New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) took a huge leap on Wednesday by launching its own version of the much-talked about Google Earth.

Barring the sensitive areas like military and nuclear installations, the desi version of Google Earth would offer sharper and clearer pictures of the Indian terrain.

The day marked the 90th birth anniversary of the father of Indian space programme Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.

The 3D mapping tool is named as "Bhuvan". The mapping tool uses images taken a year back by ISRO through satellites.

The degree of resolution is based on the popularity of the place.

Top space scientists were part of the launch party at a workshop organized by Astronautical Society of India in New Delhi.

National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), part of ISRO based in Hyderabad, played a pivotal role in the designing and development of “Bhuvan”.

The content was developed by NRSA using data provided by the Indian satellites like Resourcesat-1.

The portal contains data approve by the government of India.

"Sensitive information has not been showcased for public display," said NRSA Director, V. Jayaraman.

According to S Satish, Chief Spokesperson, ISRO, "Bhuvan is more versatile compared to Google earth, gives data about different Indian cities and is also more viewer-friendly."

The site apart from other things offers tools to measure horizontal, vertical and aerial distances.