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The Sharpest Ever Global Earth Map

Posted by Zonk on from the globcover-plus-google-maps-equals-bliss dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "The GLOBCOVER project, started by the European Space Agency (ESA), has a very simple goal. It will create the most detailed portrait of the Earth's land surface with a resolution three times sharper than any previous satellite map. The image acquisition will be done throughout 2005 and use the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument of the Envisat environmental satellite. To create this sharp map, the GLOBCOVER project will analyze about 20 terabytes of data gathered by the European satellite. When it's completed, the map will have numerous uses, 'including plotting worldwide land use trends, studying natural and managed ecosystems and modelling climate change extent and impacts.'"

19 of 204 comments (clear)

  1. 'hello mum' by thegoldenear · · Score: 5, Funny

    time to put something interesting on the roof for when the sat passes over

    1. Re:'hello mum' by Uruk · · Score: 3, Funny

      And it's also time to send out notice to the Californians: no more nude sunbathing.

      Now that would be one hell of a computer science Ph.D. project: "Investigating the 'Where's Waldo' Imaging Algorithm for the Detection of Nude Figures in Satellite Photos"

      --
      -- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
    2. Re:'hello mum' by PopeAlien · · Score: 4, Funny

      And it's also time to send out notice to the Californians: no more nude sunbathing.

      you accidentally put the word no in there..
      its a minor typo, but it really should be "notice to Californians: more nude sunbathing".

      --
      air and light and time and space
    3. Re:'hello mum' by Gulthek · · Score: 5, Funny

      Your joke is one line too long.

    4. Re:'hello mum' by peculiarmethod · · Score: 3, Funny

      one could get a neighborhood to make roofs into pixels of a larger picture (goatse anyone?) by painting or tacking plastic over the larger part.

      just a thought.

      --
      ** "It's not my job to stand between the people talking to me, and the ones listening to me." -- Pego the Jerk
    5. Re:'hello mum' by Reaperducer · · Score: 5, Funny

      The satellite imagery for this is being recorded at a resolution of 300 m. For comparison, the most zoomed in you can get on GoogleMaps is 2 m per a pixel.

      But 300 is more than 2, so it must be better. That's why we're all salivating for 64-bit Minesweeper. Because it will be better than 32-bit Minesweeper.

      Haven't you learned anything from TV commercials?
      Digital is always better than analog, even when it isn't.
      More is always better than less, even when it isn't.
      More candy. More soda. More monkeys. More thermonuclear weapons.

      --
      -- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
    6. Re:'hello mum' by sootman · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm gonna put a giant mirror on my roof so I can see what this satellite looks like.

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      Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
    7. Re:'hello mum' by jericho4.0 · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Hi. My names Chris, I'm your neighbour from down the road......No, we've never met...Yeah, sorry about my dog, I'll try to keep her out of your yard...Well, anyway, there's this satellite ppicture being taken tomorrow, and I was wondering if I might convince you to join me and the other neighbours in trying to make a picture on our roofs.....Yeah, in space.....Yes, the internets will have it.... You will? Cool!....The picture? OK, uh...,here it is, but please understand, it's funny to a good chunk of the internet community, who are quite familiar with it, and I, uh..Oh, forget it.

      --
      "A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
  2. Medium? by brianmf · · Score: 5, Funny

    The image acquisition will be done throughout 2005 and use the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument of the Envisat environmental satellite.

    Surely the High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer would be more appropriate?

    1. Re:Medium? by yotto · · Score: 2, Funny

      They're saving that one for the next pass, so they don't have to jump to something stupid sounding like UltraWideBand for the third pass.

      --
      Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
  3. MERIS by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Funny
    The image acquisition will be done throughout 2005 and use the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument of the Envisat environmental satellite

    Niles will be happy to hear she's orbiting the planet...

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

  4. First thing we're all looking for ... by SamSeaborn · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can see my house!

  5. Oh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    shit... better throw a tarp over my missles...

  6. Yes, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Will I be able to see the titties around the world's pools and beaches? If not, it all seems like a bit of a waste.

  7. Sharpest Map? by NightWulf · · Score: 2, Funny

    "The image acquisition will be done throughout 2005 and use the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer" So if they want to create the sharpest map, wouldn't it be best to use the High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer? Duh....

  8. So... by dfn5 · · Score: 3, Funny
    acquiring images with a spatial resolution of 300 metres

    So the most important question is how big does my sign have to be?

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    -- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
  9. Re:vegetation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    That area without the trees...it's called the ocean.

  10. Re:Typo? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Clear as mud. Thanks for obfuscating that up.

  11. Re:Google it up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    U2 has a spy plane?