A Three-dimensional Geographical Information System Design for Polar Region Scientific Research

Xin Zhang, Wen Dong, Jian Liu and Tianhe Chi, 2011. A Three-dimensional Geographical Information System Design for Polar Region Scientific Research. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64 (Proceedings of the 11th International Coastal Symposium), 1760 - 1763. Szczecin, Poland, ISSN 0749-0208 Although the Arctic regions are far from most people around the world, they are a key factor in global change especially global warming research. Therefore, it is important to enhance scientific research and public awareness of the Arctic regions. This study presents a 3-D GIS design for scientific research of the polar region based on a Digital Earth system of Skyline. First, the construction of the Digital Earth-based 3-D polar region environment, which integrated the DEM data, multi-resolution remote sensing data, 3-D models etc. and can provide a 3-D "virtual reality" environment for visualisation, data integration and information browsing, is discussed. Then, the realisation of the technology for the design, storage, referring back to historical data of the scientific research route from a coastal port to a polar region station is analysed. Thirdly, the application model is presented in detail, including the applications for scientific research and public awareness. As a part of the Digital Ocean Prototype System of China, the software modules were realized and applied in the scientific research and public awareness.