When using OSM’s iD editor in New South Wales, Australia, there are multiple background layers you can enable that show aerial/satellite imagery. Different imagery sources can vary greatly in terms of how recent and/or blurry they are. Here I’ll discuss my experience using them.

DCS NSW Imagery

This is my preferred imagery source, primarily because it’s very clear even at high zoom levels. You can see lots of detail which makes it great for mapping.

Unfortunately it’s also the oldest of the imagery sources for NSW. In Armidale it’s dated 2018, but other towns can be as old as 2009! You can enable the “DCS NSW Imagery Dates” overlay to see what date the imagery for a given area was taken.

Esri World Imagery

This is my second preference for mapping. When DCS proves to be too old and doesn’t show recent changes to the map, Esri does. It’s the most recent of the imagery sources, dated around 2023. You can see the date for a particular area by enabling the “Background Panel” - ‘Vintage’ is the date the imagery was taken.

The problem with Esri is that it’s quite blurry at higher zoom levels, probably the blurriest of the sources I mention here. I tend to switch back-and-forth between DCS and Esri to get an idea of what’s changed in a particular area.

Bing Maps Aerial / Mapbox Satellite

These imagery sources are newer than DCS, but older than Esri. They are also more blurry than DCS, but less blurry than Esri. So they sit roughly in the middle and, as such, I tend to not use them so much. When I do (mainly Bing), it’s to see things that DCS doesn’t yet show, but where Esri is too blurry.

According to the Background Panel, Bing’s vintage ranges greatly depending on the zoom level and area you’re looking at. In Armidale it’s between 2020 and 2023. Mapbox doesn’t have any dates associated with its imagery that I could easily find, but when looking at a relatively new housing development in Armidale and comparing the four sources, Mapbox seems to sit between DCS and Bing (i.e. the second-oldest).

Recent-ness Comparison

Bluriness Comparison

In Conclusion

I typically have DCS NSW Imagery enabled by default as I pan around the map (in NSW). When I need newer imagery I’ll check Esri World Imagery, and where that’s too blurry I’ll use Bing Maps Aerial.

I hope that’s useful and helps others to map NSW, Australia too.