Geomorphology and Earth System Science

This chapter surveys the history of geomorphology and Earth system science 1965-2000. With roots in Enlightenment thought from Hutton, Somerville, Humboldt and Darwin we see a preoccupation with a holistic form of Earth system science develop through the reductionist, mechanistic ideas of the 19th and 20th century to be re-awoken in the 1960 and 1970s environmental movements and the space age, culminating in the major research programmes set by NASA and others subsequently. At the same time the chapter charts the evolution in geomorphology to consider plate tectonics and the origins of mountain ranges, geochemistry and its links between surfaces systems and the atmosphere, to later ideas emphasising the interplay between landforms and life. This chapter surveys changing interconnected ideas within this field and draws parallels and contrasts between the holistic depictions of Earth system science in the early part of the subject's history and the fundamental challenges facing us today as we grapple to find science-led solutions to global environmental change.

Progress and Trends in the Application of Google Earth and Google Earth Engine

Earth system science has changed rapidly due to global environmental changes and the advent of Earth observation technology. Therefore, new tools are required to monitor, measure, analyze, evaluate, and model Earth observation data. Google Earth (GE) was officially launched by Google in 2005 as a ”geobrowser”, and Google Earth Engine (GEE) was released in 2010 as a cloud computing platform with substantial computational capabilities. The use of these two tools or platforms in various applications, particularly as used by the remote sensing community, has developed rapidly. In this paper, we reviewed the applications and trends in the use of GE and GEE by analyzing peer-reviewed articles, dating up to January 2021, in the Web of Science (WoS) core collection using scientometric analysis (i.e., by using CiteSpace) and meta-analysis. We found the following: (1) the number of articles describing the use of GE or GEE increased substantially from two in 2006 to 530 in 2020. The number of GEE articles increased much faster than those concerned with the use of GE. (2) Both GE and GEE were extensively used by the remote sensing community as multidisciplinary tools. GE articles covered a broader range of research areas (e.g., biology, education, disease and health, economic, and information science) and appeared in a broader range of journals than those concerned with the use of GEE. (3) GE and GEE shared similar keywords (e.g., “land cover”, “water”, “model”, “vegetation”, and “forest”), which indicates that their application is of great importance in certain research areas. The main difference was that articles describing the use of GE emphasized its use as a visual display platform, while those concerned with GEE placed more emphasis on big data and time-series analysis. (4) Most applications of GE and GEE were undertaken in countries, such as the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. (5) GEE is an important tool for analysis, whereas GE is used as an auxiliary tool for visualization. Finally, in this paper, the merits and limitations of GE and GEE, and recommendations for further improvements, are summarized from an Earth system science perspective.

Earth Science Week to make a splash

Geoscientists have important roles in the management of the world's water at local, regional, national, and global scales. Geophysical information is critical to ensure that people have enough water for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and other needs. Given the current challenges of water management, it has never been more critical to promote awareness of water's place in earth system science. To encourage everyone to understand, conserve, and protect water, Earth Science Week 2021 will be held 10–16 October.