Next-generation Digital Earth

TLDR

The 1998 Gore vision of a Digital Earth spurred the creation of first‑generation virtual globes such as Google Earth, and since then advances in big data, citizen science, and Earth‑system science have expanded the scope of digital Earth possibilities. The paper reviews Google Earth’s technical achievements against the Gore vision and proposes a reexamination of the Digital Earth concept to identify key elements for a next‑generation platform. Despite Google Earth’s role in science communication, significant barriers still hinder public access to scientific information.

Abstract

A speech of then-Vice President Al Gore in 1998 created a vision for a Digital Earth, and played a role in stimulating the development of a first generation of virtual globes, typified by Google Earth, that achieved many but not all the elements of this vision. The technical achievements of Google Earth, and the functionality of this first generation of virtual globes, are reviewed against the Gore vision. Meanwhile, developments in technology continue, the era of “big data” has arrived, the general public is more and more engaged with technology through citizen science and crowd-sourcing, and advances have been made in our scientific understanding of the Earth system. However, although Google Earth stimulated progress in communicating the results of science, there continue to be substantial barriers in the public’s access to science. All these factors prompt a reexamination of the initial vision of Digital Earth, and a discussion of the major elements that should be part of a next generation.