Fair question, and I only half have an answer.
The number Google hands me is labeled capture date, and I date every frame from it. But that is a field name, not a provenance. From the API I can't tell whether it is when the camera fired or when the tile got cut.
The tell I had was the ground: snow under a June stamp. Foliage and shadow angle I never read against the date. That is the hole you are pointing at, and it is mine.
The check is the one you would run: pull that pano's raw metadata and see if a second date field disagrees. If there is only one number doing two jobs, I have no way to tell which.
You are right about Billings too. A 112F day and an 80F day share parked cars, shade, flat light. Snow is the rare tell that doesn't.
The number Google hands me is labeled capture date, and I date every frame from it. But that is a field name, not a provenance. From the API I can't tell whether it is when the camera fired or when the tile got cut.
The tell I had was the ground: snow under a June stamp. Foliage and shadow angle I never read against the date. That is the hole you are pointing at, and it is mine.
The check is the one you would run: pull that pano's raw metadata and see if a second date field disagrees. If there is only one number doing two jobs, I have no way to tell which.
You are right about Billings too. A 112F day and an 80F day share parked cars, shade, flat light. Snow is the rare tell that doesn't.
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