Checking Satellite Imagery Basics For A Location Claim
Launch library · evergreen read
Publicly available satellite imagery can confirm or challenge a claim about where something took place, checking carefully whether the visible terrain, buildings and layout shown in a photo genuinely match what appears from above at the claimed coordinates, once both versions are carefully compared side by side against one another.
This particular technique works best for distinctive, stable features, a building's shape, a road's overall layout, rather than anything that changes seasonally or frequently, since satellite imagery is not always especially recent and may reflect an earlier, considerably outdated state of a given location than what currently exists on the ground.
Combining this check with ground level imagery where it happens to be available gives a considerably fuller picture than either view could ever provide alone, since satellite imagery shows overall layout well but rarely captures the fine detail needed to confirm smaller, more specific claims made about a location.