Can I use satellite images as hiking maps, how?
I tried to find topographic maps of my area in Brazil, but the best I could find is some 1:50000 map from 1983.
My biggest need for a map (besides not getting lost) is avoiding private properties and finding some terrain features to help me navigate. My area is very flat, so pure elevation maps aren't much of a help here, but the satellite images (like those from Google Maps) do provide some hints to what is a private property and what is forest area.
I haven't been able to discover a way to print or manipulate the images to use those as a map, can it be done? Also, is it ok to navigate using satellite images (instead of proper maps)?
EDIT: To further illustrate my need, here is a Gmap4 location of my area and its "flatness". In the aerial view I can see forests, streams, houses, roads, I don't know how distorted it is and to print it to scale, but I seen to be able to get much more info about the terrain from it, than from the top.
http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=-21.843789,-48.21715&z=15&t=t7
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Yes, you can. I have managed to trek long up to a week with a set of satellite images. For that, I needed some skill in orientation, tracing down a trail and then setting the position in accordance with the satellite image. It does require skills in Navigation because, in most of the cases where people complain about Satellite Images not being good enough, you would find that People did make mistakes in Navigation/Orientation.
Having said this, its true to every bit that Following the exact direction with just a satellite image is not something that you can completely rely on (Depend on Person to Person, of course), but practicing it in the area which is more familiar to you is a good idea to develop the necessary skills for Navigation and Map reading. And, it's fun.
I would recommend you to carry a set of Satellite Contour Images along with the actual satellite images wherein you can see for the traces of thick forest, rivers, lakes, so that you don't end up getting yourself stuck at some slope which is a little hard to descend, or end up at a base of an ascend which is not safer to climb. I have encountered such issues in my early days with just Satellite Images where I had such places in thick forests, where we don't have an option to see through. Then I started carrying Contours of the same, and decide to take up some route which takes me from one point on the map to other.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4624. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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