UNOSAT has just released a map dated January 9 that contains satellite imagery of Gaza City acquired by the WorldView-1 Satellite on January 6. The imagery has been used by UNOSAT to create a damage assessment overview of Gaza City.
I’ve added that map to the Gaza maps network link for Google Earth, which in the meantime also contains the updated OCHA Gaza situation map, dated January 8. (If you have already downloaded it before, just refresh it in Google Earth.)
By using the opacity slider in Google Earth you can compare the imagery from January 6 to the base imagery on Google Earth, acquired by DigitalGlobe on June 14, 2007. Both maps show individual houses and paths, so it is useful for people familiar with Gaza City to assess the situation on the ground.
(Note: I converted the latest UNOSAT map to a JPEG at full resolution, so it clocks in at 2.9MB; please wait a moment for it to download. Again, I’m wishing these maps were released as KML overlays with KML placemarks, but in their absence of such maps this is the best we can do.)
In related news, Mikel Maron reports that the OpenStreetMap Gaza project is progressing well.
PS: I have yet to hear from the self-appointed watchers of alleged pro-Palestinian bias in Google Earth that Google’s drawing of Gaza’s border with Israel is inaccurate. Perhaps this is because the error is in Israel’s favor this time?
It’s great to see this information publicized and packaged up for Google Earth. Israel’s embargo on journalism from Gaza is having the unintended effect of opening up space for many kinds of citizen journalism (including, one might say, this KML file). I hope this contributes to ending the senseless slaughter taking place right now.
What is curious here, is that Nahal Oz (a kibbutz in southern Israel) is clearly shown on Google Earth in the above image as being within the Gaza Strip, indeed it is one of only two places with a name within the Strip at that zoom level. The kibbutz is in fact to the east outside the strip as shown on Google Maps and OpenStreetMap. Where is Jibaliya and the associated camp on Google Earth? No where to be seen. I only mention this as one of many examples highlighting errors and inconsistency.