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See your land in past years: compare old satellite images

Search for your village or paste a Google Maps link, and this viewer finds every different satellite photo of that spot in Esri’s World Imagery Wayback archive — usually one or two a year since 2014. Swipe between any two years, or step through them one by one, to see when a wall, a shed, a path or a new crop pattern first appeared. Each image shows the date the photo was actually taken.

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Looking for every different image of this spot…

Need it in writing, with dates?Our Land History Report goes through up to 10 years of satellite history for your plot and explains what changed and when — a PDF made by our team, $49 once.

Imagery from Esri World Imagery Wayback, an archive of past releases of Esri’s satellite map since February 2014. A ‘release’ date is when Esri published the map; the photo itself is often older, so check the ‘photo taken’ date. Rural areas may only get a new image every year or two, and one view can be stitched from photos of different dates. Not a legal survey. Imagery © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics and the GIS User Community.

How to use it

  1. Type the village or town, or paste a Google Maps link or GPS coordinates, and zoom in until you can see your field or plot.
  2. The viewer lists every different image of that spot. Pick an early year for the left side and a recent one for the right.
  3. Drag the round handle across the map to wipe between the two years — or switch to ‘Step through years’ to flick from one image to the next.
  4. Note the ‘photo taken’ date of the first image where a change appears; that is your best evidence of roughly when it started.

How can I see old satellite images of my land for free?

Esri, which publishes one of the most-used satellite basemaps, keeps every past version of its World Imagery map in a public archive called Wayback, going back to February 2014. This tool reads that archive for the exact spot you choose and shows only the versions where the picture actually changed — so instead of hundreds of near-identical releases you get a short, dated list, often one image a year.

Google Earth Pro on a desktop computer has a similar historical imagery slider. The advantage here is that it runs on your phone, shows two years side by side with a swipe, and tells you the photo’s capture date for each.

What can old satellite images show — and what can’t they?

These are high-resolution aerial and satellite photos, often sharp enough to make out a boundary wall, a building, a tube-well room, a new track or a change in how a field is divided. Comparing years can show when construction started, when a neighbour’s fence moved, or when a field stopped being farmed.

They are snapshots, not a film. In rural India a spot may get a fresh photo only every year or two, one view can be stitched from photos taken on different dates, and the image can be a few metres off. Something that came and went between two photos won’t appear. And a photo shows the ground, not ownership — it can’t show a forged sale or a mutation in the records.

Release date vs ‘photo taken’ date — which one matters?

The release date is when Esri published that version of its map. The photo inside it is usually older — sometimes by many months. For evidence, always use the ‘photo taken’ date shown under each image, which comes from Esri’s own metadata for that exact point.

If you are building a timeline for a lawyer — for example to show roughly when someone started occupying the land — write down the capture dates on both sides of the change: ‘not visible in the photo of March 2019, visible in the photo of January 2021’. That is more honest, and more useful, than a single date.

Can satellite history help in an encroachment or adverse possession case?

It can help you and your lawyer understand the facts, especially how long something has been there. Adverse possession needs 12 years of open, continuous possession against the owner’s interest, so knowing whether a structure appeared in 2015 or in 2023 changes the conversation.

Courts look at evidence as a whole, and how dated imagery is used is for your lawyer to decide — often alongside certified land records, revenue officials’ reports and witnesses. If you need a careful written analysis, PlotPehra’s Land History Report goes through up to 10 years of satellite history for your plot and explains what changed and when, as a PDF made by our team, for $49.

How do I keep an eye on the land from now on?

Old imagery tells you what has already happened. To know about new changes without waiting for Esri’s next release, Land Watch checks every clear Sentinel-2 satellite image of your plot (10 m pixels, several a month outside the monsoon) and reads the official land record every week in 19 states, and a real person tells you if anything changes.

Sentinel-2 is coarser than the photos in this viewer, so it shows field- and building-scale change rather than small details — the two complement each other.

Questions people ask

The Esri Wayback archive starts in February 2014, so most places in India have images from 2014 onwards. How many different images exist depends on the area — cities change often, many villages get a new photo every year or two.

Only the dates that exist in the archive for that spot. The viewer lists them all, with the date each photo was taken. For a date in between, Sentinel-2 imagery (10 m pixels, every few days) is the closest free source, but it is much less detailed.

It is a similar idea from a different provider. Google Earth Pro’s history slider uses Google’s imagery; this viewer uses Esri’s World Imagery archive, so the dates and photos can differ. It is worth checking both if a date matters.

Because no newer photo of that spot was added to the map in those years. The viewer only lists versions where the picture at your location actually changed.

They can support a timeline, but how evidence is used is up to your lawyer and the court. Keep the capture dates, save screenshots, and pair the imagery with certified land records.

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Helpful guides

🛰️ Satellites & technology 6 min read

Old Satellite Images of Your Land: What 10 Years Reveal

Free ways to see old satellite images of your land in India, their limits, and what a year-by-year history reveals about crops, structures and the 12-year rule.

Ready to see your land for yourself?

Tell us the village or drop a pin — it takes about two minutes. We confirm the boundary with you before your first report.

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