The new map of Antarctica is the highest resolution of any continent on earth

The most accurate terrain map of Antarctica has a resolution of two to eight meters, 100 times sharper than previous representations.

Antarctica has become the best-mapped continent of the Earth with a new high-resolution relief map showing ice-covered land mass with unprecedented details. The map of the Antarctic Reference Elevation Model (REMA) has a resolution more than 100 times sharper than previous representations.

"At this resolution, you can see almost everything," said Ian Howat, who developed the map, in a statement. "It's the highest resolution terrain map of all continents. Until now, we had a better map of Mars than that of Antarctica. It is now the best mapped continent.

The highest resolution of the Antarctic ever produced. Ohio State University

Howat, a professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, and his team used supercomputers to process large amounts of data – 150 terabytes in total. To put it in perspective, the US Library of Congress had about 525 terabytes of web archive data in 2014.

They began by using images from satellites orbiting the polar regions. Hundreds and thousands of individual models have been extracted from satellite image pairs.

The software developed by Howat and his colleagues was then used to create the map. "REMA provides the first set of high-resolution, high-precision field data of about 98 percent of the contiguous continental landmass of Antarctica, which extends to 88 ° S," notes the website. project.

See all best photos of the week in these slideshows

Mulock Glacier, between Byrd Glacier and McMurdo Dry Valleys. REMA / Ohio State University

Howat said the map would be essential for the scientific community: "We can actually see variations in the snow in some places. We will be able to measure changes in the surface of the continent over time. We will see changes in the snow cover, changes in the movement of the ice, we can monitor the flow of the river, floods and volcanoes. We will be able to see the thinning of the glaciers. "

The card has been well received by experts from around the world. Mark Drinkwater, head of the Earth Sciences Division and the European Space Agency's missions, described it as "spectacular", while Greg Cocks, data specialist at the USGS, said

To access the complete map, click here.