Evolving Capabilities for Virtual Globes

Alan Glennon

Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, United States

*Invited presentation*

Though thin-client spatial visualization software like Google Earth and NASA World Wind enjoy widespread popularity, a common criticism is their general lack of analytical functionality. This concern, however, is rapidly being addressed; standard and advanced geographic information system (GIS) capabilities are being developed for virtual globes--though not centralized into a single implementation or software package. The innovation is mostly originating from the user community. Three such capabilities relevant to the earth science, education, and emergency management communities are modeling dynamic spatial phenomena, real-time data collection and visualization, and multi-input collaborative databases. Modeling dynamic spatial phenomena has been facilitated through joining virtual globe geometry definitions--like KML--to relational databases. Real-time data collection uses short scripts to transform user-contributed data into a format usable by virtual globe software. Similarly, collaborative data collection for virtual globes has become possible by dynamically referencing online, multi-person spreadsheets. Examples of these functions include mapping flows within a karst watershed, real-time disaster assessment and visualization, and a collaborative geyser eruption spatial decision support system. Virtual globe applications will continue to evolve further analytical capabilities, more temporal data handling, and from nano to intergalactic scales. This progression opens education and research avenues in all scientific disciplines.

URLs:
http://geography2.blogspot.com/
http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/virtualglobes/