Chapter 9. Upcoming Improvements

We anticipate additional improvements for GLOBE. Here are some of the possibilities.

NGDC has access to two new bathymetric models of higher resolution than the Digital Bathymetric Data Base 5-minute (DBDB5) that was used in ETOPO5 and TerrainBase. Neither is quite ready for release. When a digital bathymetric model has been released that is compatible with the GLOBE DEM, we anticipate combining it with GLOBE.

There are two options for incorporating elevations and bathymetry:

1. Blend the two data sets together. In this option, all 16 GLOBE compressed tiles on the GLOBE FTP and Web site will contain both elevations and bathymetry. Each tile will be much larger than at present.
2. Have two versions of GLOBE: (1) a dry GLOBE having only land elevations, and (2) a wet/dry GLOBE having both elevations and bathymetry.

Comments on these options would be appreciated. Our address and email contact information is given in Section 1.

GLOBE Version 1.0 makes useful and fascinating reference data for analysis and presentation of other data. For example, Stable Lights data sets from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan System (OLS) make dramatic illustrations of human impact on the global environment, when plotted on base map color or shaded-relief illustrations of GLOBE 1.0 data. The Gallery of GLOBE Images on the GLOBE Web site contains examples of such data integration.

Several elevation models have been made available to the GLOBE Task Team. Others are still being discussed with their developers. We hope to add updates periodically. If you have DEMs that could be adapted for GLOBE, we would appreciate your contributions. Contact information is given in Section 1.