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Paper No. 14
Presentation Time: 5:25 PM
GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE: A POTENTIAL GAME CHANGER!
Google Earth was initial designed as a passive geobrower. It's programmers probably had no idea how scientists would try to use it as an interactive relational database and as an advanced 4D visualization tool. Databases that used to be confined to high-end desktop GIS platforms such as ArcGIS are increasing being moved to Google Earth to avail of its user-friendly interface, widespread public use, and cross-platform availability both in terms of operating systems and devices (desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones). Google Earth has the power to present vast quantities of geospatial data but data management can tax the abilities of scientific users when servers reach petabyte capacity. To help scientists and engineers manage the onslaught of data, Google has launched a new service called Google Earth Engine (see http://earthengine.google.org). This dynamic digital modeling platform makes vast quantities of up-to-date satellite data available to all Google Earth users. Scientists generating content can access the Google Earth Engine API and do not have to be concerned with details of data management. Google Earth Engine gives researchers access to 40 years of Landsat imagery. We will showcase the engine's potential role in a variety of geospatial studies. Examples of application already developed include deforestation and other land-use changes imaged with Normalized Difference Fraction Index (NDFI), Roadless Area Analysis, Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), shrinkage of the Aral Sea animated from annual 1.7-terapixel Landsat images, MODIS Surface Reflectance analysis, and visualizations of season changes in sea ice.