# Why is the Google Earth view of Ireland so poor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630 "2011-04-08T04:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/1 "2011-04-08T04:34:23Z")
I’ve been looking at Ireland in Google Earth and am awestruck by how horrible the satellite photos of the country are. Everything is a totally blurry, fuzzy, indistinct maze of farmlands and dirt trails. I don’t understand why this is the case. Is Ireland not a first world country that has satellite photo agencies and other geo-mapping services? Or you would at least think that someone else in Europe would want to have clear satellite maps of Ireland available. Why? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/2 "2011-04-08T04:49:13Z")
Really depends on what part you are looking at. You can see that some of it is real old stuff and other places it is really good… Lot of parts of this country are 3 X as good as where I live. Depends on how old it is. The majority of Ireland is pretty good. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![MrBerious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MrBerious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrBerious)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/3 "2011-04-08T09:08:45Z")
A little while back Google completed street view over all of Ireland. So much lovely countryside. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_of_Lucan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/4 "2011-04-08T09:22:11Z")
It’s strange how poor it’s been, since the European HQ of Google is in Dublin. They have been quick to implement other localised functions like including Irish on Google Translate. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/5 "2011-04-08T09:30:00Z")
The high level views on Google Earth are satellite images, put as you zoom in more it switches to ariel photographs. The quality varies quite a lot. Can you post some examples of what you consider to be poor quality pics please? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/6 "2011-04-08T09:37:06Z")
Around Dublin it seems fine but much of Northern Ireland is really low quality on [google maps](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=tyrone,+ireland&aq=&sll=53.464854,-6.256199&sspn=0.014895,0.045447&ie=UTF8&hq=tyrone,+ireland&hnear=&radius=15000&ll=54.59355,-7.412682&spn=0.055496,0.181789&t=h&z=13). ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/7 "2011-04-09T10:04:29Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Around Dublin it seems fine but much of Northern Ireland is really low quality on [google maps](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=tyrone,+ireland&aq=&sll=53.464854,-6.256199&sspn=0.014895,0.045447&ie=UTF8&hq=tyrone,+ireland&hnear=&radius=15000&ll=54.59355,-7.412682&spn=0.055496,0.181789&t=h&z=13). Good example, I see what you mean. The western half is a low resolution satellite image. The eastern half is composed of ariel photographs. If you zoom out a bit, you can see the path the plane must have taken. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/8 "2011-04-09T10:14:51Z")
Vaguely related, anyone know what “IDRONE EAST BY” means? There are a few villages labelled with this on Google Maps in brackets, and a [a list on this Waterford archeology site](http://n9-n10kilcullen-waterford.ie/constraints-report/north/appendix-c-carlow-section3.htm), but no explanation what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/9 "2011-04-09T10:48:24Z")
The Barony of Idrone East. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-google-earth-view-of-ireland-so-poor/577630/10 "2011-04-09T11:09:21Z")
Why thank you sir.