1. Google Earth

Google Earth (GE) is a virtual earth software developed by Google. Google Earth comes from the original flagship software of Keyhole.

Keyhole is a satellite image company headquartered in Mountain View, California, USA. It was founded in 2001 and is engaged in digital map surveying and mapping. The Keyhole software it provides allows Internet users to browse geographic images taken by satellites and airplanes. One technology relies on a massive database of satellite image information in terabytes, and this is the predecessor of Google Earth.

On October 27, 2004, Google announced the acquisition of Keyhole, and launched the Google Earth series of software in June 2005. On the whole, Google Earth is not much different from the previous Keyhole (the image data and functions are the same, but the interface has been adjusted). However, unlike Keyhole’s operational thinking, Google defines the most basic version of Google Earth as Free software can be used freely for any time, and the corresponding Keyhole was only allowed to be tried for 7 days and there has always been a big "TRIAL MODE" watermark on the main interface of the trial page-at these two points, Google can indeed be seen The company's farsightedness.

It arranges satellite photos, aerial photography and GIS on a three-dimensional model of the earth.

Google Earth was launched globally in 2005 and was named one of the world’s 100 best new products in 2005 by PC World Magazine.

Users can browse high-definition satellite pictures from all over the world for free through a client software downloaded to their computers.

Google Earth is divided into a free version and a professional version. On November 30, 2016 (Beijing time), the Google Earth Timelapse function has just updated its data, allowing users to watch the surface changes from 1984 to 2016 through satellite images.

The image data on Google Earth should be the richest at present, and there may not be one. In Google Earth Pro, you can view historical data in different periods by dragging the time machine function.

Software download address: https://www.google.com/earth/

Google Earth Pro click on the icon to enter the historical image

Google Earth Pro historical image

2. Esri ArcGIS

Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI for short) was established in 1969 and is headquartered in Redlands, California, USA. It is the world's largest provider of geographic information system technology.

There are offices throughout the United States, branches or agents in major countries around the world, and the total number of employees worldwide exceeds 4,000. Its business partner program has more than 2,000 domain developers, consulting service providers, value-added agents and data providers around the world. Together with international agents distributed in 80 countries, it forms ESRI's strong technical support and service network.

Esri should be one of the manufacturers with the richest data resources in the GIS field. Relying on the large amount of data it has accumulated, it also provides this function, which has a historical impact from 2014 to 2020.

Online access address: https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/wayback/

Screenshot of Esri living atlas interface

Esri living atlas historical image comparison

3. United States Geological Survey (USGS)

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) was founded in 1879 and is mainly responsible for scientific research, monitoring, collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of natural disasters, geology, resources, geography, environment, and biological information. In a period of lack of data sharing in China, USGS provides you with a lot of usable data (even if it is still an important data source), and they launched the LandLook site, you can also view historical image data.

Online access address: https://landlook.usgs.gov/viewer.html

USGS LandLook historical imagery

(USGS) EarthExplorer website (USGS) EarthExplorer historical image

4. NASA Worldview

NASA's recent popularity may stem from Trump's $1.6 billion allocation for its moon landing program.

But in fact, the 3S circle has long been in contact with it. Apart from USGS, it should be the organization that has the greatest impact on the domestic GIS research and application field. Whether it is the many shared data resources or the open WorldWind three-dimensional platform, it has achieved success. Many manufacturers.

Currently on the Worldview platform, you can select the data to be viewed through the timeline and date selection buttons at the bottom.

Online access address: https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov

NASA WorldView homepage

NASA WorldView historical image interface

5. Planet Labs

Planet Labs was founded in 2010 by three former NASA engineers Will Marshall, Robbie Schingler, and Chris Boshuizen. It claims to have integrated data from more than 200 satellites and can select a date for data viewing and comparison.

Online access address: https://www.planet.com/stories/

Planet Labs website interface Planet Labs view the historical image interface of the website or software above, may be slow or inaccessible due to some force majeure factors, so I strongly recommend the following domestic software.

6. Map Downloader

Many domestic map downloaders can view historical images through the timeline, such as Shuijingzhu, LocaSpaceViewer, Bigemap, 91 Assistant, etc., which can view historical images for free. Almost all Google images are integrated, but some functional operations are more convenient than Google Earth Pro.