Google maps censoring bush areas

[David]

I worked out the areas I suspect as habitat and started finding out as much as I could about them...

I often use Google maps for sussing an area out before I go out and this particular place turned up a strange thing. http://g.co/maps/dprtp It's as if the area has been deliberately obscured by google with what is a pretty lousy cut-and-paste job. Now before anyone recommends a tin foil hat hat rack for my birthday I googled why this might be so and got this explanation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_ ... clear_data So if a local authority requests an area to be obscured, for security or what not, why has the ACT government obscured this part of the National Park? What can be seen from space that they don't want seen?

Which brings me to my question. Does anyone know if this would be the case or is there a normal explanation for this anomaly? I'd rather not be poking around somewhere I shouldn't or have they already discovered the Yowie and this is a protected habitat. Seriously though and paranoia aside its a pretty wild terrain and it seems strange.

[NoPolys]

Austra;

Most of the redacted portions I have seen on Google Earth are either blurred to oblivion or made a grey color. This looks to me like the quadrant is a stiched composite view that uses two different satellite sources taken at two different times. The white stuff looks to me like cloud formations.

If this was done purposefully or or not, is a question I'll leave to folks who are more familiar with the area and smarter.

It would not surprise me if an "older image" was used to cover newer image information. This is used often to disguise updated features.

If you go to the area and see recent road improvements and large fences, disregard all of the above !!

Cheers

NoPolys

[Rusty2]

Hey there AustralopithecineOz !

It's a conspiracy , . Maybe it is , maybe it's not . Anyway I'm having the same problem . I cannot download or even see the area I'd like to . It's very rugged and maybe done so to deter looky loo's . Dunno .

Rusty2...............

[David]

Austra;

Most of the redacted portions I have seen on Google Earth are either blurred to oblivion or made a grey color. This looks to me like the quadrant is a stiched composite view that uses two different satellite sources taken at two different times. The white stuff looks to me like cloud formations.

If this was done purposefully or or not, is a question I'll leave to folks who are more familiar with the area and smarter.

It would not surprise me if an "older image" was used to cover newer image information. This is used often to disguise updated features.

If you go to the area and see recent road improvements and large fences, disregard all of the above !!

Cheers

NoPolys

Exactly! Was the cloud image used instead of blurring/grey to further hide the censorship? It i the capital territory... I'll let you know if I run into the entrance of any underground missile silos when I visit. I'm really not all that worried I just thought it was strange and at the end of the day I'm taking a stroll anyway and Google can't censor a 1:50000 map eh? Dave...

[David]

Hey there AustralopithecineOz !

It's a conspiracy , . Maybe it is , maybe it's not . Anyway I'm having the same problem . I cannot download or even see the area I'd like to . It's very rugged and maybe done so to deter looky loo's . Dunno .

Rusty2...............

Your photo is much more blatant in censorship Rusty. It makes me wonder. I've found other area's in the past in Bondo state forest like yours which really made me wonder as a lot of it is pine plantation. Anyway I think it is to deter people looking, but what from? I could add to the conspiracy by noting these areas are being looked at for Yowie activity. But that would just be silly perhaps..... Dave

[ken]

g,day people i am a newbie to this site but have observed site for years. noted your google map prob in canberra national park and my memory jogged. may be you were blocked form noticing 1 or maybe both of the homes that have been built in the park for a couple of very powerful yanks. if u intend to go searching and if ive got it right you had best keep an eye out for ground motion sensors. etc. ken

[David]

g,day people i am a newbie to this site but have observed site for years. noted your google map prob in canberra national park and my memory jogged. may be you were blocked form noticing 1 or maybe both of the homes that have been built in the park for a couple of very powerful yanks. if u intend to go searching and if ive got it right you had best keep an eye out for ground motion sensors. etc. ken

The conspiracy grows... Thanks for the warning Ken.

[sceneshifter]

Hi, just joined this group recently myself, - the area you have that's blotted out is the old Orroral Tracking Station site. More than likely it was obscured because of the Anti- Terrorist campaign that was kick-started a number of years back. The area is reasonably isolated, so the response time from Canberra is substantial.
Have to agree- the cut and paste is fairly average, however it would cost mega-bucks to redirect a satellite to re-shoot those grid-squares.
I grew up down there and have been to some out of the way areas in the Brindabellas and Snowys, right down to the South coast mountain areas and in between.

Cheers,
Anthony

[David]

Hi, just joined this group recently myself, - the area you have that's blotted out is the old Orroral Tracking Station site. More than likely it was obscured because of the Anti- Terrorist campaign that was kick-started a number of years back. The area is reasonably isolated, so the response time from Canberra is substantial.
Have to agree- the cut and paste is fairly average, however it would cost mega-bucks to redirect a satellite to re-shoot those grid-squares.
I grew up down there and have been to some out of the way areas in the Brindabellas and Snowys, right down to the South coast mountain areas and in between.

Cheers,
Anthony

Yes I had thought of the tracking station but this area seemed to be slightly away from that area, just bush, or so I thought. I still find the situation interesting but then they haven't updated the maps in a while. Everything was still in drought when the images were taken if you look at rural areas with no vegetation. Anyway still interesting I think. Cheers Dave

[andrew]

I wouldn't be concerned about conspiracy theories about the quality of the images on Google Earth. I am sure Google Earth does not put a lot of expense into areas that have "nothing" of great interest except bush. They do have to pay for the satelite images so why pay for high res ones that will be of limited commercial use. A picture of cloud is just that, cloud. The populated areas are updated more regularly but I can appreciate that there would be little incentive to pay more than necessary to upgrade unpopulated ones. It is just a nuisance that "we" cannot get good closeups of bush areas we are interested in. You can get higher res, closer pictures but it costs. From memory you can get a free limited trail but it has been a while and I could be wrong.

You can buy ordinace maps with the contours etc on one side and satelite pictures on the other and these cover a lot of Australia. All the ones I have of Namadgi and the larger surrounds have no redacted areas.

[David]

I wouldn't be concerned about conspiracy theories about the quality of the images on Google Earth. I am sure Google Earth does not put a lot of expense into areas that have "nothing" of great interest except bush. They do have to pay for the satelite images so why pay for high res ones that will be of limited commercial use. A picture of cloud is just that, cloud. The populated areas are updated more regularly but I can appreciate that there would be little incentive to pay more than necessary to upgrade unpopulated ones. It is just a nuisance that "we" cannot get good closeups of bush areas we are interested in. You can get higher res, closer pictures but it costs. From memory you can get a free limited trail but it has been a while and I could be wrong.

You can buy ordinace maps with the contours etc on one side and satelite pictures on the other and these cover a lot of Australia. All the ones I have of Namadgi and the larger surrounds have no redacted areas.

Quite possible. It's just my love affair with Google maps these days Andrew, somehow I feel betrayed