ISRO unveils mapping app 'Bhuvan'

NEW DELHI, INDIA: ISRO, the Indian premier space research organisation today unveiled its version of Google Earth, the iconic mapping service for the common man to zoom into any part of the world on their personal computer using satellite images.

Bhuvan, the new mapping service, which means earth in Sanskrit will allow users to have a closer look at any part of the subcontinent barring sensitive locations such as military and nuclear installations.

ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair unveiled the Bhuvan webportal at a function in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Bhuvan will use images taken by ISRO's seven remote sensing satellites at least a year ago. These eyes in the sky can capture images of objects as small as a car on the road to build three-dimensional map of the world.

The pictures are expected to be sharper than those on Google Earth as Bhuvan uses 10 meter resolution images as against 200 meter resolution photos offered by others.

Unlike in Google Earth, users will not be able to download images from Bhuvan and will be able to browse content like on any website.

"With Bhuvan, we will be able to produce very local information which will be specific to only our own country. This information available from this mapping system will be useful in addressing very local problems like floods, famines, infrastructure development, education and much more," Nair said.