Satellite map images with missing or unclear data

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article's specific listing of images needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications.
Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources, or discuss the issue on the talk page.
This article has been tagged since April 2007.

Some locations on free, publicly-viewable satellite map services, including Google Maps, have missing, incomplete, or unclear map data. In some cases, these regions have been intentionally digitally obscured or blurred.[1]

In some cases, censorship of certain sites has been removed. When Google Maps was launched, images of the White House and United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. were blurred out; current versions of Google Maps and Google Earth show these sites uncensored, but with out-of-date imagery.[2]

Images of Area 51 have been known to have been removed by TerraServer-USA.

Contents

[edit] Countries in official contact with Google Maps

During talks with the Indian government, Google issued a statement saying "Google has been talking and will continue to talk to the Indian government about any security concerns it may have regarding Google Earth."[3]

The Australian government has decided that images of sensitive areas are not a risk, due to poor level of detail.[4] It was reported that in the lead-up to the APEC forum in Sydney held in September 2007 certain key locations in images of the city's central business district, where APEC leaders were meeting, might have been intentionally reduced in resolution; however, Google has indicated that the change was unrelated to APEC, while the NSW police said that they knew nothing about the change in Google's images.[5] As of December 2007, much of inner Sydney still remains blurred.

The Malaysian Government has stated that it will not ask Google to censor sensitive areas because that would identify the locations it deemed to be sensitive.[6]

[edit] List of map locations with missing or unclear data

[edit] Middle East

[edit] Iraq

Coordinates Object Comment Link
30°34′2″N, 47°46′6″E Shatt al Arab Hotel, Basra [7] Possibly censored due to security risks after Coalition Forces seized insurgent documents which used maps to plan attacks.[8] No longer censored. [1]

[edit] South Asia

Tibet/Xinjiang Province (full) Northern areas of Pakistan (areas include Mansehra (full), Abbottabad (partial), Balakot (full))

[edit] Europe

[edit] France

Ile du Ramier, Toulouse Link[2], where is located the National Organization for Powder and Explosives (preparation of Phosgene for the aerospace industry and other form of explosive gas including Sulfur Mustard).

[edit] Germany

Coordinates Object Comment Link
50°57′38″N, 6°2′32″E NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen [3]
49°26′28″N, 7°35′32″E Ramstein Air Base [4]

[edit] The Netherlands

Coordinates Object Comment Link
51°26′54.21″N, 03°36′17.60″E Vlissingen, Oil tanks [5]
51°27′6.63″N, 05°22′48.14″E Eindhoven Airport Air Force Base [6]
51°33′06.45″N, 04°56′5.56″E Gilze-Rijen Air Base [7]
52°05′35.97″N, 04°20′39.05″E Huis ten Bosch residence of the Dutch Royal Family [8]
52°05′41.95″N, 05°8′21.38″E centre of Utrecht Apparent mistake - [9] [10]
52°06′35.68″N, 04°19′35.75″E Nato C3 Agency [11]
52°07′25.94″N, 05°21′30.12″E Soestdijk Palace residence of the Dutch Royal Family [12]
52°07′85.89″N, 04°31′59.85″E Department of Defense [13]
52°08′01.89″N, 05°16′23.45″E Kamp Zeist (Lockerbie Trials) + Soesterberg Air Force Base [14]
52°04′51.30″N, 04°20′12.98″E New American embassy location, under construction [15]
52°08′16.98″N, 04°30′46.29″E Paleis Noordeinde and Royal Stables Work palace of the Dutch Queen [16]
52°14′55.40″N, 04°26′22.74″E part of Noordwijk aan Zee [17]
52°22′28.06″N, 04°55′2.06″E Amsterdam, Royal Netherlands Navy base [18]
52°23′31.28″N, 05°54′48.83″E 't Harde (1), Army exercise area [19]
52°24′20.49″N, 05°53′59.54″E 't Harde (2), Army exercise area [20]
52°57′26.37″N, 04°47′26.30″E Den Helder, Naval installations [21]
53°13′23.52″N, 05°45′17.50″E Leeuwarden Air Force Base [22]
52°16′29.38″N, 06°53′38.11″E Twente Air Force Base [23]

[edit] Spain

Coordinates Object Comment Link
41°21′47″N 2°09′52″E / 41.363072638666786, 2.164306640625 (Castell de Montjuïc) Castell de Montjuïc No longer censored. [24]

[edit] Russia

Coordinates Object Comment Link
66°16′0″N, 179°15′0″E area near town Egvekinot, Russia also appears to have been modified on www.mcfly.org. maps.live.com displays a duplicate spliced image of an area to the southeast. [25]

[edit] North America

[edit] United States

Coordinates Object Comment Link
37°58′47.19″N, 84°25′7.97″W Home of William Hurt[citation needed] Visible on maps.live.com [26]
38°55′16.64″N, 77°04′01″W Naval Observatory/Residence of Vice President Dick Cheney Visible on maps.yahoo.com [27]
39°29′50.31″N, 74°22′36.63″W Section of Great Bay, near New Jersey. Visible on maps.live.com and Map24 - Visible on Google Earth as of February 2008. [28]
40°52′4.20″N, 72°52′25.28″W Brookhaven National Laboratory - Upton, New York [29]
40°54′58.42″N, 73°07′24.98″W Stony Brook University Visible on maps.live.com on both aerial and bird's eye view with high resolution, also visible on Google Earth. [30]
41°01′58.78″N, 73°46′25.74″W White Plains train station [31]
41°04′06.76″N, 73°42′14.14″W Westchester County Airport, White Plains, New York [32]
41°10′43.30″N, 72°12′23.99″W Plum Island Animal Disease Center Visible on Google Earth as of February 2008. [33]
40°57′39.86″N, 72°51′52.83″W Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, Wading River, New York Decommissioned [34]
41°16′11.08″N, 73°57′08.40″W Indian Point Energy Center, Westchester, New York [35]
41°21′22.48″N, 74°03′13.63″W United States Military Academy Camp Buckner Summer Installation [36]
41°21′22.48″N, 74°03′13.63″W New York State DOCS Downstate Correctional Facility [37]
41°21′22.48″N, 74°03′13.63″W New York State DOCS Beacon/Fishkill Correctional Facility [38]
41°45′08.33″N, 70°32′16.49″W Cape Cod AFS - PAVE PAWS Radar, Massachusetts [39]
41°56′39.53″N, 70°34′40.09″W Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station, Plymouth, Massachusetts [40]
41°67′84.89″N, 88°49′98.51″W Menards distribution facility, Plano, Illinois No longer censored [41]
42°23′09.97″N, 71°02′37.60″W Liquid Natural Gas Terminal, Chelsea, Massachusetts [42]
42°23′24.69″N, 71°03′34.84″W Chelsea, Massachusetts - Large portion of an industrial port area in Boston. [43]
42°27′34.56″N, 71°16′01.63″W MIT Lincoln Laboratory [44]
42°27′47.18″N, 71°16′58.87″W Hanscom Field and Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts [45]
42°31′35.71″N, 70°52′35.86″W Salem Harbor Power Station [46]
42°49′29.24″N, 73°52′11.88″W Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory and General Electric World Research Laboratories, Schenectady, New York [47]
42°53′54.07″N, 70°51′08.14″W Seabrook Nuclear Power Station - Seabrook, New Hampshire [48]
43°06′49.45″N, 76°06′41.05″W Syracuse Hancock International Airport - Syracuse, New York [49]
34°47′38.52″N, 82°53′44.69″W Oconee Nuclear Station Oconee County, South Carolina [50]
University of Massachusetts Lowell Nuclear Research Reactor [51]
43°08′32″N, 79°02′21″W Hydro-electric dams and supporting waterways near Niagara Falls, NY and Niagara Falls, ON CA. [52]
Central/Eastern village of Yona on the Pacific Island Territory of Guam, "Where America's Day Begins". [53]
MasterCard Corporate Offices/Manhattanville College, Dammann and Tenney Dormitories - Purchase, NY [54]
35°35′53.2″N, 80°58′1.08″W Marshall Steam Station, Terrell, North Carolina Visible on maps.yahoo.com, probably mistakenly blurred for nearby McGuire Nuclear Generating Station [55]
Greater Rochester International Airport - Rochester, New York [56]
General Electric Main Plant - Schenectady, NY [57]
40°55′37.08″N, 73°51′14.38″W Cross County Mall - Yonkers, NY Visible on maps.yahoo.com, maps.live.com, and map24.com. The mall, neighborhood and streets have been watercolored in GoogleMaps. [58]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Google Earth agrees to blur pix of key Indian sites
  2. ^ Google's View of D.C. Melds New and Sharp, Old and Fuzzy. Washington Post (2007-07-22).
  3. ^ Google Earth prompts Indian fears
  4. ^ Lucas Heights image stays on Google
  5. ^ Moses, Asher (August 13, 2007), “Google's photos of Sydney go all fuzzy”, Sydney Morning Herald, <http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/aerial-images-of-cbd-fuzzed-out-before-apec/2007/08/13/1186857396182.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1>. Retrieved on 13 August 2007 
  6. ^ Parliament In Brief: ‘No need to blur images’
  7. ^ Did Google censor Basra imagery?
  8. ^ Terrorists 'use Google maps to hit UK troops

[edit] External links