Satellite imagery resolution is the ground distance represented by a single pixel in an image. It is usually written in centimeters or meters, so 30cm resolution means one pixel covers a 30cm by 30cm square of ground. Lower numbers mean finer detail. The Stadia Maps Alidade Satellite basemap serves imagery at 1.5m or better everywhere, with 37 million km² at 30cm.

Key Takeaways

  • Resolution is the ground distance one pixel covers. 30cm resolution is sharper than 50cm, which is sharper than 1.5m.
  • At 30cm, individual vehicles, building footprints, and infrastructure become distinguishable at high zoom levels.
  • Resolution and freshness are separate dimensions. A sharp image can still be years out of date.
  • Every pixel in the Stadia Maps satellite dataset is 1.5m or better, with 37 million km² at 30cm and another 7 million km² at 50cm.
  • The area-weighted average age of the Stadia Maps satellite dataset is roughly 1.6 years, with nearly two-thirds less than a year old.

How Is Satellite Imagery Resolution Measured?

Resolution is expressed as ground sample distance: the real-world area covered by one pixel. A 30cm image devotes one pixel to every 30cm of ground. A 1.5m image devotes one pixel to every 1.5m.

The counterintuitive part is that lower numbers mean better imagery. 30cm is roughly 25 times more detailed per unit of area than 1.5m, because the comparison is two-dimensional. That is why coverage at each resolution tier is usually reported separately rather than as a single global average.

Resolution is not the only thing that determines how usable an image is. Cloud cover, color consistency across tiles, seasonal variation, and the age of the capture all affect whether imagery looks right in production.

What Can You See at 30cm Resolution?

According to the 2026 Stadia Maps satellite imagery update, 30cm resolution provides "enough detail to distinguish individual vehicles, building footprints, and infrastructure at high zoom levels."

That threshold is what separates imagery that supports real analysis from imagery that is purely decorative. For urban planning tools, insurance assessments, or logistics platforms, being able to resolve a parking space or a rooftop outline changes what the product can actually do.

Why Imagery Freshness Matters as Much as Resolution

A 30cm image captured four years ago may be less useful than a 1.5m image captured last spring, depending on what you are looking at. New construction, changed road layouts, and seasonal differences all show up as errors when imagery ages.

Stadia Maps publishes freshness numbers alongside resolution numbers:

  • The area-weighted average age across the dataset is roughly 1.6 years.
  • Nearly two-thirds of coverage is less than a year old.
  • Only 7% is older than three years, and that share shrinks with each refresh.
  • Per the satellite imagery product page, most cities and populated areas are no more than a year old.

Cloud cover is the other freshness-adjacent quality signal. Stadia Maps reports less than 5% cloud cover globally and under 2% over urban areas.

What Resolution Does Stadia Maps Offer?

The Alidade Satellite basemap is built on imagery from Airbus. Current coverage, per the 2026 update:

  • 37 million km² at 30cm. Includes seamless country-wide mosaics for Japan, Nigeria, Mexico, the UAE, and Eastern South Africa. "Seamless" means no visible tile boundaries and no abrupt shifts in color or season.
  • 7 million km² at 50cm. Concentrated across North America, Europe, and urban hubs worldwide.
  • 1.5m or better everywhere else. The full 1.5m dataset covering Earth's landmasses was refreshed from the latest SPOT Global layer.

Global coverage extends to zoom 18. Raster tiles are served up to zoom 20.

Consistent color across zoom levels is a deliberate design choice rather than a byproduct of the source imagery. Mixed-source mosaics often shift color or season between tiles, which is distracting when you are overlaying your own data on top.

How Does Resolution Relate to Map Zoom Levels?

Resolution determines the highest zoom level at which imagery still looks sharp. Zoom past the native resolution of the source imagery and the renderer is upscaling pixels rather than showing new detail.

Two practical notes from the Alidade Satellite documentation:

  • The full styled basemap (imagery plus labels and feature outlines) is available as raster XYZ JPG tiles up to zoom 20.
  • The imagery-only layer, for teams building a custom style on top, goes up to zoom 18 and uses 512x512 pixel tiles rather than the standard 256x256. That means zoom levels are off by one compared to a standard raster layer. This trips up teams that mix the imagery layer with other 256x256 sources.

Where Satellite Imagery Resolution Falls Short

Resolution is a useful number, but it does not tell the whole story.

  • Resolution is not uniform globally. 30cm coverage is 37 million km², which is a fraction of Earth's landmass. Everywhere else is 50cm or 1.5m. Do not design a feature that assumes 30cm everywhere.
  • Sharp does not mean current. Resolution and capture date are independent. Check both before relying on imagery for anything time-sensitive.
  • Cloud cover exists. Under 5% globally is very good, but it is not zero. Some tiles will have clouds.
  • Satellite imagery is not real-time. No commercial basemap updates continuously. Imagery reflects conditions on the capture date, not today.
  • Attribution is mandatory. Satellite imagery carries its own attribution requirement beyond the standard basemap attribution. See the section below.
  • Bulk downloading is prohibited. Per the Stadia Maps terms of service, you can serve tiles in your application but not scrape the tileset.

Common Satellite Imagery Use Cases

Satellite basemaps show up wherever the real-world appearance of a place carries information a vector map cannot convey.

  • Outdoors and recreation. Terrain, tree cover, trail surroundings, and water features that a styled vector map abstracts away.
  • Logistics and field operations. Yard layouts, loading docks, building footprints, and access roads.
  • Tourism and travel. Showing travelers what a destination actually looks like.
  • Urban planning. Assessing density, green space, parking, and land use from current imagery.
  • Insurance and property assessment. Roof condition, structure footprint, and site context at 30cm.
  • Data visualization backdrops. Consistent color across zoom levels makes satellite a workable base for overlaying your own data.

How Do You Add Satellite Imagery to a Map?

The Alidade Satellite style is available on every Stadia Maps plan and works with any renderer that supports raster tiles.

GET https://tiles.stadiamaps.com/tiles/alidade_satellite/{z}/{x}/{y}{r}.jpg

The {r} placeholder handles HiDPI displays. Replace it with @2x for 2x scaled tiles, or drop it for standard tiles. A MapLibre-compatible JSON style is also available at https://tiles.stadiamaps.com/styles/alidade_satellite.json, and EU-only endpoints are available at tiles-eu.stadiamaps.com.

Full setup examples for MapLibre GL JS, Leaflet, and OpenLayers are in the Alidade Satellite documentation.

What Attribution Does Satellite Imagery Require?

Satellite imagery requires attribution beyond the standard basemap credit. Most renderers add it automatically. If yours does not, include this text:

© CNES, Distribution Airbus DS, © Airbus DS, © PlanetObserver (Contains Copernicus Data)

No hyperlink is required for the imagery attribution. Full details are in the attribution documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 30cm satellite imagery resolution mean?

30cm resolution means each pixel in the image represents a 30cm by 30cm square of ground. It provides enough detail to distinguish individual vehicles, building footprints, and infrastructure at high zoom levels. Lower numbers indicate finer detail, so 30cm is sharper than 50cm, which is sharper than 1.5m.

What resolution is Stadia Maps satellite imagery?

Every pixel in the Stadia Maps satellite dataset is 1.5m resolution or better. As of the 2026 update, 37 million square kilometers is available at 30cm resolution and another 7 million square kilometers at 50cm. The 30cm coverage includes seamless country-wide mosaics for Japan, Nigeria, Mexico, the UAE, and Eastern South Africa.

How often is satellite imagery updated?

Stadia Maps refreshes its Alidade Satellite imagery regularly as new high-resolution data becomes available from Airbus. The area-weighted average age across the dataset is roughly 1.6 years. Nearly two-thirds of coverage is less than a year old, and only 7% is older than three years.

What zoom level does satellite imagery support?

Stadia Maps provides global satellite coverage to zoom 18. The full styled Alidade Satellite basemap is served as raster tiles up to zoom 20. The imagery-only layer, intended for custom styles, goes up to zoom 18 and uses 512x512 pixel tiles, which means its zoom levels are off by one compared to standard 256x256 raster layers.

How much does satellite imagery cost on Stadia Maps?

Satellite imagery tiles cost 4 credits per tile on the Stadia Maps unified credit pool. Satellite imagery tiles are 512x512 pixels and cover the same area as a vector tile, which is four times the area of a standard raster tile. A satellite basemap such as Alidade Satellite requires both imagery and vector tiles.

Do I need to attribute satellite imagery?

Yes. Satellite imagery requires additional attribution beyond the standard basemap credit. Include the following text: © CNES, Distribution Airbus DS, © Airbus DS, © PlanetObserver (Contains Copernicus Data). No hyperlink is required. Most renderers add this automatically.

Where to Go Next

From the Blog

More on satellite imagery and basemaps from the Stadia Maps blog:

Maps