Digital Earth in Europe

Abstract

In recent years, with the advancements in technology and research as well as changes in society, Digital Earth transformed. It evolved from its original concept of a 3D multilayer representation of our planet into a more practical system design to fulfil the demand for information sharing, which now embraces fields such as global climate change, food security and natural disaster prevention. In this novel scenario, Europe has become one of the major players at the global level; accordingly, the goal of this chapter is to provide a general overview of the major European contributions to the overall objectives of Digital Earth. These include the establishment of a European spatial data infrastructure through the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) directive, the initiation of the Galileo and Copernicus programs that provide a wealth of big data from space, the launch of novel cloud-based platforms for data processing and integration and the emergence of citizen science. An outlook on major upcoming initiatives is also provided.