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Do you know any imagery where I can get satellite images of places for free?
I have a terrain editor which uses GIS data for visualizing heightmaps but I want to texture them with satellite image.
I hope some of you can provide some sources?
some source just for satellites - as I understood that you do not need vector data...
open source gis
free gis
Nasa satellite
umiacs
USGS Seamless with a caveat if you want to grab a whole bunch of data at once...
I'll give you one of the best "secrets" that I learned throughout the years after going through many different pains (leeching scripts, manual clicking, etc). It is an old-school trick... contact a real person there!
For example, the best way do get the NED elevation dataset is to contact USGS's Eros group directly at bulkdatainfo_at_usgs.gov
You send them an external drive and after 4 to 8 weeks (usually much less than that) they will send you the entire dataset that you requested.
Of course, you can always try to click away do grab data through their horrible Web UI.
Also, if all you are looking for is some coarse elevation or NASA marble imagery, the test datasets from Spatialite have imagery and elevation for the entire world :)
There is a whole blog dedicated to the subject which includes lots and lots of resources
Depends on the usage, you can use ESRI's map services: "ArcGIS Online standard map services are available at no cost for internal (personal or within an organization) and non-commercial, external use."
As other have mentioned there are online services that enable you to view sat. imagery all over the world, although downloading all the actual data might be tricky. USGS and ResMap are in this category.
THe USGS Seamless website provides free satellite and aerial imagery. The website is a bit dated (ok, very dated), but it's a good starting point.
Unfortunately, downloading a very large amount of data (such as a full city) is cumbersome.
Many satellite image providers have some example or old data for free, some have a lot, f.ex from Landsat you should be able to find something for most places. If you are not looking for a specific site there should be much to choose from, and you can find higher resolution imagery, e.g QuickBird images at DigitalGlobe.
Probably not all provide stuff for free, but if you Google the different sensors and check their website you should find out. Some other satellite sensors are NOAA, Aqua and Terra MODIS, Terra ASTER, SPOT, Seawifs, ERS, IKONOS.
Trawl the NASA web-sites, they publish a lot of this sort of stuff freely.
Related
I am interested if it is possible to add 3D models of buildings in Google Maps? Although Google (and community) have 3D mapped biggest cities, there a lot of cities that remain flat (2D), but have interesting landscape and tall buildings that stand out. For example, my hometown Rīga, Latvia.
As I searched this question, a lot of resources came up that states "nope, the community can no longer add 3D models - Google is now mapping everything with satellites".. but that info is 2-5 years old. And information in different forums is conflicting, so it is worth a shot for a new discussion.
There is even SE question with exactly the same question. Since more than 2.5 years have passed I feel that things might have changed, so please do not mark this as a duplicate to a super-old post. :)
Question - is this true?
Or (even today) it is possible to add 3D models to Google Maps? If yes, then please provide any guide/link/information how to do it.
Seems like it still is not possible.
Hello #Diezvai No, It isn't possible right now.
Several years ago when Sketchup was still for Google, we had this
ability to create 3D models and submit them for public visibility on
Google Earth as dear #ermest mentioned. Also in Map Maker we had some
basic tools to create simple 3D models of buildings but both retired
years ago. Even we missed the tool for creating flat polygons!
After that (and also simultaneously in labs) Google focused on smart
modeling the world. These days system gathers needed information and
images from many resources like satellite, aerial photography, photos
from users, street view photography and many others to generate 3D
models of buildings, trees and even cars! Also system doing same for
showing simple models of buildings on Google Maps.
So there is no tool for users to create 3D models and upload them to
Google Maps or Google Earth. Maybe currently smart 3D modeling aren't
available in somewhere (like Iran for example) but by improving
artificial intelligence and more data one day they will.
Source - https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Is-it-possible-to-upload-3D-models-to-Google-Maps/m-p/1802100/highlight/false#M495932
I'm currently developing a small webpage for a customer where i need a simple map with pins. It's really basic usage and the customer is going to hit the page maybe 50-100 times/month, what is a good service price-wise? I have tried contacting google, bing, and two local (swedish) providers, but the customer service is.. not good...
Your problem is that you say it's an "internal" project - I assume this means that it's not hosted on a publicly-accessible webpage?
For non-public sites, both Google and Bing require you to take out an enterprise licence agreement, which is normally prohibitively expensive for small businesses. (Licences are individually-negotitated, but think of the order of $10,000 per annum).
Alternatively, you could look at using the Leaflet JS map control (http://leaflet.cloudmade.com), displaying data from open street map (http://osm.org) - both of which are free and open source (and, in many cases, have higher quality data than either Bing or Google anyway)
ask about the new Bing Maps CRM licensing thats available, it may well meet your needs and be cost effective for you
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Part of what I want to offer subscribers to my application is a map showing the location of their customer, with the option to get directions (the idea is that they can just easily get the directions from one place instead of copying/pasting and going to Google Maps or Mapquest or whichever). As I understand it, however, Google Maps will require me to pay to use their API as my application is only visible to paid subscribers. I've contacted their Sales department to try and see just how much, but honestly any amount is too much since my startup is bootstrapped and I have little or no funds for anything.
This has got me looking at alternatives since I don't intend to pay to use a mapping API. Of the available maps, which one would you say is the most reliable as far as locations and directions? I'm considering Bing maps (formerly Live Maps) since it looks like I'm going to be using ASP.NET MVC as my platform of choice (Hey, I have a BizSpark membership for another two years - I might as well use it!) but I haven't checked their TOS to see if they have a similar proviso to Google Maps in that you need a special license if the map is only visible to paying customers.
EDIT: I guess what I'm asking is if there is any mapping service that won't charge an arm and a leg to use their mapping service on a paid, password-protected site? I was hoping to make the map integration a major feature of my product, but we're a startup so there's no money for expensive licenses for something like that.
You could use OpenLayers, Mapnik and OpenStreetMap to roll your own maps and direction-finding functionality, or you could talk to Cloudmade to help do this for you. Because the underlying map data is free, I think Cloudmade are much cheaper than Google, Yahoo and Bing for this sort of thing.
To do it on a password protected page with Google Maps API would require a Premier Licence. Each such licence is negotiable, but prices generally start at $10000 p.a.
One possibility to consider is throwing the directions request at maps.google.com in a new browser window or popup. Pass the start and end addresses in the &saddr and &daddr parameters. Or making your own public facing map page and opening that in a popup.
Oh, man. I just developed my own SaaS app and today came across the pricing from Google and Bing - after building in an asp.net framework and using Bing to get map (time/distance) data. Not even using any visual display/scrolling/zooming functionality.
It would be really nice if MSFT, Google, et al would provide SME pricing along with "enterprise" pricing - we are 2 different kinds of businesses. And I'm bootstrapped as well. Hope I am not scr3wed...
SpatialKey http://www.spatialkey.com provides a good solution for SaaS mapping and doesn't tie you into a single mapping provider. Their default is Mapquest but they provide Openstreet maps as well.
I'm very happy with Bing. My company has an enterprise license and it isn't cheap. BUT, they've just announced new licensing (http://www.microsoft.com/maps/resources/news.aspx).
"Free licensing for small Web sites. It’s now even easier to get started with Bing Maps—use is now free for public-facing, non-password protected Web sites with up to 125,000 user sessions per year.*"
So it may be within your reach :)
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Assuming you have been involved in an open source project (GPL'ed) that has been around for as long as 5-10 years, during this time it has been fairly successful - despite a good handful of commercial/proprietary alternatives.
Now, you've come to realize that the long term contributors would like to leverage the project commercially, possibly even in order to make a living or start a company based on it. So that they can exclusively work on it, without depending on other, unrelated, work.
So, what are some of the viable and recommended steps to turn an open source/GPL project into a commercial "success" (in the sense of self-sufficiency), so that long term contributors may preferably be paid to work on the project, without affecting the open source nature of the project itself?
In other words, what are generally some of the more common revenue-creating mechanisms for open source software, and how can these be successfully introduced/implemented - also, what prerequisites/conditions apply?
I saw a company a few years back that took a handful of OSS spam and virus filters, built a web interface to administer them all at once, put it on a 1U server, and sold it as a network security appliance.
It was a nice product for mid sized companies that wanted a single solution for all spam and virus filtering, that auto-updated itself and was easy to administer.
Technically they were just selling the server, and the web admin tool, all the OSS components were freely available, if you wanted to spend the time setting them all up individually.
You should think in terms of the "product halo," which refers to all of the related items and services surrounding a product that are not the product itself. For example, MySQL is open source and freely downloadable, but its product halo could include services like installation, customization, consulting, training, etc. Or Zend contributes heavily to PHP and offers Zend framework, but they also have a number of commercial products surrounding those offerings. Active State creates the Komodo IDE and has an open source version and then a commercial version that extends the open source version. Or take Linux...or any other number of examples. A book that you might find interesting on the topic is Wikinomics.
I think the main issue is the business model adopted by the project owners and the ones who want to turn it into revenue. It will depen on what kind of project is it, such as end-user product or as software API. In the case of end-user projects, Software as a Service seems a very good choice as a business model.
Look out for examples, and case studies on successful projects, such as apache, firefox, sugarCRM...
Focusing on specific niches is also a very important thing.
Simple question, the answer may not be...
I'm going to be developing a web app (ASP.NET MVC) for a client. They have asked me for an opinion on whether to use Google Maps or Virtual Earth for providing a mapping solution.
Which would you go for and why? Or are there others you can recommend?
What else do you need to know?
Street view (or equivalent) won't be
necessary in the near future, but
one day it might.
The client wants to identify certain
mappable features, and beyond that
find these features when within a
specified distance.
What else should I be considering at a high level? Or my client?
Thank you in advance.
One of your major considerations needs to be licensing if this is for a commercial web site. You'll have to contact both Google and Microsoft for exact details and pricing, but there's plenty on the web that indicates it could cost you $10k to implement these solutions in production. They get you hooked on the rapid and easy development though!
My preference is for Google Maps, it just feels a bit slicker but I have developed some pretty good prototypes with the Virtual Earth SDK before.
I don't know if Microsoft are planning an equivalent to the StreetView feature so if that is on the requirements cards in the future then stick with Google.
Either of the technologies will allow you to search for geographic features in various ways - whether via region, street address or specific latitude + longitude. They also allow you to overlay your own images or draw lines, polygons etc.
Google Maps seems to have a wider user base (even though Microsoft were technically doing this stuff before Google got into it!), so you're likely to find more help out on the intarweb when implementing your solution than for Microsoft.
More info on Google Maps for Enterprise is located here:
http://www.google.com/enterprise/maps/map_info.html
You should be asking the client for a reasonably comprehensive list of requirements for the mapping solution. You've mentioned one - these "mappable features". Are there any others?
Once you've got the list you can then see which one provides the best fit and go with that.
If Street View is definitely on the horizon then you have to go with Google - or is it something that's just come up in conversation?
Having said that, for a little bit more effort you could write an abstraction layer that sits between your application and the mapping solution so that if the one you didn't choose provides a better fit in the future it would be easier to make the change. Though this does go against the Agile methodology (YAGNI).