Map of Antarctica gives stunning views: 30-11-2007
Scientists have produced the most detailed map of Antarctica to give a stunning high-definition panoramic view of the region.
Mainly from the American Landsat spacecraft, the images show 3,500 kilometre-wide icy terrain.
"This is how Antarctica really looks and you can have any piece of it you want. This really is Antarctica in true colour," said Robert Bindschadler from the Goddard Space Flight Centre.
Named the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (Lima) is made up of many images that are all cloud-free.
Speaking to BBC News, Andrew Flemming from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said the pictures would reveal huge areas that had never been revealed before.
The new pictures are also expected to be of valuable use to explorers, enabling them to survey the area before they arrive.
"This is a real, calibrated, rigorously processed surface-reflectance dataset; so the values actually mean something and scientists will be able to compare values from one side of the continent with the other," Flemming revealed.
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