This looks very cool! (In all senses of the word.) From Wired, http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/11/new-high-res-br.html. Not just a map, but a browsable map. Do take a look — the clarity and detail of the photos is unbelievable, especially when compared to what we have had to date.
New High-Res, Browsable Antarctic Photo Map From NASA
By John Borland EmailNovember 27, 2007 | 12:24:21 PMCategories: Science
202609main_3dlima_450 NASA has published a new satellite-based, mosaic photographic map of Antarctica that gives the clearest picture yet into the continent’s frozen expanses.
Piecing together about 1100 images, the mosaic shows the Antarctic continent in true-color, high-resolution, largely seamless detail, with only the only gap at the central South Pole region, NASA officials said.
The idea is to provide a tool for researchers planning expeditions, or who are watching as features change on a landscape that is still poorly known. Sez Robert Bindschadler, chief scientist of the Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center:
Antarctmosaic
“This innovation is like watching high-definition TV in living color versus watching the picture on a grainy black-and-white television. These scenes don’t just give us a snapshot, they provide a time-lapse historical record of how Antarctica has changed and will enable us to continue to watch changes unfold.”
The pictures are largely taken by the Landsat 7 satellite, mostly between 1999 and 2001, NASA officials said.
A browsable version of the map, with the ability to scroll in or out, can be found here.
Breakthrough Map of Antarctica Lays Ground for New Discoveries [NASA press release]