NASA Turns to Exploring Our Planet With a New 3D Map

Mount Whitney, California; The 3D map is produced from images taken by the ASTER camera aboard Nasa’s Terra spacecraft. The 3D effect is created by taking ‘stereo pairs’ of two slightly offset images.

London viewed via the Aster scanner on board Terra. The images are a mixture of elevation data, visible and infrared light.

Jersey in 3D: 260,000 new scans have been added to Terra’s world map to create the most detailed digital topographic map of the world to date.

The English Channel – as seen from space. The new upgraded scans from Nasa’s Aster scanner offer a more realistic view of water, as well as improved data.

Top of the world: Nasa’s Aster captured these stunning images of the Himalayas in Bhutan. Each image is a high-resolution photograph ‘draped over’ an elevation scan.

Death from above: The 3D map captures an astonishing view of Death Valley in California.

America’s Grand Canyon appears in 3D in this image taken by the Aster camera aboard Terra. 99 per cent of Earth’s surface is now mapped.

The Grand Canyon photographed from above by Terra – it’s the most detailed topographic image of the world, and now covers 99 per cent of Earth’s land mass.