You can see a large collection of imagery in Google Earth, including satellite, aerial, 3D, and Street View images. Images are collected over time from providers and platforms. Images aren’t in real time, so you won’t see live changes.
Although it is a common misconception that Google Earth images are real-time, they are not. There are, however, two ways to view nearly real-time satellite images on Google Earth. For three-hour old weather images, look for the Clouds layer, found under the new Weather layer folder.
There isn’t a way to see Google real time images. For this to be possible Google would need to have cameras permanently positioned (or from satellites) in all the places for which it wants to provide real time images. Then all that information will also need to be streamed continuously. Google does not do this.
How do I view satellite images on Google Earth?
There are, however, two ways to view nearly real-time satellite images on Google Earth. For three-hour old weather images, look for the Clouds layer, found under the new Weather layer folder. NASA also has a layer called Daily. Planet which shows the entire Earth, continuously updated in real-time at a medium resolution.
Is there a real-time map of the Earth?
Google recently purchased Skybox, a company creating satellites able to take high resolution pictures of the entire earth twice a day, according to CNBC. For the time being, the closest you can get to a real-time map of Earth is Landsat Live, which updates as NASA’s Landsat 8 satellite orbits the Earth.
Why can’t I see the collection date on Google Earth images?
The collection date information is lost or inaccurate due to human error or other issues. You can also explore Street View images in Google Earth. When viewing a Street View panorama, you can see the month and year a panorama was collected at the bottom of the screen. Google Earth does not display a collection date for 3D images.