Bhuvan - A Desi Version Of Google Earth By Isro

Imagery of Indian terrain have not been very satisfying when viewing from Google Earth. It only covered the Metros and other main cities with somewhat decent resolution of imagery, the rest is not worth mentioning.

Now the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has developed it's own 'desi' version of Google Earth called Bhuvan



The website can be accessed on http://www.bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in. Download the client from the above link. This ISRO provided website has been perpetually busy since Wednesday.

I'm providing alternate links to the Terra Explorer required for Bhuvan.

Download Terra Explorer - http://www.skylinesoft.com/SkylineGlobe/Corporate/Download/TerraExplorerDownload.aspx

• The requirements for Bhuvan are
• Operating System: Windows XP/Vista
• CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz+ or AMD 2400xp+
• System Memory (RAM): 512MB
• Hard Disk: 2GB free space
• Network Speed: 768 Kbits/sec
• Graphics Card: 3D-capable with 32MB of VRAM
• Screen: 1280x1024, "32-bit True Color"

Even thought the minimum required is 512 MB, its advisable to atleast have 1 or 2 GB of RAM, along with the other requirements.

It was said that ‘Bhuvan’ maps up to 10 metres compared to Google Earth’s 200 metres and Wikemapia’s 50 metres.According to me, Bhuvan does not come anywhere close to competing with wikimapia.org with respect to clarity.

Following is the aerial view of the Hanging Gardens in Mumbai, taken with approximately same resolution from www.wikimapia.org and Bhuvan. You can see for yourself which service delivers more clarity.




By wikimapia.org




By Bhuvan

ISRO may not be the best in PC technology compared to giants like Google, but it has certainly taken a big leap forward in embracing current technology.