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This release and the related news articles can be found on the Nature section of the Nature journals press site: http://press.nature.com
Commentary and News: Maps for everyone
Satellite and aerial images used by Google Earth are changing the way we respond to disasters. A Commentary in this week's Nature looks at the very different responses to Hurricane Katrina and the Pakistan earthquake. Illah Nourbakhsh along with US scientists and Google engineers asks whether opening such operations to the wider public could shift their role to that of active contributor in disaster situations, allowing image updates in real time. Today, relief workers need high-resolution satellite imagery, which is not always publicly available, but in the future photos taken using mobile phones and camcorders could provide added value.
In recent relief efforts in New Orleans and Pakistan the software and its ability to accept overlays from other sources was invaluable to rescue efforts. In the aftermath of Katrina tools were developed to handle high-resolution aerial images made available daily. In Pakistan where no images were available from aircraft surveillance Google Earth acquired, processed and published images taken by a commercial satellite making them publicly available and allowing rescue teams to focus their efforts.
In a related News Feature, Declan Butler discusses how scientists are taking up Google Earth and other virtual globes to share 3D data with colleagues and the public. From satellite tagging of animals movements and behaviour to recording density and drift of Arctic ice, scientists are using Google Earth to display complex 3D data in new visually appealing ways.
The eventual impact of virtual globes will be nothing less than the realization of a 'digital Earth', as envisioned by former US vice-president Al Gore in 1998, predict experts. Commenting on these developments, Gore tells Nature how his concept "was to use the Earth itself as an organizing metaphor for digital information."
CONTACT
Illah Nourbakhsh (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA)
Tel: +1 412 268 2007; E-mail: [email protected]
Contact for background information on News feature
Declan Butler, Journalist, Nature
Tel: +33 1 43 36 59 90; E-mail: [email protected]
Media contact
Ruth Francis, Nature London
Tel: +44 20 7843 4562; E-mail [email protected]
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