It did so by analyzing a large number of images, similar to how it produced this global time-lapse image of the earth. This was still the best imagery available at the time, though, which forced Google to come up with a means of removing those gaps from Google Earth. However, the images Landsat 7 captured after 2003 were affected by a hardware failure that resulted in diagonal gaps of missing data. When Google first unveiled its techniques for eliminating from Google Earth images striped artifacts, clouds and other atmospheric effects, it was using imagery from Landsat 7.

Geological Survey’s (USGS) Landsat 8 satellite.

Today, the company has repeated the process, but this time with newer, crisper imagery from NASA and the U.S. All rights reserved.Several years ago, Google engineers figured out a way to stitch together satellite imagery to remove clouds, giving Google Earth and Google Maps users a better and more comprehensive view of the ground below. Labels and map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Tropical storm tracks are created using the latest data from NHC, JTWC, NRL and IBTrACS. Weather forecast maps show precipitation, wind, temperature and more using the latest global model data from DWD ICON and NOAA-NWS GFS. Coverage is limited and may show glitches/anomalies. Radar maps show rain and snow detected in real-time. Heat sources show areas of high temperature using the latest data from FIRMS. HD satellite images are updated twice a day from NASA polar-orbiting satellites Aqua and Terra, using services from GIBS, part of EOSDIS. EUMETSAT Meteosat images are updated every 15 minutes. Live satellite images are updated every 10 minutes from NOAA GOES and JMA Himawari geostationary satellites. View LIVE satellite images, rain radar, forecast maps of wind, temperature for your location.

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