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From satellite photography to five million miles of street-level imagery, detailed maps have transformed our view of the world.

But while maps such Google Street View help us better find places, one designer claims our understanding of the wider landscape remains far too basic.

Now London-based Michael Percirno is attempting to change this using minimalist maps of the US that single out specific features such forests, crops and the nation's urban sprawl.

Using minimalist maps of the US landscape that single out specific features, London-based designer Michael Percirno is hoping to give people a better understanding of the US landscape. This map shows the grasslands of America. Much of these prairielands have been converted into some of the richest agricultural regions on Earth

'With advances in mapping technology we're still primarily left with two dominate maps – the political and the physical,' Mr Percirno told DailyMail.com.

'While internet maps, allow users to zoom in to an incredible level of detail, we're not necessarily told anything new; our understanding of the landscape is still the same, just higher in resolution.'

Mr Pecorino inspiration came from road trips as a child through the Midwest where he would pass through miles of cornfields.

Cornfields take up 91 million acres of the American landscape or around 4.83 per cent of the continuous US.

The urban sprawl map reveals lack of development across stretches of the West, and the emerging Southeast chain of metropolitan areas

By focusing each map on a single subject, the designer hopes to help people better visualise and understand the landscape in which they live. Pictured are the spread of evergreen forest across America

All the maps for this project were created using data from the US Department of Agriculture. 'My inspiration for exploring the world through data comes from an understanding and interest in historical cartography,' said Mr Percirno

While hearing that value is impressive, there is little way right now for us to visualise what 4.83 per cent of the American landscape looks like, Mr Percirno said.

By focusing each map on a single subject, the designer hopes to help people better visualise and understand the landscape in which they live.

His maps look at features such as the distribution of grassland, urban sprawl, shrubs, evergreen, deciduous forests, water and corn. 

The urban sprawl map, for instance, reveals the lack of development across huge stretches of the West, and the emerging southeast chain of adjacent metropolitan areas.

The map of deciduous forests - or trees that lose their leaves during the winter - shows how in some places, like New England, the forest has made a comeback as rural populations have moved to cities. 

All the maps for this project were created using data from the US Department of Agriculture.

'My inspiration for exploring the world through data comes from an understanding and interest in historical cartography,' said Mr Percirno.

'Mapping has always been done through the collection of information, which was then plotted into a projected system to create a general understanding of a place.

'With a new wealth of data designers have been able to improve maps, but this has primarily been through the increase of resolution, rather than a change in narrative.

'The maps I've worked on attempt to take this wealth of data and ask what story can be told when we have so much available.

Mr Percirno now wants to map these pieces of data digitally over Google Maps, allowing users to layer different features.

The map of deciduous forests - which describes trees that lose their leaves during the winter - shows how in some places, like New England, the forest has made a comeback as rural populations have moved to cities

Mr Pecorino inspiration came from road trips as a child through the Midwest where he would pass through miles of cornfields. This map reveals how corn dominates Midwest states such as Illinois and Iowa

'The maps I've worked on attempt to take this wealth of data and ask what story can be told when we have so much available.' Mr Percirno now wants to map these pieces of data digitally over Google Maps, allowing users to layer different features