
Google Maps removes clouds, clears up view in 700-trillion pixel upgrade - Karuma
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/google-maps-removes-clouds-puts-ground-in-focus-in-700trillion-pixel-upgrade-20160628-gptnuh.html
======
benkuykendall
> To put that in perspective, 700 trillion pixels is 70 times more than there
> are estimated galaxies in the universe according to Google, or just seven
> Zimbabwean 100 trillion dollar notes.

...

How about this instead: a 700-trillion pixel world map, if displayed at the
401ppi of the iPhone 6 plus, would be 2.8km^2 and cover 4/5 of Central Park.

~~~
labster
To put that in perspective, the average journalist has to pass 1 maths class
in college, which is the number of stars in our solar system.

------
monksy
I think the most interesting part of this news is that they took an image
processing technique and applied it on this large of a scale. They're doing
background extraction on the entire set of satellite data.

An example can be found here:
[http://opencvpython.blogspot.com/2012/07/background-
extracti...](http://opencvpython.blogspot.com/2012/07/background-extraction-
using-running.html)

~~~
woodman
I would be extremely surprised if they were actually doing that, because a lot
of effort has already been put into doing it a better (and more interesting)
way: cloud detection and mosaicing. Landsat captures several spectral bands,
and due to atmospheric transmission rates, some bands can act as really good
cloud filters [0].

This is what they're actually using, or something very close to it, for clouds
[1].

[0]
[http://landsat.usgs.gov/ldcm_vs_previous.php](http://landsat.usgs.gov/ldcm_vs_previous.php)

[1] [https://github.com/USGS-EROS/espa-cloud-masking](https://github.com/USGS-
EROS/espa-cloud-masking)

------
cpeterso
When will the cloudless maps be live? Christmas Island still has (small)
clouds:

[https://www.google.com/maps/@-10.4886918,105.6396568,20430m/...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-10.4886918,105.6396568,20430m/data=!3m1!1e3)

~~~
perilunar
Was about to say the same. There are still clouds.

------
foota
Anyone else find the comparison if 700 trillion to "just seven Zimbabwean 100
trillion dollar notes" to be extremely strange?

~~~
MatthewWilkes
Yeah, it was a bit. I took it to be emphasising how although it's a huge
number by natural standards, humans do some silly things with numbers at times
so we get desensitised to their scale.

