Need geographical maps of earth

October 27, 2007 3:50 AM

I'm looking for some fairly high-quality geographical maps of the whole planet (preferably contained in a single map, instead of being spread over several), but without any details on it whatsoever to do with places or names, not even names of mountains or rivers - no country/state borders drawn in either - the only detail should be things like the geography (high/low land, desert, mountains, forest, etc) Thanks in advance!
posted by heylight to science & nature (6 comments total)

Satellite images any good?

That's not quite the one I was thinking of, but I can't seem to find that one anywhere, and the best I could find in the US had stuff written all over it. You'd think NASA would sell them, wouldn't you? I'm sure I've seen a gift shop on their site before, but maybe I was wrong or it's disappeared.
posted by Lebannen at 4:38 AM on October 27, 2007

NASA's Visible Earth may lead you to what you want. Maybe.
posted by dontrockwobble at 5:44 AM on October 27, 2007

Boulder Map Gallery in Boulder CO has a great selection of maps. I remember seeing just the one you are looking for but I can’t find it on their website. I would call them and just ask. They have a extensive knowledge or what is available. Plus they are really nice guys.
posted by Morgangr at 8:17 AM on October 27, 2007

Try searching for "Blue Marble", the colloquial name for cloud-free composites of remotely-sensed data. Sometimes they are depicted as head-on "circle" views, but often they are stretched to two-dimensional geographic coordinates. As dontrockwobble mentioned, NASA's Visible Earth has quite a series--some are here. It seems like this "World Topo Bathy" [big jpg], which has surface reflectance with some relief above and below sea level might be right up your alley.
posted by zachxman at 10:43 AM on October 27, 2007

Check out Raven Maps and Images.
posted by Wet Spot at 1:21 PM on October 27, 2007

Hmm, on rereading, I'm wondering why I was so sure you meant a paper map to stick on the wall, rather than image files, when it doesn't state either in the question. Oh well!
posted by Lebannen at 4:33 PM on October 27, 2007