We're processing new Landsat imagery right now, which will add 4 new zoom levels to our Cloudless Atlas. The progress is stunning. Here’s a view of Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest cities in the world. It lies around Guanabara Bay – which still supports large mangrove swamps in the northeast despite the impact of Rio’s 12 million residents. In the bay you can see Galeão Airport on Ilha do Governador, and just to its south, the artificial island of Fundão, which houses the University of Brazil. Crossing the bay is the enormous Rio–Niterói Bridge, more than 8 km (5 mi) long. Notice the lake at center bottom – that’s Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, where some of the aquatic events of the 2016 Summer Olympics will take place. Just south of the lake are the famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, and on the hill to its north is Christ the Redeemer.
Like the view of Vancouver we’re delighted by the imagery we’re seeing at this stage, and we’re looking forward to making it even prettier – at scale – and rolling it out.