Building the Digital Earth

The initiative is largely due to acceptance that existing information systems and knowledge extraction techniques are inadequate. In order to handle the changing needs of the geoscience community that is striving to understand the Earth's complex system composed of myriad interrelated mechanisms drastic changes are needed.

The ways geoscientists approach solving the Earth System Science problems require a new look. This is essential if we are to succeed in utilizing interdisciplinary studies in the geosciences. Specific goals in these research efforts are to: -increase scientific productivity and the ability to deal with multidisciplinary data sets at all spatial scales by collecting, developing, and organizing data sets, data access tools, and codes to model and study the collected data sets; -raise the quality of instruction from graduate to K-12 levels by promoting discovery-based learning and critical thinking skills with available tools, data sets and information; -provide a vehicle to disseminate scientific knowledge to the general public; -provide a Geoscience Information System that can link eventually with any future unified physical, natural and social science knowledge system.