Earth textures

Notes

To run the Orbiter 2015 beta, you must install at least the low-resolution surface pack and the cloud texture pack.

In addition you can download the high-resolution packs, either the complete dataset, or by picking individual tiles from the map picker.

Please note that the Earth textures are still under development. High-resolution coverage is currently only available between latitudes -56.25° and +56.25°. The texture files will be updated periodically.

Low-resolution packs (required)

The low-resolution surface texture pack (EarthLo.zip), and the cloud texture pack (Earth_Cloud.zip) are required to run Orbiter 2015 Beta. To install, move the zip files into your Orbiter root directory, and unzip them there, allowing to overwrite existing files if prompted.

Complete high-resolution pack (optional)

This section contains the entire Orbiter 2015 Earth tileset (resolution levels 1-19) as a single 7z archive. The archive has been split into multiple file fragments for ease of downloading.

All fragments must be downloaded before unpacking the dataset.

You need an extraction tool that understands the 7z archive format, such as 7-zip. Move the file fragments into your Orbiter root directory and extract them there. Allow the extractor to overwrite files if prompted.

Map picker (optional)

Instead of downloading the complete dataset, you can download and install high-resolution tiles for individual geographical areas. Click on tiles in the map below to download the corresponding texture packs.

Move the downloaded zip files into the Orbiter root directory and unpack them.

The global low-resolution pack must have been installed before unpacking any of the high-resolution packs.

• Bright tiles: available
• Crossed-out tiles: don't contain highres textures
• Dark tiles: not processed yet

Credits

The global Earth textures are based on Landsat-7 ETM orthorectified scenes. They have been extensively processed for map projection, colour balance adjustment, seam removal, cloud reduction and coastline merging. Some data processing details can be found here.

The global low-resolution water surfaces, as well as cloud textures and the low-resolution content of the night-light textures, have been adapted from the NASA Visible Earth global textures.

High resolution textures for Florida are derived from 2004 Digital Orthoimage Quarter Quads.

Elevation data are extracted from the SRTM 90m Digital Elevation Database.