Global Data Network
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	GLOBAL DATA NETWORK Leveraging the ongoing global spatial revolution and new and exciting opportunities – from remote sensing and wireless sensor network technologies, to LiDAR, cloud communication, advanced 3D visualization and augmented reality, and openAI / artificial intelligence – we introduce DataNET, a next-generation Data analysis and visualization NETwork platform for environmental and water resources systems. Unique Capabilities Dynamic Digital Twin. The M4W DataNET platform generates instantly a “real life-like” 3D, dynamic digital twin built on Digital Terrain Models and spatial data layers from around the world. Users can zoom in anywhere to see into the earth, and interact with the data - slicing, dicing, and visualizing in 3D the surface and subsurface environment in a variety of ways, including as 3D solids, 3D surfaces, 3D scatter points, 3D iso-surfaces, 3D path-lines, 3D fence diagrams, 3D cutouts, cross-sections, and vertical profiles - at the “system-level”, or up close. The new software offers a method of seeing the unseen and understanding the invisible. Interactive Global Data Tree. The Big Datasets from around the world are intelligently organized into a global hierarchical “Data Tree”, where layers are arranged by region and scale (global, continental, national, statewide/provincial, countywide/district-wide) and by environmental category (climate, soil, groundwater, land use, etc.). Within the global Data Tree, users can search and query data layers, create and save custom “workspaces” of collections of layers of interest, and view layer metadata (abstracts, legends, resolution, units, etc.). Platform as a Service. The M4W DataNET platform is delivered as a service system, combining IaaS (infrastructure as a service), PaaS (platform as a service), SaaS (software as a service), and DaaS (data as a service) - accessible anywhere, anytime on demand through an internet browser. There are no hardware or operating system required to use DataNET. Direct Bridge to Modeling. M4W-DataNET is dynamically linked to the other M4W modeling platforms (IGW-NET for groundwater, M4W-SwaNET for watersheds) so that data can be directly transferred and used for simulation and modeling. Images (as Web Map Services, or WMS) can be used as background maps for modeling, vector data (Web Feature Services, WFS) can be extracted to represent, for example, river networks, water wells, etc., and raster data (Web Coverage Services, WCS) can be used to represent land surface (DEM), land use, soil characteristics, etc. The platform also links realtime and historical in-situ sensor data from national or regional sampling networks. Global Database System M4W DataNET takes advantage of (in-house) ultra large-scale data processing and multiscale data processing and representation, as well as emerging networking technologies enabling dynamic data integration. Government agencies are increasingly taking advantage of sharing data digitally through these services, allowing efficient and programmatic data use. DataNET integrates and organizes data across different environmental systems/discplines – from climate, to land, surface water, soil, geology, groundwater, and more. The various national and international data service providers linked to M4W-DataNET include: United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration United States Department of Agriculture United States Environmental Protection Agency Federal Emergency Management Agency United States Army Corps of Engineers United States Fish & Wildlife Service Environment Canada British Geological Survey German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources French Geological Survey Geoscience Australia, and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization The database service systems are continuously expanding. The most recent additions to the data service systems are the Hierarchical database systems integrated/processed from international sources for China's ten largest river basins. Multiple User Communities The M4W-DataNET platform creates a new, instant channel for research, education, consulting, management, simultaneously benefiting multiple segments of the environmental communities and communities related to, influenced by, and serving (or served by) the environmental communities. More specifically, the platform benefits: 1) students and educators – by bringing big data exploration and application into the classroom on a routine basis; 2) consulting engineers and scientists – by drastically reducing the costs of site characterization / conceptual site model development; 3) managers and decision makers – by allowing them to visualize components and interrelationships of integrated human-environment systems; and 4) researchers – by dramatically enhancing their ability to understand complex environmental systems across multiple scales. Realtime Dynamic Data Fusion The software seamlessly and dynamically merges heterogeneous and distributed geo-spatial information into a single map and visualization environment - joining and viewing together separate data sets that share all or part of the same space or literally “fusing” maps together. The result of this combination is a new data set that identifies complex spatial relationships and patterns. Realtime Discovery. The seamless big data integration, visual interactivity, and real-time processing and communication capability makes it possible for users to focus on critical conceptual issues and to quickly and iteratively assess data worth and availability. The new technology allows users’ thought processes to progress naturally and intuitively with the correct information visualized, analyzed, overlaid, and compared at the instant it is required, providing a real sense of continuous exploration. Virtual Field Trip M4W-DataNET users can perform a “virtual field trip” or preliminary site characterization, taking advantage of high-fidelity 3D terrains, LiDAR, and representations of urban buildings and urban infrastructure in combination with any layer available in the Data Tree (or user-supplied). Users get a “lay of the land” and see “what lies beneath” through high-fidelity virtual representations of the natural and built environment with Big Data. Users can combine different layers and overlays and use a suite of tools for visual data representation and analytics to create a customized spatial workspace or digital twin environment. The M4W-DataNET platform enables user to: understand climate extremes; delineate catchments and drainage patterns; map flood hazard; analyze land use patterns and vegetation cover; visualize urban system and imperviousness, roughness, and heat island effects; map soil types, and infiltration potential; locate and map the groundwater table; visualize borehole lithologies, surficial geology; identify/map sites of environmental concern; understand vulnerability Being able to visualize instantaneously the complex interrelationships among hydrological and environmental variables sparks pivotal insights, giving rise to an intuitive grasp of the hydrogeological and chemical processes that can't be readily obtained otherwise.