In a blog post Google Earth Engine Program Manager, Chris Herwig, wrote:
“We sifted through about three quadrillion pixels—that’s 3 followed by 15 zeroes—from more than 5,000,000 satellite images. For this latest update, we had access to more images from the past, thanks to the Landsat Global Archive Consolidation Program, and fresh images from two new satellites, Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2. We took the best of all those pixels to create 33 images of the entire planet, one for each year [1984–2016].”
Further Reading:
+ Our most detailed view of Earth across space and time, Google The Keyword
+ Google Earth’s Timelapse update illustrates 30 years of climate change, The Verge
+ Google Earth Engine Update Shows How Climate Change Has Morphed Our Planet, Popular Science
+ Moving sand in Landsat animations, Google Earth Blog
+ Google Earth now has global Landsat and Sentinel 2 data from 1985 to 2016, Google Earth Blog
+ Google’s new Timelapse satellite images show Earth in flux, CNET
Finding Your Name in Landsat
More than 715,000 visitors have transcribed their names and messages into Landsat letters using the “Your Name in Landsat” tool since it was unveiled in August as part of Camp Landsat 2024.