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Map Shows 99 Percent of Earth's Terrain

CNN
posted: 5 HOURS 28 MINUTES AGO
comments: 39
filed under: Science News
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(July 1) -- NASA and Japan improved our world view this week, or at least our view of the world.
The American space agency and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have released a new digital topographic map of Earth that accurately portrays more of our planet than ever before.
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The new map consists of 1.3 million images taken by NASA's Terra satellite that have been pieced together to form a unified picture of the planet. The images were taken by a Japanese imaging instrument called the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or ASTER.
"This is the most complete, consistent global digital elevation data yet made available to the world," said Woody Turner, a program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington.
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The map covers more than 99 percent of Earth's land mass from north of the Arctic Circle to south of the Antarctic Circle. During February 2000, space shuttle Endeavour mapped about 80 percent of the planet's surface.
"The ASTER data fill in many of the voids in the shuttle mission's data, such as in very steep terrains and in some deserts," said Michael Kobrick, a shuttle project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which manages the program. "NASA is working to combine" the new data with that from the shuttle and other sources "to produce an even better global topographic map."
© 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2009-07-01 09:26:02
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Srsnakes

04:49 PMJul 01 2009

DAVIDW0153 04:46 PMJul 01 2009 For Obama, bend over the change is comming....He lied...he said no new taxes for the ones who make under $200k...Now look at all the new taxes and most are for those who make $100k or less a year...The liar is sinking this country>>>>>>I said all along that no one would want to pay for the insane spending that GWD did. HE ran up the bills. Now WE have to pay them. Did you think the Iraq war would be free? If we had all the money we paid to Dick Cheney and Halliburton, we'd be in great shape.

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DAVIDW0153

04:46 PMJul 01 2009

For Obama, bend over the change is comming....He lied...he said no new taxes for the ones who make under $200k...Now look at all the new taxes and most are for those who make $100k or less a year...The liar is sinking this country

AVG RATING:
(3)

Srsnakes

04:39 PMJul 01 2009

I wish someone would tell me exactly why they think that Obama is not a great leader.

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(1)

EZHAI

04:37 PMJul 01 2009

The madness that is Obama, Biden, Pelosi and Reid permeates everything. They are the destruction of the US.

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(4)

Miltjones57

04:28 PMJul 01 2009

The stupidity of both the far right and far left is appalling. People can't discuss anything without the rancor and hatred spilling over. Grow up children, learn to live together or die out. Your choice!

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(2)

Rushechos

04:23 PMJul 01 2009

scrimshawshank 04:09 PMJul 01 2009 Awesome. Look up at the top. It's King Obama, Self Proclaimed God of the World! =========== What the heck is this stupid comment supposed to mean, anyway? The only one I've EVER heard claim to be the King of the World is Leonardo Decaprio. I've NEVER heard anyone claim to be the God of the world. So why would you say something so stupid?

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Genaduncan

04:10 PMJul 01 2009

SKSny - The US IS a third world country now and getting worse by the day

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scrimshawshank

04:09 PMJul 01 2009

Awesome. Look up at the top. It's King Obama, Self Proclaimed God of the World!

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(8)

Sixeyess4dinner

03:53 PMJul 01 2009

A more informative ASTER article is at the below link. "".....Aster's accurate topographic data will be used for engineering, energy exploration, conserving natural resources, environmental management, public works design, firefighting, recreation, geology and city planning, to name just a few areas," Abrams said...."" http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630162848.htm

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Sixeyess4dinner

03:39 PMJul 01 2009

The database, or 'Image Gallery' for ASTER is at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gallerymap.asp...... Compared to other JPL websites, the ASTER site is rather odd. The main map appears to only serve as a crude reference to archived data (disclaimer: half the page on my monitor is blank when I view the map/homepage.) Categorical selections can be made from the left column, and user-input parameters (such as "California" or "volcano") put into the site search-engine sends one to a google results page, from which you make your selection. I suppose I'm not bitching about, it's just odd...................

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