3D Online Visualization and Synergy of NASA A-Train Data using Google Earth

Google Earth provides a convenient virtual 3D platform for organizing, visualizing, publishing, and synergizing Earth science data. This kind of platform is increasingly playing an important role in scientific research that involves geospatial data. NASA Goddard Earth Science (GES) Data and Information Service Center (DISC) has had a dedicated Google Earth-based scientific research program for several years. We have implemented numerous tools for a) visualizing two-, three- and four-dimensional Earth science data on Google Earth; b) visualizing and synergizing analyzed results derived from GES DISC’s online analysis system; and c) visualizing results derived from other standard web services (e.g. OGC WMS). All those implementations produce KMZ files that can be opened via Google Earth client and Earth science data are visualized on Google Earth. Google Earth can be used as both a client and a web browser plug-in. Currently, Google Earth’s plug-in in web browser is integrated with GES DISC’s online analysis system as a virtual three dimensional platform to facilitate three-dimensional online interactive data analysis and results visualization. Multiple Google Earth windows are available in one browser window for users visualizing, comparing and synergizing online Earth science data. By utilizing the available GES DISC’s online system, users can interactively select and refine their data products of interest and then generate downloadable KMZ files. These KMZ files are automatically opened in the user’s Google Earth client. Google Earth is used to overlay and manipulate the contained data layers thus providing the ability of data synergy and the inter-comparison and analysis of a wide variety of online scientific measurements. We illustrate our system design and implementation and demonstrate our operation system here. The work at GES DISC allows greater integration between online scientific data analysis systems and three-dimensional visualization, and obviates the need for users to migrate the results to a separate window containing a Virtual Globe. In one word, the future of the Web is to be geospatially enabled by default - a three dimensional virtual platform of our planet, available by default on the Web for use for scientific research and daily life.