExport · #9 Posted **Feb 2, 2011, 2:38 AM**

^I truly hope that the next iteration of google maps shows the horrible Swastika gardens of Gainsborough is gone. Otherwise, I just might have to find some gasoline and a match...

Whisper09 · #10 Posted **Feb 2, 2011, 5:20 PM**

^
I got a hot air balloon, it might take a couple of days to get the winds right, but we shall bomb in from the air Luftwaffe style

K85 · #11 Posted **Feb 2, 2011, 8:22 PM**

^

As a Polish person, I approve those messages!

haljackey · #12 Posted **Jul 12, 2011, 4:19 AM**

Huh. Turns out Google does in fact have more recent data for London: August 2009 to be exact.

However, the imagery is very low quality and looks like the imagery taken in 2003. It's only useful for comparing what's been changed over time. The only decent quality imagery was taken in May 2006 and that remains the default imagery for London.

To access the 2009 data, Google Maps won't cut it, you'll need Google Earth for it. Zoom to London. At the bottom left you'll see a little clock next to the imagery Date (below the scale bar). Click the year text next to it (in this case 2006) and a scroll bar will appear on the top left. Drag it all the way to the right to see the 2009 imagery.

Hope some of you find this info useful! Still waiting on some high-quality 2011 shots.

MolsonExport · #13 Posted **Jul 12, 2011, 12:10 PM**

Any word if the Swastika is gone? I drive right past that home on Gainsborough at least twice per week, but I cannot make out anything at street level. Saw a Toyota parked in the driveway...surely no neonazi would have what they call JapCrap (RomperStomper)?

manny_santos · #14 Posted **Jul 12, 2011, 2:00 PM**

The maps layer of Google Maps also needs some updating, especially when it comes to the driving directions. If you set the driving directions to go westward from downtown, it will tell you to turn left from Stanley Street onto Wharncliffe Road, a movement that hasn't been allowed in over 25 years.

The interface also has a tendency to put as much of a route as possible over the former Highway 2 routing through London or on Highway 4 (Richmond Street). For example, east-west cross-town trips often get directed along York/Florence Street, even if taking Oxford is shorter and (in real life) faster. I've reported that issue to Google and they've acknowledged it, but nearly a year later it hasn't been fixed.

Speaking of map errors, for a period of time on Google Maps, there was a street in Arthur, Ontario that not only does not exist, but the Streetview crew actually drove on the supposed right-of-way and photographed it! Unfortunately the images were removed very recently, but it was a hoot when I had it sent to me initially.

Simpseatles · #15 Posted **Jul 12, 2011, 2:32 PM**

The best bet for up to date satelite pics is the cities website. They take pictures every year or two during spring, so I hope they release 2011 ones soon!

This is one thing that London does much better than the City of Toronto. I went on their website once, hoping to get a glimpse of what all that crazy construction looks like from above, but the most up to date year they had was 2005!

BIGGUY2891 · #16 Posted **Jul 12, 2011, 2:56 PM**

Google Maps certainly has it's bugs, but I can live with a little bit of incorrect data. At least they haven't lost London entirely from their map. I hear this has happened to Sunrise Florida at least 3 times now.

ForestryW · #17 Posted **Jul 12, 2011, 5:53 PM**

Streetview was out of date the minute they took the photos. Imagine how difficult it must be to keep 148,940,000 sq. km of land area up to date.

Snark · #18 Posted **Jul 12, 2011, 9:53 PM**

They aren't satellite imagery of the cities, they are aerial photography combined with photogrammetry. The satellite images are only used in rural areas that don't have aerial imagery available. To see the difference, compare the London/Middlesex/Oxford/Waterloo imagery resolution of 10cm. to to say the town of Brussles in Huron county, where the resolution is a metre.

Most aerial imagery of the cities is paid for and owned by the municipality. Google get it from the cities, but the process can be drawn out and contractual. After all, Google is making serious money from its Commercial Earth GIS service. GIS is very, very big business.

koolgiy · #19 Posted **Jul 14, 2011, 3:07 AM**

First Base Solutions to be exact

manny_santos · #20 Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 2:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snark

Most aerial imagery of the cities is paid for and owned by the municipality. Google get it from the cities, but the process can be drawn out and contractual. After all, Google is making serious money from its Commercial Earth GIS service. GIS is very, very big business.

Is some of it still also done by the provincial or federal government? A lot of the historical aerial imagery of London and Southern Ontario available at Western's Map Library was conducted by higher levels of government, such as the Ministry of Natural Resources.