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Google Earth Timelapse now lets you explore the planet from 1984 through 2022, after Google added imagery from 2021 and 2022 in an update announced on April 4, 2023. The global, zoomable visualization is designed to show visible change over time—not to establish the exact date or cause of every change.
What changed in the update
The update extended Earth Timelapse’s existing time series by two years; it did not introduce the feature. Google describes the result as a 4D interactive map made from millions of satellite photos. Open the Google Earth visualization to explore a place, or browse Google’s Timelapse video library.
Google’s announcement describes that library as containing more than 800 videos covering more than 300 locations. Examples include irrigation patterns in Egypt, shifting rivers near Pucallpa in Peru, and volcanic activity, logging, and wildfires in California’s Lassen National Forest. The imagery can make patterns visible, but by itself does not establish why a landscape changed.
How to explore a place over time
- Open Google Earth and search for a location you want to inspect.
- Find Timelapse in Google Earth’s Voyager storytelling platform, or open the Timelapse video library to browse prepared examples.
- Use the time controls to move through the available annual imagery and compare the same area across years. Google’s stated span for the update is 1984–2022.
- Read the result as a visual overview. If you need a precise event date, cause, or measurement, corroborate it with other evidence rather than inferring it from the animation alone.
What the imagery shows—and how it is made
Google Earth Engine documentation says the annual mosaics combine spaceborne observations from NASA and USGS Landsat missions with imagery from the European Union’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 constellation. The mosaics act as visual basemaps for the public viewer.
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The imagery’s documented spatial resolution changes over the series:
| Period | Documented resolution | What to bear in mind |
|---|---|---|
| 1984–2014 | 30 meters per pixel | Earlier imagery is less spatially detailed than the later period. |
| 2015 onward | Approximately 19.11 meters per pixel | Sentinel-2 data was added alongside Landsat, changing the resolution era. |
That difference matters when comparing apparent detail between early and later frames: a feature that looks clearer after 2015 may reflect the change in image resolution as well as a real landscape change.
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Limits of the time series
Google presents the mosaics as suitable for visual interpretation, educational storytelling, base mapping, and custom video exports. They are not, on their own, a calibrated measurement record for proving a precise date, cause, or amount of change.
- Historical gaps: Google says missing observations before 1999 are interpolated. Where data is missing and land use changes suddenly, the interpolation may make a transition look gradual.
- Visual consistency: Radiometric values are altered to make the imagery look consistent. That supports viewing, but cautions against treating displayed colors or brightness as direct quantitative measurements.
- Resolution shift: The 30-meter-per-pixel imagery through 2014 and approximately 19.11-meter imagery from 2015 onward do not offer identical spatial detail.
For analysis that depends on event timing, causes, or numerical estimates, consult the underlying imagery and suitable supporting data rather than relying on the Timelapse visualization alone.
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Google’s reported scale for the original build
In its 2021 account of the original 1984–2020 build—not the 2023 addition—Google reported using more than 24 million satellite images and compiling 20 petabytes of imagery. It said processing took more than two million hours and produced a 4.4-terapixel video mosaic. These are figures reported by Google for that earlier build, not independent measurements or processing totals for the later update.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Reusing Earth Timelapse material
Google’s Earth Engine documentation lists a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License for the dataset and requests this attribution: “Google Earth Timelapse (Google, Landsat, Copernicus).” Check the documentation for the applicable terms before reusing the material.
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