This position paper is the outcome of a brainstorming workshop organised by the International Society for Digital Earth(ISDE)in Beijing in March 2011.It argues that the vision of Digital Earth(DE)put forward by Vice-P...This position paper is the outcome of a brainstorming workshop organised by the International Society for Digital Earth(ISDE)in Beijing in March 2011.It argues that the vision of Digital Earth(DE)put forward by Vice-President Al Gore 13 years ago needs to be re-evaluated in the light of the many developments in the fields of information technology,data infrastructures and earth observation that have taken place since.The paper identifies the main policy,scientific and societal drivers for the development of DE and illustrates the multi-faceted nature of a new vision of DE grounding it with a few examples of potential applications.Because no single organisation can on its own develop all the aspects of DE,it is essential to develop a series of collaborations at the global level to turn the vision outlined in this paper into reality.展开更多
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 visi...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 develop-ments 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 stan-dards 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.展开更多
The formal process of system design begins with the identification of use cases.No such cases are readily apparent for the current generation of geobrowsers,though the text of the 1998 Gore speech refers to several.An...The formal process of system design begins with the identification of use cases.No such cases are readily apparent for the current generation of geobrowsers,though the text of the 1998 Gore speech refers to several.An analysis of the use cases of geographic information systems(GIS)reveals similarities with the functionality of geobrowsers,inviting the view that the two forms of geographic information technology will eventually converge.However,experience suggests that users are finding very different ways of exploiting geobrowsers,and two examples are discussed in detail.These uses can be interpreted within a broad framework of spatial concepts,and the paper concludes that this framework provides a better guide to the future of geobrowsers and Digital Earth than current GIS technology.展开更多
The underlying vision of the Digital Earth(DE)calls for applications that can embed vast quantities of geo-referenced data and allow users to study and analyse of our planet.Since the declaration of this vision in the...The underlying vision of the Digital Earth(DE)calls for applications that can embed vast quantities of geo-referenced data and allow users to study and analyse of our planet.Since the declaration of this vision in the late 90s,a significant number of DE data-sets have been created by the industry,governments,non-governmental organisations and individuals.An overwhelming majority of the successful applications that use DE data-sets has its end-user applications running on the desktop.While these applications are great tools,they remain inaccessible to the community as a whole.In this paper,we present a framework for the development of cyber-applications.We define an abstract architecture for cyber-applications based on the model-view-controller paradigm,which allows the dynamic inclusion of functional and data components into its execution engine at run-time.We define the operational characteristics of cyber-applica-tions.We also specify the interface of pluggable components to the architecture.Finally,we demonstrate the appropriateness of the abstract architecture by means of a case study.展开更多
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 sea...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.展开更多
文摘This position paper is the outcome of a brainstorming workshop organised by the International Society for Digital Earth(ISDE)in Beijing in March 2011.It argues that the vision of Digital Earth(DE)put forward by Vice-President Al Gore 13 years ago needs to be re-evaluated in the light of the many developments in the fields of information technology,data infrastructures and earth observation that have taken place since.The paper identifies the main policy,scientific and societal drivers for the development of DE and illustrates the multi-faceted nature of a new vision of DE grounding it with a few examples of potential applications.Because no single organisation can on its own develop all the aspects of DE,it is essential to develop a series of collaborations at the global level to turn the vision outlined in this paper into reality.
文摘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 develop-ments 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 stan-dards 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.
文摘The formal process of system design begins with the identification of use cases.No such cases are readily apparent for the current generation of geobrowsers,though the text of the 1998 Gore speech refers to several.An analysis of the use cases of geographic information systems(GIS)reveals similarities with the functionality of geobrowsers,inviting the view that the two forms of geographic information technology will eventually converge.However,experience suggests that users are finding very different ways of exploiting geobrowsers,and two examples are discussed in detail.These uses can be interpreted within a broad framework of spatial concepts,and the paper concludes that this framework provides a better guide to the future of geobrowsers and Digital Earth than current GIS technology.
文摘The underlying vision of the Digital Earth(DE)calls for applications that can embed vast quantities of geo-referenced data and allow users to study and analyse of our planet.Since the declaration of this vision in the late 90s,a significant number of DE data-sets have been created by the industry,governments,non-governmental organisations and individuals.An overwhelming majority of the successful applications that use DE data-sets has its end-user applications running on the desktop.While these applications are great tools,they remain inaccessible to the community as a whole.In this paper,we present a framework for the development of cyber-applications.We define an abstract architecture for cyber-applications based on the model-view-controller paradigm,which allows the dynamic inclusion of functional and data components into its execution engine at run-time.We define the operational characteristics of cyber-applica-tions.We also specify the interface of pluggable components to the architecture.Finally,we demonstrate the appropriateness of the abstract architecture by means of a case study.
基金This work was supported by the National Science Foundation,Division of Undergraduate Education,through[grant number 1323419]by Google Geo Curriculum Awards to De Paor and Whitmeyer.
文摘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.
