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Microsoft Research Maps
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{{Short description|Online repository of US aerial imagery}} '''Microsoft Research Maps''' ('''MSR Maps''') was a free online repository of [[public domain]] [[aerial photography|aerial imagery]] and [[topographic map]]s provided by the [[United States Geological Survey]] (USGS). The site was a collaboration between [[Microsoft Research]] (MSR), [[Bing Maps]], and the USGS. It was in operation from June 1998 to March 2016. It had 30,000 to 50,000 visitors per day as of January 2010. The site was renamed in 2010, prior to which it had been known as '''TerraServer-USA'''<ref name="new name">[http://msrmaps.com/About.aspx?n=AboutWhatsNew&b=Newsite New Web Site Name] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209194823/http://msrmaps.com/About.aspx?n=AboutWhatsNew&b=Newsite |date=2010-02-09 }}. Microsoft Research Maps. January 30, 2010.</ref> (formerly '''Microsoft TerraServer'''). The site had black and white USGS aerial photographs of approximately 97% of the [[United States]]. In 2000, the USGS launched the new Urban Areas program, which will ultimately take high-resolution color aerial photographs of about 100 major American cities.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://eros.usgs.gov/ |title=USGS/EROS High Resolution Orthoimagery |access-date=2010-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106182554/http://eros.usgs.gov/#/Find_Data/Products_and_Data_Available/High_Resolution_Orthoimagery |archive-date=2010-01-06 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://orthoimagery.cr.usgs.gov/documents/listofHRO.php List of Areas with USGS High Resolution Orthoimagery] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118162530/http://orthoimagery.cr.usgs.gov/documents/listofHRO.php |date=2010-01-18 }}</ref> MSR Maps had Urban Areas data for 40 cities.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} Microsoft had announced that the MSR Maps web site was going to permanently close on May 1, 2012,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://msrmaps.com/About.aspx?n=AboutShutdown | title = Microsoft Research Maps Web Site Shutting Down May 1, 2012 | publisher = Microsoft | year = 2012 | access-date = 2013-06-05 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130929213634/http://msrmaps.com/About.aspx?n=AboutShutdown | archive-date = 2013-09-29 | url-status = live }}</ref> but later changed that decision based on requests from users of the site.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.topofusion.com/news/2012/06/18/v4-6-msr-maps-will-remain-online/ | title = MSR Maps will remain online | website = [[TopoFusion]] | date = June 18, 2012 | access-date = 2013-06-05 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130315102122/http://www.topofusion.com/news/2012/06/18/v4-6-msr-maps-will-remain-online/ | archive-date = 2013-03-15 | url-status = live }}</ref> As of March 2016 the site is no longer available. == History == Though it was online as early as December 1997, the site was formally unveiled June 24, 1998, as part of an 18-month agreement between [[Microsoft]], [[Compaq]], and [[Aerial Images]] of [[Raleigh, North Carolina]]. It was created as a demonstration system to advertise the scalability of Microsoft's [[Windows NT]] Server and [[Microsoft SQL Server|SQL Server]], and used images from the [[United States Geological Survey]] (USGS) and [[Sovinformsputnik]] (the [[Russian Federal Space Agency]]). TerraServer was the brainchild of the Turing Award-winning researcher on database systems, [[Jim Gray (computer scientist)|Jim Gray]]. Before his death, Gray continued this work, developing [[Microsoft Virtual Earth]] and began a similar project that would become the [[Worldwide Telescope]]. In January 2000, Microsoft and Aerial Images, now TerraServer.com, Inc., split their operations, creating two parallel TerraServer websites. The dualism caused confusion among web surfers until the Microsoft name change in 2010. TerraServer.com, Inc., which owns the trademark<ref name="trademark">{{Cite web |url=http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=76534179 |title=USPTO Trademark Status |access-date=2010-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608081834/http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=76534179 |archive-date=2011-06-08 |url-status=live }}</ref> TERRASERVER, filed a lawsuit<ref name="lawsuit">"[https://www.pcworld.com/article/145613/microsoft_satellite_map_project_sued_over_name.html Microsoft Satellite Map Project Sued Over Name] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027074009/https://www.pcworld.com/article/145613/article.html |date=2018-10-27 }}". ''PC World''. May 7, 2008.</ref> in 2008 in North Carolina federal court, seeking monetary damages and asking that Microsoft be stopped from using the TerraServer trademark. The TerraServer name was a play on words, with ''Terra'' referring to the 'earth' or 'land' and also to the [[Terabyte|terabytes]] of images stored on the site. == See also == * [[Terraserver.com]] * [[The National Map]] == References == {{reflist|30em}} == External links == * [http://msrmaps.com/ MSRMaps.com] [[Category:Internet properties established in 1998]] [[Category:Internet properties disestablished in 2016]] [[Category:Aerial photography]] [[Category:Microsoft Bing]] [[Category:Geographical technology]] [[Category:Microsoft Research]] [[Category:Microsoft websites]] [[Category:Public domain databases]] [[Category:Web Map Services]]
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