Wednesday, November 19, 2008
India Hopes Bhuvan Satellite Project Can Eclipse Google Earth
India is ready to roll out its answer to Google Earth. ISRO, (Indian Space Research Organization) , which is based in Bangalore, is launching project Bhuvan.
Bhuvan will combine the powers of its satellite fleet to provide a high-resolution zoom of India with a zoom capable of focusing on a target as small as 10 metres wide, compared to the current zoom limit of 200 metres on Google Earth. The project will start with India,with the intent to spread to the rest of the world, and it will be accessible online at no cost. The news comes only days after India's moon probe, the Chandrayaan-1, reached the lunar surface.
The application will be ready by the end of November and the application should be uploaded by March. The state-sponsored venture will assist Indian civil service to help with infrastructure and agricultural data for urban planning, traffic management and water and crop monitoring.
ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said:
This will not be a mere browser, but the mechanism for providing satellite images and thematic maps for developmental planning.
In the battle for attracting users,India's project already faces an uphill battle against Google,but Nielsen web analyst Alex Burmaster told the timesonline.uk that Bhuvan's entrance into the space race should prove to be a great benefit for users.
Burmaster,said:
The amount of time that people spend online is reaching a plateau and websites are battling furiously for attention. Anything that relates to where a person is, saves a user time, and makes the web more relevant - especially geographically - is big news.
The timesonline article included a few key points about ISRo that caught my attention:
ISRO intends to refresh its images every year — a feature that would give it an edge over its biggest rival and help keep track of the frenetic pace at which Indian cities are growing.
The current images used by Google Earth, is now four years old and has been downloaded some 400 million times.
India's attempt to compete with Google's service should come as no surprise, especially when you consider these figures:
- In 2006, India had 3.1 million college graduates, (compared to 1.3 million in the US)
- 100% of India's 2006 class spoke English by the time they graduated.
One key factor in Google's favor: the GeoEye 1 , the new satellite image provider for Google Earth and Google Maps. The $500 million-dollar satellite, which is primarily used for the U.S. government, can zero-in on images as small as 16 inches and the first images for use should arrive around January 09.
Posted By Matt O'Hern at 11:31 AM
Permanent Link: India Hopes Bhuvan Satellite Project Can Eclipse Google Earth
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