The Panoply application distribution includes several continental "overlay" files, either in the form of masks (GIF and PNG files) or outlines (CNO and CNOB files). We provide here many more compatible overlay files.
Many of the outline files listed below are derived from the Micro World Data Bank (MWDB) II dataset by Fred Pospeschil. These data offer outlines at five different resolutions, from 1 (very high) to 5 (very low); the resolution is denoted with a MWDB1, MWDB2, etc., in the file name. Please note that on older computers, Panoply can be sluggish when plotting outlines from MWDB1 files. Unless high resolution is needed for a regional plot, MWDB3 outlines should be sufficient for most maps.
Two overlays are embedded within the Panoply application itself:
Earth outline: Outlines of Earth's continents. Resolution is low/moderate and many large islands are omitted. Also known as Earth_aplot, this outline dataset comes from the aplot plotting application used at GISS.
Earth mask): 720×360 black-and-white mask based on Earth outline.
Other overlays are included in the application distribution in a separate "overlays" directory. If unneeded, these files can be removed from the directory and they will not be included in the plotting options the next time that Panoply is launched. They include:
Earth_MWDB3 outline: Outlines of Earth's continents. (CNOB file)
Borders_MWDB3 outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents and of national borders.
Download CNO (165 kB zipped).
USA_MWDB3 outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents and of national and U.S. state borders.
Download CNO (119 kB zipped) or CNOB (224 kB) file.
The following additional overlays are available as separate downloads. After download (and uncompression, if necessary), just place each overlay file in the "overlays" directory in the Panoply distribution. They will appear in Panoply's plotting options the next time you launch the application.
Earth_5x4 outline: Outlines of Earth's continents approximated on a 5°×4° grid. (CNO file)
Earth_5x4 mask: 720×360 black-and-white mask based on the Earth_5x4 outline. (GIF file)
Earth_10x8 outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents approximated on a 10°×8° grid.
Download CNO (2 kB zipped) file.
Earth_10x8 mask:
720×360 black-and-white mask based on the Earth_10x8 outline.
Download GIF (3 kB).
Earth_MWDB1 outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents.
Download CNO (435 kB zipped) or CNOB (973 kB) file.
Earth_MWDB1 mask:
1440×720 black-and-white mask based on the Earth_MWDB1 outline.
Download GIF (21 kB).
Earth_MWDB2 outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents.
Download CNO (288 kB zipped) or CNOB (599 kB) file.
Earth_MWDB4 outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents.
Download CNO (45 kB zipped) file.
Earth_MWDB5 outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents.
Download CNO (12 kB zipped) file.
USA_MWDB2 outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents and of national and U.S. state borders.
Download CNO (455 kB zipped) or CNOB (1.0 MB) file.
Paleo_Pliocene_3ma outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents during the Pliocene approx. 3 Mya, based on data provided by L. Sohl.
Download CNO (54 kB zipped) file.
Paleo_Pliocene_3ma mask:
1440×720 black-and-white mask based on the Paleo_Pliocene_3ma outline.
Download GIF (12 kB).
Paleo_Sturtian outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents during the Sturtian glaciation approx. 750 Mya, based on data provided by L. Sohl.
Download CNO (3 kB zipped) file.
Paleo_Sturtian mask:
720×360 black-and-white mask based on the Paleo_Sturtian outline.
Download GIF (3 kB).
Paleo_Varanger2 outline:
Outlines of Earth's continents during the Varanger glaciation approx. 650 Mya, based on data provided by L. Sohl.
Download CNO (3 kB zipped) file.
Paleo_Varanger2 mask:
720×360 black-and-white mask based on the Paleo_Varanger2 outline.
Download GIF (3 kB).
Mars_datum outline:
Outline of the line of average elevation on Mars.
Download CNO (64 kB zipped) file.