China launches big Earth data project

BEIJING -- China has launched a scientific project on big Earth data, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The project of cloud service platform aims to establish an open international center for big Earth data. It is one of the 19 A-class strategic high-tech research project launched by the CAS since 2011.

Guo Huadong, academician with the CAS Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, and head of the project, said that the project will integrate science and technology infrastructure with research into resources, environment, biodiversity, and ecosystems.

The project strives to make breakthroughs in Earth system sciences, life sciences, and associated disciplines.

Data sharing is the key means to carry through the big Earth data, by integrating the information of multidisciplinary earth sciences.

The big Earth data has the advantages of being more accurate, more scientific, and more timely. It is expected to boost the efficient application and sharing of massive data in science.

Big Earth data is a new area of geoscience and information science, and a new tool for understanding the earth.