Microsoft sharpens sky-high view for map users
Seattle PI | at | by Mike
Low-lying Cessna 172s fly in grid patterns over major cities, capturing eagle-eye images of every square foot from just about every direction.
Instead of just the straight-down views that satellites gather, the planes photograph America's varied landscape at a 40-degree angle from a few thousand feet in the air. The images are detailed enough to pick out fire hydrants in Chicago, lilac trees in Rochester and the levees of New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina.
The small company behind all this, Pictometry International, has found plenty of business, notably in the realm of public safety.