Visualized: an Earth-year through stunning NASA imagery (video)

Visualized the year that was on Earth through stunning NASA imagery

Our planet had kind of a rough year in 2012, but thanks to its array of satellites and a certain floating lab, NASA documented every divine and terrifying moment from afar. On top of the usual beauty shots and time-lapses rendered by the ISS and true-color satellites, NASA also showed some spectacular data and modeling visualizations of atmospheric movement, storms and ocean salinity. That helps even the densest of us understand how hurricanes form, gulf streams flow and arctic ice breaks off and drifts seaward. But enough talk -- if a picture equals a thousand words, there are three million of them in the two minute video, after the break.

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Via: Gizmodo

Source: NASA

Bing Maps revamped with ocean topography, updated satellite imagery

Bing Maps revamped with ocean topography, updated satellite imagery

Ballmer an Co. have loaded up Bing Maps with yet another batch of images, and though they're staying quiet about the update's file size this time, they say it includes 13,799,276 square kilometers of fresh high-res satellite shots and a better view of the ocean floor. Brand-new "straight down" photos give the base map a resolution of 15 meters per pixel, and the introduction of bathymetric imagery changes the ocean's hue depending on its depth. The refresh even contains fewer clouds, giving users a less obstructed view of Earth. Thanks to additional aerial photos covering 203,271 square kilometers, Microsoft's map service now covers the entirety of the US and 90 percent of Western Europe with pictures taken from aircraft. Armchair cartographers ready to explore the world remotely can find the revamped visuals already baked into Bing Maps online and within the service's Windows 8 app.

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Bing Maps Blog

Bing Maps gets another 165TB of satellite images, Google Earth seen sulking in a corner

Bing maps gets another 165TB of satellite images, knocking on Google Earth's door louder than ever

Thought that Google had cornered the market on free, overhead-view photo mapping solutions? You clearly don't reside in Redmond, because Bing Maps' aerial image library just got another 165TB worth of hi-res data that covers an additional 38 million square kilometers of the globe. To put that in perspective, Microsoft's mapping solution previously had but 129TB worth of such eye-in-the-sky imagery, so this new batch of satellite shots more than doubles your viewing pleasure. Go ahead, check out all the new visuals at the source link below, we promise not to tell the folks in Mountain View.

Bing Maps gets another 165TB of satellite images, Google Earth seen sulking in a corner originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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