2007-07-17: Synthetic Mirror Earth
From Datafedwiki
Back to DataFed Development Events
Contents |
[edit] Why a Synthetic Mirror Earth?
Generally we talk of the real Earth as we see it and know it. And then there is the virtual Earth as it may appear through (generally electronic) representations. For science applications it is useful to consider at least two aspects of the virtual Earth: Synthetic Earth where the components can be swapped along with their interactions and Mirror Earth where the analyst can drill down.
[edit] Synthetic Earth
Imagine a synthetic Earth made of real observations, where the researcher could choose from hundreds of different data layers and to create customized views for exploratory or quantitative analysis. If the components are 'laterally' linked, change in one part may cause a chane in another. The Earth assembled from separate but linked components is particularly useful for understanding the Earth System components, e.g. the interdependence of air land and water. see Visible Human Project for an early (unlinked) component illustration. (I am sure Google would know about synthetic Earth efforts..)
Swapping data layers in a synthetic Earth
[edit] Mirror Earth
What if an investigator is given the choice of hundreds of data layers AND able to zoom in and out to explore an Earth phenomenon or feature in more detail. Any zoom level would bring in new datasets and data views. A 'Mirror Earth' approach is particularly applicable to the study of multi-scale phenomena. See a Mirror Earth example of Seattle) or a SciFi-like discussion of Second Earth "The WWW will soon be absorbed into the World Wide Sim: an immersive, 3-D visual environment that combines elements of social virtual worlds such as Second Life and mapping applications such as Google Earth".
See also the Discussion
[edit] Approach to do it
[edit] Confluence of Developments
This is a big order. Something like the big ($50M) NSF Bio project. Needs simultaneous developments in
- Domain Science (Earth Science in this case)
- Computer Science
- Cyber-infrastructure
[edit] Partnering, Partnering, Partnering
Partnership is the only way. Add to this page if interested
Categories: DevEvents | Atomic | Yymmdd
