NASA, Japan Release Most Complete Topographic Map of Earth

Combining 1.3million individual stereo-pair images collected by the Japanese Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard Terra NASA & Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the most complete digital elevation map ever made was constructed.

“This is the most complete, consistent global digital elevation data yet made available to the world,” said Woody Turner, ASTER program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This unique global set of data will serve users and researchers from a wide array of disciplines that need elevation and terrain information.”

Previously the best maps only covered 80% of the Earth’s landmass.  You can see visualizations of the data at the here, and download the model here.

via NASA – NASA, Japan Release Most Complete Topographic Map of Earth.

This story written by Randall Hand

Randall Hand is a computer graphics programmer and news junky that's been working in the field for the last 15 years. He's responsible for visualizations generated on some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, ytnef, mullion support in ParaView, and VizWorld.com.