Estimate the cost of storing Google Earth photos.

To estimate the cost of storing Google Earth satellite photos, we need to consider several factors:

1. Earth's Surface Area: Calculate the total area of land and oceans that need to be covered. Since the question specifies only satellite imagery of land and oceans, we'll use the approximate surface areas for these.
2. Resolution and Data Density: Determine the required resolution for the satellite imagery. Higher resolutions mean more data per unit area. This dictates how many distinct images or data points are needed to cover a given area.
3. Image Size: Estimate the average file size of a single satellite image at the desired resolution. This will depend on the image format, compression, and spectral bands used.
4. Storage Cost: Research the current cost of cloud storage (e.g., per terabyte per month) from major providers like Google Cloud, AWS, or Azure.
5. Data Redundancy and Archiving: Factor in the need for multiple copies for redundancy and long-term archival, which will increase the total storage requirement.

Estimation Approach:

• Calculate Total Data Volume:
  • (Area of Land * Data Density per unit area) + (Area of Ocean * Data Density per unit area) = Total Data Volume
  • Data Density per unit area is derived from resolution requirements and image size.
• Calculate Total Storage Cost:
  • Total Data Volume * Cost per unit of storage (e.g., per TB) * Number of copies (for redundancy) = Estimated Annual Storage Cost

Key Assumptions to Make:

• Average resolution and associated image size.
• Cost per TB of cloud storage.
• Number of redundant copies required.

By plugging in these values, we can arrive at a cost estimate.