The ULTIMATE Panorama! The entire World in one panorama photo! by John Murray

This is the ULTIMATE PANORAMA! The entire planet as one panorama photo!

Enjoy exploring the European Space Agency's GLOBCOVER Global Land Cover map. This map is also free to download from their website at dup.esrin.esa.int/projects/isummaryp68.asp  and is free to use in any non-commerical way.

This map has a resolution 10 times sharper than any of its predecessors. Scientists use the data to plot worldwide land-cover trends, study natural and managed ecosystems and to model climate change extent and impacts. "Land cover data is an essential requirement of the sustainable management of natural resources, environmental protection, food security, climate change and humanitarian programmes," John Latham of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

The map is based on 20 Terabytes of satellite imagery taken from May 2005 to April 2006 by the ESA's Envisat environmental satellite. There are different land cover types shown in the map: croplands, wetlands, forests, artificial surfaces, water bodies and permanent snow and ice. For convenience, the map's legend complies with the UN Land Cover Classification System (LCCS).

The version of the map that is available for downloading is 11.929 pixels x 6.614 pixels, or a total of approx. 75 megapixels. If you download the full-resolution TIF image from the ESA website, it could be printed at approx. 126cm x 70cm (50" x 28"). The file size is 301MB. The original version is 129.600 pixels x 64.800 pixels, or approx. 7,82 GigaPixels! If printed it would measure approx. 11 meters x 5,5 meters (30 ft x 15 ft).

In addition to the global map posted here, there are eleven regional maps available for downloading: North America, Central & South America, Africa, Australia & Oceania, Asia, Europe, SE Asia, France, the UK & Ireland, Germany & Benelux, and Venezuela.