Topo software and terraserver-usa

[hillman1]

A question for someone who may know---I have the national geographic topo software, and use it for the high peaks. I'm researching a slide path in the sentinals, and figure out the spot where it's at(with help from page 30 of barb mcmartins northern adirondack guidebook). I want to see the slide path though, so I get the waypoints off of the software, and then go to terraserver-usa.com to try and see it. I do the geographic search, and type in the waypoints, and it takes me to the sentinal range. But it's all dark, and I can't make out much from the picture it provides. So my question is, is there a site similar to terraserver that lets you look at satellite images to research hikes? I pre thank anyone for any replies. Hillman

 

[Jay H]

Free? I think many of the sites similar to Terraserver may use the same images, just a different interface so that might not help you. You might want to check out MapTech's Terrain Navigator Pro. I have the regular TN which doesn't have the aerial photos but the TN Pro does. It's not free but check out the TN pro forum and ask Ed Lecuyer to see where the aerial photos are from. If it's the same source as terraserver, you're probably out of luck.

Maptech TN Pro

TN Pro forum

Having said that, even if the photos are different and/or better, TN Pro isn't cheap, it's $300 for NE (no ADKS as they don't include NY). Regular TN was $99 when I bought it and is a nice package with great support.

Try some of the other sources like mapquest, I think they have some aerial shots, you could give it the nearest street address and then pan over to your location, not sure if you can input a lat/long though.

Jay

 

[Turnbill]

You might try Seamless USGS. The site is VERY slow and the interface is clunky and somewhat obtuse, but there is a lot data there. Click on the "View and Order Data Sets - United States Viewer" link (and then be very patient). Eventually a map of the US will appear. Use the tools on the left to zoom into your area of interest. Use the checkboxes on the right to turn various map layers on or off. To see what you've selected, be sure to go to the bottom of the layer list and press the Refresh Map button (and then wait again). In addition to a couple of vintages of orthophotos there are various subsets of the National Land Cover Datasets which are based on satellite imagery.

 

[MichaelJ]

DeLorme provides SAT-10 satellite imagery data sets that work with their various programs (Topo USA or TopoQuads). However, although I find the images enjoyable to have, they are from too far a distance to really be useful for the kind of trail finding you're looking for.

There's wonderful aerial photography of Massachusetts with great detail (1m pixels) at MIT, but that doesn't help you.

 

[Jay H]

I've also thought, try to download the terraserver image and play with it in PaintShopPro or your favorite photo editor, I've seen some photos of hiking places using Terraserver (Specifically, Alder Lake and Balsam Lake Mountain since I was trying to find the firetower and perhaps the weather building on Graham). If it's just dark, you might be able to get a better view if you lighten it. Anyway, it's a free possible solution anyway, can't hurt to try.

Jay