Every mountain, building and tree shadow mapped for any date and time
I've been working on this project for about 4 years. It began as terrain only because world wide elevation data was publicly available. I then added buildings from OpenStreetMap (crowd sourced) and more recently from Overture Maps data. Some computer vision/machine learning advancements [1] in the past few years have made it possible to estimate tree canopy heights using satellite imagery alone making it possible to finally add trees to the map. The data isn't perfect, but it's within +/- 3 meters of so. Good enough to give a general idea for any location on Earth. Happy to answer…
Every mountain, building and tree shadow mapped for any date and time launched on May 30, 2024 with 685 votes, #30 of 4,539 launches that month and more than 99% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 2 years on.
In plain words
This project maps shadows cast by terrain, buildings, and trees across Earth for any date and time. It combines publicly available elevation data, OpenStreetMap building information, and machine learning analysis of satellite imagery to estimate tree canopy heights. The resulting shadow predictions are accurate within three meters, providing users a general sense of shadow patterns at any location worldwide. The tool is useful for architects, urban planners, photographers, and anyone needing to understand how shadows fall in specific places.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Every mountain, building and tree shadow in the world simulated for any date and time
In the maker’s words, at launch
I've been working on this project for about 4 years. It began as terrain only because world wide elevation data was publicly available. I then added buildings from OpenStreetMap (crowd sourced) and more recently from Overture Maps data. Some computer vision/machine learning advancements [1] in the past few years…
Does a similar job
all alternatives →
Shadowmap2021 · app.shadowmap.org · ▲292Interactive 3D maps app to visualize solar shadows worldwide
- GMGoogle Maps Shadow Calculator2022 · shadowcalculator.eu · ▲120
Flatmap – a new tool to make vector tiles from OpenStreetMap data fast2021 · github.com · ▲158Flexible tool to build planet-scale vector tilesets from OpenStreetMap data fast - onthegomap/planetiler
- ARA raytracer to shade topographic maps in R2018 · tylermw.com · ▲198
- G3Global 3D topography explorer2025 · topography.jessekv.com · ▲118
I made a web app to generate 3D models of real places on earth from land cover and elevation data. Click anywhere on the map to get a polygon, and then click "generate". It should work at most scales, but if your watershed or region selection is too large, the result can be less exciting because it's so flat. As a warning, the 3D models can sometimes be too much for my phone. It's nicer on desktop. I'm still working better on mobile support. The land cover data I'm using gives a cool effect, but at some point I'd like to add in global imagery and clouds. The backend is a Python thread…
OpenStreetMap2014 · openstreetmap.org · ▲63Hey HN, jvaclavik here from OpenClimbing team! We are thrilled to release version 2.0 of our fully opensource/opendata climbing guide. Based on OpenStreetMap for map-data and Wikimedia Commons for images, we created a (hopefully) user-friendly app which completely uses these open databases, thus contributing data back to commons. We designed a simple and powerful notation for drawing climbing routes directly over the Wikimedia pictures: - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:wikimedia_commons:pa... Check out the release article for a ton of new features, or go…
More ai this month
the category →
Paintings by AI models: programs run through a simulation of oil paint.
AI · 21d ago · stillwet.art
PixVerse R2▲381A real-time world model you can explore and change
AI · 29d ago · world.pixverse.video
Source: Show HN post ↗ · launch text quoted in part
