Comment by coolspot
In 2022 Trump declassified this satellite picture showing amazing resolution of current generation: https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2019/09/05/ap_1924315303447...
In 2022 Trump declassified this satellite picture showing amazing resolution of current generation: https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2019/09/05/ap_1924315303447...
Apples to oranges comparison there.
A great deal of Google Map imagery over urban areas is from relatively low level aerial survey aircraft that run lines over cities in summer.
The resolution is better and stitched together often provides a better bang for the buck than satellite imagery.
That said, Trump's image may have been from a sat or from a high altitude spy plane - they'd have ballpark optics but the aircraft would be closer in and more maneuverable .. I'd personally discount whatever Trump had to say about the source and want to hear from a third party military reconnaissance expert.
Yeah, I’m referring to Google Maps satellite imagery, not the super-saturated and detailed urban area coverage. I mean, check out the satellite view here [1]. It’s not perfect, but you can make out building-sized objects and cars just as well as you can in the Trump image.
You example from airbus maxar technologies (https://www.airbus.com/en/space/earth-observation/satellite-...) is close but falls short of the detail in the Trump tweet - cross bracing on the gantry and radio tower is a giveaway.
By declassified, you mean accidently tweeted a cell phone picture of the image printed out.
Which is his right, just wanted to add context.