How Does Google Maps Get Images?

Satellites Take Long-Range Top-Down Pictures

Google Maps has some impressive satellite images that provide realistic top-down images of any place on earth. These images are taken at various zoom rates from space, and then uploaded to Google's servers and implemented into the Maps service. You can view an entire country using the satellite images, or just your neighborhood.

Special Cars With Cameras take Street View Pictures

The street view pictures are the most detailed (and most controversial) and look like they were taken by a car driving down a highway. And this is no coincidence, as there are special cars that zoom down streets and neighborhoods taking pictures for the Google Maps street view. These cars are outfitted with a specialized 19-lens camera that takes continuous panoramic images. These specialized images are then uploaded to Google Maps and their special structure allows users to rotate the images and look around streets and intersections to get a complete view.

Images are Combined

Google Maps uses both satellite images and street view images to make Google maps as informative as possible. You can switch between satellite view and street view on Google Maps simply by dragging the little yellow man on the left side of the screen over a street in Satellite view. When you are finished, press the satellite button on the right side of the screen.

Resources

• Google Maps