List of places and biomes in KSP (planetary geology & geography) - UPDATING FOR v1.0.x.

[lajoswinkler]

There are several biomes on Kerbin, and if you go to orbit, you've got low orbit, high orbit and maybe more, I can't remember.

There are few stages of Kerbin's atmosphere.

So far I've seen the deserts of Kerbin, island muddy dirt, regular dirt around the KSC and the launch pad char+goo. Also, north polar ice and sea near the KSC. There are highlands, too (high mountains without snow). (beware - these are not official names of the places you see written in the experiment dialog boxes)

I've sent a probe to Minmus and, except the high and low orbit, there's the surface, and that's it. Regardless of the landing spot, the messages are the same. I've been jumping with the same probe around for an hour.

Cyan-green smooth terrain, pistachio-green plateaus, even the dirty parts (screenshot), it all seems to be one biome, unlike Kerbin.

Mün also has high and low orbit, and surface. I've got only 2 functional probes, so I can't claim that's all there is.

Let's report these places where experiments can be made. Keep it short and simple to avoid cluttering with unnecessary posts. Try to remember the proper names from the dialog boxes.

It's better not to reveal what the goo or science bay do in each situation. It's kind of a spoiler.

UPDATE (includes new stuff from v1.0.x.)

(based on users' accounts, probably quite messy and because of that subjected to constant change and refinement)

biomes on Kerbin:

- main biomes -

- grasslands

- highlands

- mountains

- deserts

- badlands

- tundra

- ice caps

- shores

- water

- secondary locations -

- administration

- astronaut complex

- crawlerway

- flag pole

- KSC

- launch pad

- mission control

- R&D

- R&D central building

- R&D corner lab

- R&D main building

- R&D observatory

- R&D side lab

- R&D small lab

- R&D tanks

- R&D wind tunnel

- runway

- SPH

- SPH main building (roof)

- SPH round tank

- SPH tanks

- SPH water wower

- tracking station

- tracking station dish east

- tracking station dish north

- tracking station dish south

- tracking station hub

- VAB

- VAB main building (roof)

- VAB pod memorial

- VAB round tank

- VAB tanks

biome map

ScanSat image of Kerbin

places on Mün:

- poles

- northern basin (53° N, 53° E)

- northwest crater (15° N, 30° E)

- twin craters (21° S, 136° E)

- southwest crater (38° 21' S, 1° 14' E)

- polar crater (59° N, 42° W)

- farside crater (7° N, 52° W)

- east farside crater (two coordinates given by the users, please check which one is correct: 6° 31' N, 209° 38' E, or 16° S, 83° E)

- highland craters (73° S, 156° E)

- midland craters (37° S, 105° W)

- eastern crater (16° S, 83° E)

- highlands (10° 27' S, 84° 27' W)

- midlands (0° N, 255° W)

- polar lowlands

- canyons (27° N, 49° W)

map

ScanSat image of Mun

places on Minmus

- highlands

- midlands

- lowlands

- slopes

- great flats

- greater flats

- lesser flats

- flats

- poles

map

ScanSat image of Minmus

places on Moho

- north pole

- northern sinkhole ridge

- northern sinkhole

- highlands

- midlands

- minor craters

- central lowlands

- western lowlands

- south western lowlands

- south eastern lowlands

- canyon

- south pole

ScanSat image of Moho

places on Eve

- poles

- Explodium Sea

- lowlands

- midlands

- highlands

- peaks

- impact ejecta

ScanSat image of Eve

places on Gilly

- lowlands

- midlands

- highlands

ScanSat image of Gilly

places on Duna

- poles

- highlands

- midlands

- lowlands

- craters

ScanSat image of Duna

places on Ike

- polar lowlands

- midlands

- lowlands

- eastern mountain ridge

- western mountain ridge

- central mountain range

- south eastern mountain range

- south pole

ScanSat image of Ike

places on Dres

- poles

- highlands

- midlands

- lowlands

- ridges

- impact ejecta

- impact craters

- canyons

ScanSat image of Dres

places on Jool

- no places

places on Laythe

- poles

- shores

- dunes

- Cresent Bay

- Sagen Sea

ScanSat image of Laythe

places on Vall

- poles

- highlands

- midlands

- lowlands

ScanSat image of Vall

places on Tylo

- highlands

- midlands

- lowlands

- maria

- minor craters

- major crater (3×)

ScanSat image of Tylo

places on Bop

- poles

- slopes

- peaks

- valley

- ridges

ScanSat image of Bop

places on Pol

- poles

- lowlands

- midlands

- highlands

ScanSat image of Pol

places on Eeloo

- poles

- glaciers

- midlands

- lowlands

- ice canyons

- highlands

- craters

ScanSat image of Eeloo

Each is accessible from low orbit, too, and then it becomes a new "place".

Once you're high above the planetary body, there are no known (!) discinctions, except when orbiting high above Minmus, where the regions are still detectable.

Atmosphere measurements are available only when the craft is on a suborbital trajectory.

heights for Kerbin:

-flight (0 m - 18 km)

-upper atmosphere (18 km - 69.1 km)

-space near Kerbin (69.1 km - 250 km)

-space high above Kerbin (250 km - SOI limit)

heights for Mün:

-space near Mün (0 m - 60 km)

-space high above Mün (60 km - SOI limit)

heights for Minmus

-space just above Minmus (0 m - 30 km)

-space high above Minmus (30 km - SOI limit)

heights for Kerbol

-space near Kerbol (0 km - 1,000,000 km)

-space high above Kerbol (1,000,000 km - ∞?)

heights for Moho

-space near Moho (0 km - 80 km)

-space high over Moho (80 km - SOI limit)

heights for Eve

-flight (0 m - 22 km)

-upper atmosphere (22 km - 96.7 km)

-space near Eve (96.7 km - 400 km)

-space high over Eve (400 km - SOI limit)

heights for Gilly

-space near Gilly (0 m - 6 km)

-space high above Gilly (6 km - SOI limit)

heights for Duna

-flight (0 m - 11.7 km)

-upper atmosphere (not detected or highly variable detection)

-space near Duna (41.4 km - 140 km)

-space high over Duna (140 km - SOI limit)

heights for Ike

-space near Ike (0 m - 50 km)

-space high over Ike (50 km - SOI limit)

heights for Dres

-space near Dres (0 km - 25 km)

-space high above Dres (25 km - SOI limit)

heights for Jool

-flight (-250 m - 120 km; if on suborbital trajectory, otherwise "space near")

-upper atmosphere (120 km - 118 km; if on suborbital trajectory, otherwise "space near")

-space near Jool (118 km - 4000 km)

-space high above Jool (4000 km - SOI limit)

heights for Laythe (needs more verification)

-flight (0 m - 10.2 km)

-upper atmosphere (10.2 km - 55.2 km)

-space near Laythe (55.2 km - 200 km)

-space high above Laythe (200 km - SOI limit)

heights for Vall

-space near Vall (0 m - 90 km)

-space high above Vall (90 km - SOI limit)

heights for Tylo

-space near Tylo (0 m - 250 km)

-space high above Tylo (250 km - SOI limit)

heights for Bop

-space near Bop (0 m - 25 km)

-space high above Bop (25 km - SOI limit)

heights for Pol

-space near Pol (0 m - 22 km)

-space high above Pol (22 km - SOI limit)

heights for Eeloo

-space near Eeloo (0 km - 60 km)

-space high above Eeloo (60 km - SOI limit)

Edited May 19, 2015 by lajoswinkler
constant update

[spikeyhat09]

i thought i remembered hearing that mun craters where their own biomes...

[Nurph]

Only the Mun and Kerbin have proper biomes currently. I think it's mentioned in the change log.

[FITorion]

There's beaches and tundra to add to the list for Kerbin...

Just did a flight to the north pole doing crew reports the whole way to catch as many biomes as possible. Goo doesn't seem to react to biomes really... unless maybe if you're on the ground. I had 4 goos with me but... forgot to expose them once I'd landed.

Haven't done much Mun biome exploration yet.

[Godot]

i thought i remembered hearing that mun craters where their own biomes...

I can cnfirm this at least for the one crater I landed in ... the Farside crater ... its own Biome unlike the area outside of it (which is IIRC called middle ground or something like that)

[Godot]

...

Just did a flight to the north pole doing crew reports the whole way to catch as many biomes as possible. Goo doesn't seem to react to biomes really... unless maybe if you're on the ground. I had 4 goos with me but... forgot to expose them once I'd landed.

...

Well, there is at least one Biome to which it reacts ... the ocean (i.e. if you are in water)

[magnemoe]

i thought i remembered hearing that mun craters where their own biomes...

Look like the major craters are desperate biomes. This make the first Mun mission an killer if you manage to land in an crater and then do an suborbital jump out before returning.

New equipment also give you more imitative. The g-meter is now also for measuring seismic. First sample on Minmus gave 250 science.

However you can just send an small probe to do follow up experiments.

[sewerbird]

I just did a polar Mun mission, spotting several biomes from low orbit. Here's my (very likely incomplete, and partly from memory) findings. There are of course high orbit and low orbit.

Latitude Based -

Poles

Highlands

Midlands

Craters I Passed Over -

Far Side Crater

Southwest Crater

Highland Craters

Polar Crater

(South pole lowlands? I forget the exact name)

In general, the biomes seem to coincide with the 'major craters' (the craters we had before the Mun got pockmarked) and latitude divisions at +-45* and +-75* latitude.

[nimbim]

Also worth noting, anomalies don't give extra science. I tested at the Armstrong Memorial and it just gave me data for the Northwest Crater.

[DevoidLight]

Has anyone compiled or are they planing to compile maps of the biomes?

[OrtwinS]

Has anyone compiled or are they planing to compile maps of the biomes?

Not yet, we NEED a ISA MapSat-like part to map this stuff.

Mun Biomes I have encountered thus far (from low equatorial orbit):

Farside Crater

Western Farside Crater (or something like that)

Highlands

Midlands

Midland Craters

Eastern Crater (I think, there was one more, I think it was Eastern, gaaaaah! We need to document this properly!)

[Ratzap]

I've visited 11 spots so far on the Mun:

North pole - Muns Polar Lowlands

South pole - Mun's Poles

East Farside Crater

Midlands (generic)

Muns Twin Craters - 21S 136E

Muns Highlands (generic)- 10 27S 84 27W

Muns East Crater - 16S 83E

Muns Southwest Crater - 38 21S 1 14E

Muns Polar Crater - 59N 42W

Muns Farside Crater - 7N 52W

Muns Canyons - 27N 49W

I'll be landing on more today as I intend milking the Kerbin system for everything it has Each one yields around 400 for a return. The generic ones don't seem to be tied to a latitude rather than to the height of the land.

46 degrees north was the same as the equator spot I'd been to - Muns Midlands.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Ratzap

[magnemoe]

At least on Kerbin an kerbal in eva will have different reports for each area then you fly over.

The gravity detector also have different reports.

This let you both map and get lots of science at once.

[Thiagobs]

Well, I am sure all of you know about this, but since no one mentioned yet...

HarvesteR posted the biome map for Kerbin on his Dev Blag some time ago:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/entries/971-Doing-Science-Celestial-Body-Biomes

[kerm]

Last night I put a satellite in low polar orbit around the moon last night and did a few dozen passes. I created an action group for the gravity wave detector, and ran a report whenever I saw something interesting. I found 13 different geographic features; there may be more.

* Mun's Poles (I think these both count as one)

* Polar Lowlands

* Northern Basin

* Mun's Highlands

* Mun's Midlands

* Polar Crater

* East Crater

* East Farside Crater

* Farside Crater

* Northwest Crater

* Highland Craters

* Twin Craters

* Southwest Crater

Each biome generates its own distinct gravitation field, both at high (>60k) and low (<60k) orbit. By parking yourself in a slightly eccentric polar orbit and being observant and patient you could obtain something like 2600 science with the grav detector alone.

Or, you could do what I did, which is face plant Bill into the Mun's north pole in search of rocks.

[AmpsterMan]

Per the game files, it seems there are biomes only on Mun and Kerbin. As a tip, the biomes are easily distinguishable from orbit or mapview if you are observant/creative enough.

[lajoswinkler]

Well, I am sure all of you know about this, but since no one mentioned yet...

HarvesteR posted the biome map for Kerbin on his Dev Blag some time ago:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/entries/971-Doing-Science-Celestial-Body-Biomes

Excellent, thank you.

* Grasslands

* Highlands

* Mountains

* Deserts

* Badlands

* Tundra

* Ice Caps

* Shores

* Water

But what are badlands?

And has anyone tried to splash into Eve's oceans?

[Shisouka]

This are badlands

[Stealth2668]

What's the altitude for low and high orbits? Is it the same for every planet or is it relative to the size of the planet?

[kerm]

And has anyone tried to splash into Eve's oceans?

Yes. I dropped landers with the full science complement on both the solid and liquid surfaces of Eve. These do give different results, at least for some of the instruments. In particular, I remember seismic working on land but not at sea.

Additionally, the avionics package generates different results for "upper atmosphere above Eve", "flying on Eve," and "at Eve's surface." I can't remember if it gave different results on liquid and solid surfaces.

[Godot]

Another one that doesn´t seem to be in the list yet:

Muns canyons

(found it after a hop to the canyon east of the eastern Farside Crater)

[OrtwinS]

Dear OP, please update the first post with the info we have collected:

Only Kerbin and Mun have biomes,

other planets and moons will be recieve biomes with later updates (hopefully/maybe a .22.1?)

Kerbin Biomes:

* Grasslands

* Highlands

* Mountains

* Deserts

* Badlands

* Tundra

* Ice Caps

* Shores

* Water

As listed on Harvesters Dev Blag (http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/entries/971-Doing-Science-Celestial-Body-Biomes)

There is also:

* KSC

* Launchpad

* Island muddy dirt (can someone confirm this one? OP named it, is this the airstrip island?)

* Water near KSC (someone in another thread named this, need confirmation)

Kerbin Height Differences:

* Flying (0 - ?k)

* Upper atmosphere (?k - 70k)

* Space near Kerbin (70k - ?k)

* Space high above Kerbin (>?k)

Mun Biomes:

* Mun's Poles

* Polar Lowlands

* Northern Basin

* Mun's Highlands

* Mun's Midlands

* Polar Crater

* East Crater

* East Farside Crater

* Farside Crater

* Northwest Crater

* Highland Craters

* Midland Craters

* Twin Craters

* Southwest Crater

* Muns Canyons

>>>Who comes up with the first decent picture?<<<

Mun Height differences:

space near the Mun (0 - 60k) (55, 60 or 65, I forgot)

Space high above Mun (>60k, within Mun SOI)

As long as you are in Space near Kerbin or Mun EVA reports will render different results depending on the Biome below you.

Edited October 18, 2013 by OrtwinS
added Muns canyons, typo

[lazarus1024]

Question on the Mun biomes, do you get different results being up on the crater wall versus the floor of the crater? Or is the whole area just considered crater? Trying to get an idea of if it is worth, say, putting a mission down near a crater, then driving a rover down in to get a different biome.

It would be nice to have actual maps of the Biomes...especially, say, the ability to see them in map view.

Suggestion, have a radar dish that you shows you the Biomes in map view when activated if you are in low orbit around the planet/moon.

[malkuth]

Im surprised that Kerbins own crater is not a biome I was going to send a probe.. Maybe it is.

[Aragosnat]

Question on the Mun biomes, do you get different results being up on the crater wall versus the floor of the crater? Or is the whole area just considered crater? Trying to get an idea of if it is worth, say, putting a mission down near a crater, then driving a rover down in to get a different biome.

It would be nice to have actual maps of the Biomes...especially, say, the ability to see them in map view.

Suggestion, have a radar dish that you shows you the Biomes in map view when activated if you are in low orbit around the planet/moon.

It is the whole area. If you are high on a crate it is the same as the bottom right now.