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Learn more about the Ground European Network for Earth Science Interoperations Digital Earth Communities project

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Find technical information and tutorial on how to exploit GENESI-DEC resources and about OpenSearch

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Digital Earth is a visionary concept for the virtual representation of the Earth that is spatially referenced, interconnected with the world’s digital knowledge archives, and encompassing all its systems and forms, including Earth Sciences and human societies. The project will establish open data and services access, allowing European and worldwide Digital Earth Communities to seamlessly access, produce and share data, information, products and knowledge. This will create a multi-dimensional, multi-temporal, and multi-layer information facility of huge value in addressing global challenges such as biodiversity, climate change, pollution and economic development.


GENESI-DEC (GENESI – Digital Earth Community) will:

  • enlarge the GENESI-DR infrastructures in terms of both resources availability and geographical extent.
  • provide guaranteed, reliable, easy, effective access to a variety of data, facilities, and applications to an ever increasing number of users.
  • enable multidisciplinary collaboration among communities and the creation of user-configured virtual research facilities.
  • integrate new scientific and technological paradigms in operational infrastructures in response to the latest Digital Earth requirements.
  • harmonise operations at selected key infrastructures limiting fragmentation of solutions.
  • assure that the access to data and resources while being homogeneous is secure and controlled (according to provider policies).
  • stimulate, educate and support the creation of virtual research communities.


GENESI-DEC involves key partners of ESFRI projects and collaborates with key actors of Digital Earth and Earth Science initiatives, including the International Society of Digital Earth and GEOSS . Thus efficient use of already existing and planned developments is guaranteed.


Lowest Arctic ice coverage in history
This animation is comprised of Envisat ASAR mosaics of the Arctic Ocean for 2005, 2006 and 2007 and highlights the changes in sea ice. The ice-free areas appear as dark gray and the sea ice areas as light gray. The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to its lowest level this week since satellite measurements began nearly 30 years ago, opening up the Northwest Passage %E2%u20AC%u201C a long-sought short cut between Europe and Asia that has been historically impassable. The data in each yearly mosaic were acquired between 1 and 11 September by ASAR working in Global Monitoring Mode with a spatial resolution of 1 km. Note the exceptionally large ice-free area extending from the Siberia coast up to the vicinity of the North Pole in the 2007 mosaic.

Each mosaic contains approximately 200 Envisat images processed by the Earth Observation %5Burl%5Dhttp://gpod.eo.esa.int/%7CG-POD (Grid Processing On Demand)%5B/url%5D operated at ESA/ESRIN.

For more information check this entry on the ESA web site.