A new project to create the sharpest ever global land cover map is being backed through the Data User Element, part of the Earth Observation Envelope Programme. The GlobCover project is mainly relying on Envisat MERIS Full Resolution mode data.
This chart is a comparison of different mosaics of the same site in Siberia acquired using the 30-metre spatial resolution Landsat ETM+, the around ten times greater resolution MERIS and the 1-km resolution SPOT 5 VGT. What is clear is that MERIS delivers a level of detail closer to the former than the latter, making it a useful basis for the GlobCover mapping project. Complementary projects include GlobAEROSOL and Globwetland.