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Scientific big data and Digital Earth

  • Review
  • Geography
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Big data has been a focus of research in science, technology, economics, and social studies. Many countries have already incorporated big data research into their national strategies. This paper elaborates upon the origin, connotation, and development of big data from both a spatial and temporal perspective. It proposes that scientific big data will become a new solution in scientific research as the paradigm changes from being model-driven to data-driven. This paper defines the concept of “scientific big data” and proposes strategies for solving “big data problems”. Theoretical frameworks and data systems for Digital Earth are discussed with a clear conclusion that scientific big data is a prominent feature of Digital Earth. As an example, spatial cognition of the formation mechanism of China’s Heihe-Tengchong Line—a geo-demographic demarcation line dividing China into two parts—is discussed within the context of big data computation and analysis for Digital Earth.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the International Cooperation and Exchange of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41120114001).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Sciences, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100094, China

    Huadong Guo, Lizhe Wang, Fang Chen & Dong Liang

Authors
  1. Huadong Guo
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  2. Lizhe Wang
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  3. Fang Chen
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  4. Dong Liang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huadong Guo.

Electronic supplementary material

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Earth observation data flow in Digital Earth (PDF 2934 kb)

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Cite this article

Guo, H., Wang, L., Chen, F. et al. Scientific big data and Digital Earth. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 5066–5073 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0645-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0645-3

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