Google has begun to map parts of the Amazon and Rio Negro Rivers, as well as small areas of northwestern Brazil, in an attempt to capture panoramic images of the remote region and its communities for the world to see. Google enlisted the help of locals and will use camera-equipped tricycles as well as boats to capture the imagery.

The new venture was put together by the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, which two years ago approached Google Earth with the idea of turning Street View into a river view of the lush Amazon Basin.

According to an entry on the Google blog:

A few members of our Brazil and US Street View and Google Earth Outreach teams are currently in the Amazon rainforest using our Street View technology to capture images of the river, surrounding forests and adjacent river communities.

In partnership with the Foundation for a Sustainable Amazon (FAS), the local non-profit conservation organization that invited us to the area, we’re training some of FAS’s representatives on the imagery collection process and leaving some of our equipment behind for them to continue the work.

By teaching locals how to operate these tools, they can continue sharing their points of view, culture and ways of life with audiences across the globe.

FAS project leader, Gabriel Ribenboim, told AFP he was delighted with the fact that the project was finally getting underway:

It is incredible; all those months of planning and then having this technology here. It is very important to show the world not only the environment and the way of life of the traditional population, but to sensitize the world to the challenges of climate change, deforestation and combating poverty.

The normal cameras that continuously take the images from every direction will be used and the pictures will be interlaced into Google Maps and Google Earth.

A boat on its way to capture images..

Satellite positioning equipment on the trikes pinpoints where images are gathered and will help to keep the information recorded as accurate as possible.

In addition to mapping the communities and stretches of the rivers, Google will also attempt to capture walks along rain forest trails in an effort to attract more visitors to the region.

[Sources: EconomicTimes, GoogleBlog]