Google Earth Pro

This isn’t a drone picture, although it looks a lot like one. It’s a screenshot from Google Earth Pro.

In July 2017 Google made this software free, which I think was an awesome decision. Basically, this software superimposes satellite imagery and aerial photos onto a very detailed 3D model of the Earth, complete with mountains, valleys, canyons and all sorts of geographic features, making it far more realistic than flat Google Maps terrain images.

This is a bird eye view of Diamond Beach and the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Iceland. The white patches you see in the lagoon are huge chunks of ice which have broken from the Vatnajokull glacier up above and are slowly floating under the bridge into the North Atlantic Ocean.

I visited this place with friends last July. If I had a drone back then I would have taken a picture similar to this. So I guess Google Earth Pro is the poor man’s drone. 🙂