Evolution and implementation of the Digital Earth vision,technology and society

Abstract

Digital Earth's framework can be traced to evolutionary threads with historic foundations that fostered the fertile conceptual and technological incubation. These threads incorporate writings, such as those of the visionary engineering-genius, Buckminster Fuller, in conjunction with an array of space age developments in computers, internet and communications, satellites, and education. In 1998, when Vice President Al Gore articulated the Digital Earth Vision, he portrayed the vision based upon myriad technology factors for the intellectual foundation and sparked a worldwide phenomenon that fortuitously included the Chinese leadership's recognition and acceptance. The Beijing Declaration is recognised for its role promulgating the International Digital Earth Symposium series to promote better understanding of the impacts of Digital Earth technology and applications on behalf of all humankind. Combinations of industrial, academic, and government organisations have advanced the technological components necessary for implementing the Digital Earth Vision at a prodigious rate. Commercial leaders, such as Google, have accelerated the influence of large segments of society towards components of the Digital Earth Vision. However, challenges still remain regarding requisite collaboration on international standards for metadata, interoperability, and data formats for space and time that will affect Digital Earth implementation scenarios. Functional requirements for the model Digital Earth geobrowser remain to be fully articulated. The current paper presents an overview of the historical components, the key players on the international scene, the catalytic technological advances, and the societal response to the growth of the Digital Earth community.     

Addressing administrative units in international tsunami early warning systems: shortcomings in international geocode standards

Abstract

Administrative units reflect the territorial hierarchies established within all countries of the world. The units are addressable with geocodes that provide a bijective mapping between territories and unique identification codes. Early warning systems for natural or man-made hazards often map affected or threatened areas to administrative units to establish a spatial reference that is comprehensible to all parts of the population. Addressing these territories in an international context has several requirements, such as worldwide coverage, completeness and topicality, which must be met by geocode standards. In this paper, the practicability and suitability of international geocode standards are examined in the context of the requirements of large-scale early warning systems. This paper exposes the insufficiencies and limitations of existing geocode standards International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-3166, Second Administrative Level Boundaries data set project (SALB) and Nomenclature of the Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) and emphasises the suitability of the non-official hierarchical administrative subdivision codes (HASC). The analysis is framed in the context of addressing affected areas for an Indian Ocean tsunami early warning system. This system was developed within the Distant Early Warning Systems project according to the requirements of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission for Regional Tsunami Watch Providers (RTWPs).     

Monthly soil erosion monitoring based on remotely sensed biophysical parameters: a case study in Strymonas river basin towards a functional pan-European service

Abstract

Currently, many soil erosion studies at local, regional, national or continental scale use models based on the USLE-family approaches. Applications of these models pay little attention to seasonal changes, despite evidence in the literature which suggests that erosion risk may change rapidly according to intra-annual rainfall figures and vegetation phenology. This paper emphasises the aspect of seasonality in soil erosion mapping by using month-step rainfall erosivity data and biophysical time series data derived from remote-sensing. The latter, together with other existing pan-European geo-databases sets the basis for a functional pan-European service for soil erosion monitoring at a scale of 1:500,000. This potential service has led to the establishment of a new modelling approach (called the G2 model) based on the inheritance of USLE-family models. The G2 model proposes innovative techniques for the estimation of vegetation and protection factors. The model has been applied in a 14,500 km² study area in SE Europe covering a major part of the basin of the cross-border river, Strymonas. Model results were verified with erosion and sedimentation figures from previous research. The study confirmed that monthly erosion mapping would identify the critical months and would allow erosion figures to be linked to specific land uses.     

European digital archive on soil maps (EuDASM): preserving important soil data for public free access

Abstract

Historical soil survey paper maps are valuable resources that underpin strategies to support soil protection and promote sustainable land use practices, especially in developing countries where digital soil information is often missing. However, many of the soil maps, in particular those for developing countries, are held in traditional archives that are not easily accessible to potential users. Additionally, many of these documents are over 50 years old and are beginning to deteriorate. Realising the need to conserve this information, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the ISRIC-World Soil Information foundation have created the European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM), through which all archived paper maps of ISRIC has been made accessible to the public through the Internet. The immediate objective is to transfer paper-based soil maps into a digital format with the maximum possible resolution and to ensure their preservation and easy disclosure. More than 6,000 maps from 135 countries have been captured and are freely available to users through a user-friendly web-based interface. Initial feedback has been very positive, especially from users in Africa, South America and Asia to whom archived soil maps were made available to local users, often for the first time. Link: http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/library/maps/country_maps/list_countries.cfm     

Exploring the reasons for the seasons using Google Earth, 3D models,and plots

ABSTRACT

Public understanding of climate and climate change is of broad societal importance. However, misconceptions regarding reasons for the seasons abound amongst students, teachers, and the public, many of whom believe that seasonality is caused by large variations in Earth’s distance from the Sun. Misconceptions may be reinforced by textbook illustrations that exaggerate eccentricity or show an inclined view of Earth’s near-circular orbit. Textbook explanations that omit multiple factors influencing seasons, that do not mesh with students’ experiences, or that are erroneous, hinder scientifically valid reasoning. Studies show that many teachers share their students’ misconceptions, and even when they understand basic concepts, teachers may fail to appreciate the range of factors contributing to seasonal change, or their relative importance. We have therefore developed a learning resource using Google Earth, a virtual globe with other useful, weather- and climate-related visualizations. A classroom test of 27 undergraduates in a public research university showed that 15 improved their test scores after the Google Earth-based laboratory class, whereas 5 disimproved. Mean correct answers rose from 4.7/10 to 6/10, giving a paired t-test value of 0.21. After using Google Earth, students are helped to segue to a heliocentric view.     

Application of remote sensing for investigating mining geological hazards

Abstract

To investigate geological mining hazards using digital techniques such as high-resolution remote sensing, a semi-automatically geological mining hazards extraction method is proposed based on the case of the Shijiaying coal mine, located in Fangshan District, Beijing, China. In the method, the vegetation is first removed using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) on the GeoEye-1 data. Then, geological mining hazards interpretation features are determined after color enhancement using principal component analysis (PCA) transformation. Bitmaps mainly covered by geological mining hazards are isolated by masking operation in the environment for visualizing images software. Next, each bitmap is classified into a two-valued imagery using support vector machine algorithm. In the two-valued imagery, 1 denotes the geological mining hazards, while 0 denotes none. Afterwards, the two-valued imagery is converted into a vector graph by corresponding functions in the ArcGIS software and no geological mining hazards regions in the vector graph are deleted manually. Finally, the correlation between factors (such as mining activity, lithology, geological structure, and slope) and geological mining hazards is analyzed using a logistic regression and a hazardous-area forecasting model is built. The results of field verification show that the accuracy of the geological mining hazards extraction method is 98.1% and the results of the hazardous-area forecasting indicate that the logistic regression is an effective model in assessing geological hazard risks and that mining activity is the main contributing factor to the hazards, while geological structure, slope, lithology, roughness of the surface, and aspect are the secondary.     

A long-term Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) data-set for environmental studies

Recently, five Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) products have been released: leaf area index (LAI), shortwave broadband albedo, longwave broadband emissivity, incident short radiation, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). The first three products cover the years 1982–2012 (LAI) and 1981–2010 (albedo and emissivity) at 1–5 km and 8-day resolutions, and the last two radiation products span the period 2008–2010 at 5 km and 3-h resolutions. These products have been evaluated and validated, and the preliminary results indicate that they are of higher quality and accuracy than the existing products. In particular, the first three products have much longer time series, and are therefore highly suitable for various environmental studies. This paper outlines the algorithms, product characteristics, preliminary validation results, potential applications and some examples of initial analysis of these products.     

From data to decision-making – experiences in Integrated Earth Observation (IEO)

Within the confines of Earth Observation Scientific Knowledge and Technology Transfer in Hungary (EKAT) titled ESA PECS project we gained forum for utilization of our earth observation (EO) knowledge and possibility for further development of experiences. The project aims the horizontal preparation of Hungary for ESA membership – for a dynamically developing sphere in the common part of science, technology and business. For the efficient transfer and dissemination, we preconceived target groups and principles to reach main take-up points and to open new forums of information exchange. Nowadays, user-friendly service, complex supply and real-validation process all have great importance. Joining units of suitable data choice, entire ingestion–processing chains and ergonomic interfaces can only offer a timely and professional solution for the challenges of industry and business sectors. It has to be clearly seen, that information and communication technologies (ICT) and information control becomes a more and more significant part of EO services.     

Surface description for urban climate studies: A gis based methodology

In order to understand the nature of the urban climate, predict the effects of urbanization, or attempt to ameliorate some of the negative hydroclimatic effects of urbanization, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the role and significance of the urban surface. This paper presents a methodology which uses GIS to represent the characteristics and morphology of the urban surface, which can be used to describe a site objectively, model fluxes, or ensure spatial consistency between measured and modelled data, all of which can vary through time. The methodology is illustrated with respect to Chicago, Illinois. Surface data collected at three spatial scales were used to construct a georeferenced database which was linked to an objective, dynamic accessing system. Spatial variability of surface cover, derived hydroclimatic attributes, and modelled fluxes associated with changes in the urban environment are used to illustrate potential applications of the approach.     

若尔盖铀矿田方解石稀土元素与碳氧同位素地球化学特征及其意义

方解石是若尔盖铀矿田与成矿最为密切的脉石矿物之一。方解石的REE地球化学特征研究表明,产于地层中的方解石、矿区中的方解石和含矿方解石具有明显不同的稀土元素组成特征,分别具有轻稀土富集右倾型、重稀土富集左倾型和相对平坦型的3种稀土配分模式。其中产于地层中的方解石明显继承了地层中岩石的稀土元素特征,而含矿方解石表现出与矿石稀土元素相似的特征。碳氧同位素显示地层中的方解石为海洋沉积碳酸盐岩的碳氧同位素组成特征;矿区方解石脉、含矿方解石脉的碳同位素组成明显表现为地幔来源的特点;而矿区方解石脉的氧同位素组成具明显的深部来源特征,含矿方解石脉的氧同位素组成表明在成矿过程中有大气降水的混入。若尔盖铀矿田的方解石主要为热液成因,其矿床成因类型属于典型的热液矿床,成矿流体主要来源于地幔。