Most Detailed Map of Earth Unveiled

ESA’s 2009 global land cover map has been released.GlobCover 2009 proves the sharpest possible global land cover map can be created within a year.


The map was produced using 12 months of data from Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer at a resolution of 300 m.



ESA and Belgium’s Université catholique de Louvain created the map using software developed by Medias France and Germany’s Brockmann Consult on data collected from 1 January to 31 December 2009.GlobCover 2009 was generated within a year of acquiring the final satellite data.



The map’s legend uses the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Land Cover Classification System.