Aerial View of My House

If you are like me when I went to Google looking for an aerial view of my house, I came across several sites that were not much help. Fortunately, there are several

websites and programs like Google Earth where you can get a bird’s eye view of your house. I downloaded free software known as Google Earth which allows for you to zoom-in on any location in the world and get a satellite image. These images are not live probably due to security and privacy reason, but they are pretty recent.  You will be able to tell how recent the satellite images are by looking at the trees in your neighborhood to figure out what season it is, or if certain renovations you have done recently show up on the image. For example, we just put in a pool at our house and when I found a satellite image of an aerial view of my house, the image showed the pool being built. You will find some neighborhoods (perhaps yours) where the satellite imagery is not a very high resolution, but you still have other options.

Google Maps is the online version of Google Earth that can be accessed through your web browser instead of a software program. The other main difference between Google Maps and Google Earth is that Google Maps doesn’t have as many maps of other countries.  Google Maps allows you to do directions and it also shows POIs like nearby restaurants or hotels which is a great feature while traveling.  Google Maps does have satellite images and I use it all the time to see aerial views of my house.  If you have a mobile phone, there are phone applications for both Google Maps and Google Earth that you can download on your phone. This works great if you want to see an aerial satellite image map of your location while traveling.

Yahoo! Maps is a direct competitor to Google Maps and has similar features.  I was able to see an aerial view of my house by using Yahoo! Maps.  Basically, Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps are the same, but you might want to check both to see which has the best quality and highest resolution satellite image of your house.  Bing, like Yahoo and Google, also has a satellite imagery feature which is relatively new to the market.  There are several others like OpenStreetMap, Nasa World Wind, and Flash Earth, but Google and Yahoo have by far the most popular tools to see aerial maps of your house.

When I saw an aerial view of my house, I was disappointed with the image quality. Fortunately, if you are serious about seeing a satellite image of your house, you can buy these images.  Mapmart will send you a high quality photo of your house from their database for a price. If they don’t have the picture readily available, they will order it for you. So if you are disappointed with the image quality, you do have other options.  Overall, I still think Google Earth and Google Maps are the best ways to see satellite images of your house as they are updated constantly and provide other information like directions and points of interest.

If you are looking for a “space view of my house”, you have several options which will depend on what city and state that you live in. Bing, Google, and Yahoo all provide

satellite images on their maps websites, but you might have to check all three to see which has the best quality and the latest images; however, these free services often pull satellite images from the same database so you will just have to check and see for yourself.  On these websites, all you have to do is put in your address and you will likely see a map view of your neighborhood centered on your house.  All you will need to do is check the satellite view option to switch the map to a satellite image of the same area.

As the technology improves, the imagery is becoming higher resolution and more frequently updated. Likely in the future you will be able to get a live space view of your house, and literally be able to walk outside on a clear day and see yourself from space.

Google Earth is a standalone program that you can download that has more features than any of the online maps. This is probably the program you want if you are looking for a “space view of my house” because it allows for you to zoom in on Earth from space.  Google Earth also has other features like the ability to see buildings in 3D, and view under the ocean.  If your mobile device supports applications, there is a Google Earth mobile application that is handy while traveling. Having Google Earth on your phone gives you instant access to directions and points of interest along your route. It is also useful for traffic situations where you want to gauge how long it will take you to navigate to the next rest stop, gas station, or intersection.

Google Earth pulls satellite imagery from many different companies that have access to satellites capable of photographing your house. Recently Google launched their own satellite so they would have more control of the images. Their satellite also provides very high resolution imagery compared to the older satellites.

There is also a lot of macro space photography that is generally close enough to make out cities and houses, but in very little detail. Crews aboard the international space station spent time photographing each major city and night to produce beautiful pictures of civilization and city layouts. This nature of photography is more of an art and less of a practical.