The Role of Virtual Globes in Geoscience

One of the difficulties faced by Earth scientists of all disciplines is how to effectively communicate their research to both other scientists and the general public. With increased attention paid to the health of the planet, the activities of geoscientists in particular are falling under the spotlight of public interest. In age where the internet availability has brought an expectation of information being instantly visible in a graphically rich format, the development of Virtual Globes --computer-based representations of the real-world--has become a natural progression for how best to view these data. In this special issue we bring together a cross-selection of the many examples of how Virtual Globe technologies are being used for geoscience

Student Led Area Measurement Assessments Using Virtual Globes and Pictometry Web-based Interface within an Undergraduate Spatial Science Curriculum

The use of Virtual Globes and Pictometry continues to expand and develop in undergraduate spatial science education. Spatial science undergraduates measured the area of 30 rectangles on the earth’s surface and compared them to Pictometry hyperspectral imagery measurements within a web-based interface and the Google Earth interface compared to ArcGIS Explorer, Map Developers and ArcMap using the ArcMap 10.5.2 interface. An analysis of variance of the absolute mean area errors (p-value of 0.009271) concluded the accuracy of the five area measurements were statistically different at the 95% confidence interval. A Tukey pair-wise test found that the Pictometry and Google Earth methods were more accurate than the ArcGIS Explorer, Map Developers and ArcMap methods. The lowest standard deviation of errors (72.6 sq. ft.) for Pictometry was the most accurate and precise method for on-screen area measurement, followed by Google Earth (SD = 205.0 sq. ft.). The high variation of area measurement error from ArcMap, Map Developers, and ArcGIS Explorer made them less reliable as an alternative to field measurements with ArcMap the worst (SD = 915.1 sq. ft.). The results indicate that Pictometry and Google Earth could both be used to accurately estimate area using on-screen measurements compared to in situ area measurement assessments

Student Led Area Measurement Assessments Using Virtual Globes and Pictometry Web-based Interface within an Undergraduate Spatial Science Curriculum

The use of Virtual Globes and Pictometry continues to expand and develop in undergraduate spatial science education. Spatial science undergraduates measured the area of 30 rectangles on the earth’s surface and compared them to Pictometry hyperspectral imagery measurements within a web-based interface and the Google Earth interface compared to ArcGIS Explorer, Map Developers and ArcMap using the ArcMap 10.5.2 interface. An analysis of variance of the absolute mean area errors (p-value of 0.009271) concluded the accuracy of the five area measurements were statistically different at the 95% confidence interval. A Tukey pair-wise test found that the Pictometry and Google Earth methods were more accurate than the ArcGIS Explorer, Map Developers and ArcMap methods. The lowest standard deviation of errors (72.6 sq. ft.) for Pictometry was the most accurate and precise method for on-screen area measurement, followed by Google Earth (SD = 205.0 sq. ft.). The high variation of area measurement error from ArcMap, Map Developers, and ArcGIS Explorer made them less reliable as an alternative to field measurements with ArcMap the worst (SD = 915.1 sq. ft.). The results indicate that Pictometry and Google Earth could both be used to accurately estimate area using on-screen measurements compared to in situ area measurement assessments

Canada GEESE 2: Visualization of Integrated Marine Geoscience Data for Canadian and Proximal Waters

The Geological Survey of Canada has made most of its holdings of marine geoscience data available online with unrestricted access. These holdings constitute the premier collections of geological and geophysical source data for Canadian and proximal waters. Multibeam bathymetric imagery, analog high resolution seismic and sidescan sonar data, seabed photographs, grain size analyses, and radiocarbon dates can be directly downloaded from NRCan’s Geogratis (http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca) servers. KML files allow the user to discover and explore these collections, highlighting the building blocks of marine data downloadable from ftp/http servers.SOMMAIRELa Commission géologique du Canada a mis en ligne la plupart de ses fonds de données géoscientifiques marines et y donne accès sans restriction. Ces fonds constituent des collections de premier choix de données géologiques et géophysiques de base des eaux canadiennes ou proximales. On peut ainsi télécharger des serveurs Géogratis de RNCan (http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca) des données d’imagerie bathymétrique par secteurs, des données analogiques séismiques haute résolution et de levé de sonar à balayage latéral, des photographies du fond marin, des analyses granulométriques, et des datations au radiocarbone. Le format KML des fichiers permet aux utilisateurs d’exploiter facilement le contenu de ces collections, en mettant en relief les données marines de base téléchargeables depuis les serveurs FTP/HTTP

Visualization of Sensor Data in Virtual Globes

Ponència presentada en AGILE’2012 International Conference on Geographic Information Science, "Multidisciplinary Research on Geographical Information in Europe and Beyond" celebrat a Avignon, els dies 24-27 d'abril de 2012Virtual Globes have become a common platform for visualizing geographical data. The capability for customization, extensibility and the support of interaction with the visualized elements are some of the aspects to consider when selecting a Virtual Globe for visualization. For visualizing sensor data, aspects such as cardinality, the nature of the data and its temporal and spatial dimensions have to be considered. In this paper we present a prototype application to visualize sensor data retrieved from SOS servers over the NASA World Wind virtual Globe. For implementing the prototype application we relied on a categorization of the sensor data that provides possible visualization methods. The prototype has integrated the SEXTANTE library to enable data analysis over sensor data and include the results as part of the visualizations

Customising virtual globe tours to enhance community awareness of local landscape benefits

Our wellbeing depends upon the services provided by ecosystems and their components. Despite recent advances in academic understanding of ecosystem services, and consideration in UK national environmental policy, a greater awareness is needed at community and individual levels. Dynamic features of virtual globe applications have considerable potential for helping convey the multi-dimensional context of ecosystem services and promoting general awareness. In a case study targeting residents in a small urban fringe river catchment in Norfolk, UK, representatives from local authorities and responsible agencies collaborated with scientists to produce extensive customisation of virtual globes in this context. By implementing a virtual flight over the catchment, different views and scales are traversed to set the context for landscape features and ecosystem services. Characteristic sites, e.g. supplying cultural services, are displayed and relationships with the natural environment are explained using linked on-screen text. Implementation is cost-effective and described for practitioners in ecosystem and landscape management, who may be inexperienced in landscape visualisation. Supplied as three pre-packaged virtual tours, products are made available for download and are publicised at a variety of engagement events, including teaching events with schoolchildren. The tours have attracted public interest and generated positive feedback about improving knowledge of local natural assets. Schoolchildren show confidence with the interface, but supplementary problem-based activities can improve learning opportunities. The capacity of virtual globes to support more participatory involvement of the public in local ecosystem management may increase in the future, but such visualisations can already help promote community awareness of local landscape benefits

Virtual Globes for UAV-based data integration: Sputnik GIS and Google Earth™ applications

“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Digital Earth on 03 May 2018, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17538947.2018.1470205"The integration of local measurements and monitoring via global-scale Earth observations has become a new challenge in digital Earth science. The increasing accessibility and ease of use of virtual globes (VGs) represent primary advantages of this integration, and the digital Earth scientific community has adopted this technology as one of the main methods for disseminating the results of scientific studies. In this study, the best VG software for the dissemination and analysis of high-resolution UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) data is identified for global and continuous geographic scope support. The VGs Google Earth and Sputnik Geographic Information System (GIS) are selected and compared for this purpose. Google Earth is a free platform and one of the most widely used VGs, and one of its best features its ability to provide users with quality visual results. The proprietary software Sputnik GIS more closely approximates the analytical capacity of a traditional GIS and provides outstanding advantages, such as DEM overlapping and visualization for its disseminationThis work was supported by Xunta de Galicia under the Grant “Financial aid for the consolidation and structure of competitive units of investigation in the universities of the University Galician System (2016-18)” (Ref. ED431B 2016/030 and Ref. ED341D R2016/023). The authors also acknowledge support provided by “Realización de vuelos virtuales en las parcelas del proyecto Green deserts LIFE09 / ENV/ES / 000447”S

Developing an interactive application embodied in the geosciences educational procedure

Σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης είναι η παρουσίαση ενός Γεω-οπτικού Ορυκτολογικού Γνωστικού Εργαλείου (GeMiCo Tool), μια ψηφιακή εφαρμογή που χρησιμοποιεί τεχνικές από τον τομέα της Τεχνολογίας των Πληροφοριών και Επικοινωνιών. Η εφαρμογή αποτελεί τμήμα των εκπαιδευτικών εργαλείων που χρησιμοποιούνται στο Ορυκτολογικό Μουσείο “γαιο-ΟΡΑΜΑ” της Σχολής Μηχανικών Μεταλλείων- Μεταλλουργών του Εθνικού Μετσόβιου Πολυτεχνείου και αφορά σε φοιτητές ΑΕΙ καθώς και μαθητές πρωτοβάθμιας και δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης. Η εφαρμογή ενσωματώνει το Google Earth API, που επιτρέπει στους χρήστες να διερευνούν και να επεξεργάζονται με διαδραστικό τρόπο γεωλογικά και ορυκτολογικά δεδομένα. Οι χρήστες έχουν τη δυνατότητα να επιλέγουν θεματικά επίπεδα πληροφοριών που σχετίζονται με τα γεω-εκθέματα, να δημιουργούν ερωτήσεις και αναζητήσεις και να πλοηγούνται σε 3D περιβάλλον. Η εφαρμογή είναι εγκαταστημένη σε μια μεγάλου μεγέθους διαδραστική οθόνη (τεχνολογία multi-touch) η οποία προσελκύει το κοινό να συμμετάσχει σε διαδραστικές ατομικές και ομαδικές εργασίες.The aim of this study is to develop a Geovisual Mineralogical Cognitive Tool (GeMiCo Tool), a digital application that utilizes techniques from the domain of Information and Communication Technology. The application is part of the educational tools used at the Mineralogical Museum of the School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens and concerns students of Higher, Primary and Secondary Education. The learning tool developed here embodies Google Earth API (Application Programming Interface), allowing users to interactively display and investigate geological and mineralogical related data. By that, users are able to select and present thematic layers of information related to the geo-exhibits, to create queries and searches and to navigate in 3D environment. The application runs on a large format multi-touch interactive display in the Mineralogical Museum of NTUA that attracts audiences and engages them in interactive collaborative tasks