[elliotshep]

I just bought and received imagery of my rural property, just for fun.

The resolution is very poor. Technically you might be able to make out 50cm things as a pixel, but it’s blurry and has a lot of artefacts. The colours are also not brilliant. If you’re expecting anything at all like what you get from google earth, you’ll be disappointed.

However, it was a very recent image (a few weeks ago), and with clear and sensible pricing. I can see how for some uses it would be perfect.

I had someone come and map 170ac for about AU$1k using a drone. Extreme resolution (and 3D + DSM too), so there are a lot of options.

[alberth]

> The resolution is very poor. Technically you might be able to make out 50cm things as a pixel, but it’s blurry and has a lot of artefacts

The CEO in this thread says they use Albedo for imagery.

I feel like Albedo is way overselling their capabilities because it’s not real 10cm imagery. It’s essentially computational photography taken at a way worse resolution (>30cm), and does a poor job computing a better image.

If you read about it in their blog post and actually zoom in on their example simulated 10cm image, it looks quite bad. Way worse than just Google Earth.

https://albedo.com/post/albedo-simulated-imagery

Direct image link:

https://assets.website-files.com/5fd162c9a5bb9e401ce96317/62...

What’s also super confusing is SkyFi uses Google Earth to be the viewer you use to find the image you want to buy from them, so you’re essentially being shown a way higher resolution (Google) aerial photo than what your actually buying.

Back to Albedo, what’s also frustrating is they rarely include the word “simulated” when they talk about 10cm imagery (should ALWAYS be stated as “simulated 10cm”). Which leads people to believe their image products are higher resolution than they really are.

[joshmn]

The weirdest thing about Albedo is that their header image was taken with a commercially-available drone, at least according to the file name: https://assets.website-files.com/5fd162c9db04e672a0b0e2b7/60...

You think you'd at least be proud enough of your stuff to have it as a header image.

[justusthane]

Well that sure seems like false advertising!

[GasTrader]

Albedo is a partner but they have not launched yet. When we post our resolution, it is native not enhanced. In version 1.0 we have not turned on 30cm. We do intend on adding this feature once we finish the QC process. Typically Google earth is Arial imagery in dense areas or approximately 4Ocm inagery. Hope this clarifies.

[alberth]

> Typically Google earth is Arial imagery in dense areas or approximately 4Ocm inagery

Where I live (large US metro), Google earth is definitely <20cm or better where I live.

I can almost distinguish individual roof tiles on my home.

[boulos]

Their write up is a little confusing, especially when combined with your statement.

> The imagery starts with panchromatic plus 4 color aerial imagery that was collected at a native GSD of 3.8 cm, which enables accurate removal of aerial sensor properties and resampling to the Albedo 10 cm resolution and camera properties.

Makes it sound like they have a spatial resolution of 3.8cm per pixel. This isn't panchromatic in a single pixel, but that's also true of things like Bayer mosaics in digital cameras.

Where do you see 30cm+?

[alberth]

Native Multispectral GSD: 40nm

https://albedo.com/product-specs

https://albedo.com/post/approved-for-10cm

[alleycat5000]

Albedo hasn't launched any satellites yet...

[m2fkxy]

Google Earth/Maps imagery is mostly aerial, so that makes sense.

[truetraveller]

How legal is using a drone to map own property?

[uptown]

Most places - 100% legal unless you live in a no-fly zone or exceed regional elevation ceilings.

[toomuchtodo]

Here are some links you might find helpful:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32094603

https://www.opendronemap.org/