Contemporary computing technologies for processing big spatiotemporal data

Abstract

To better understand physical and social phenomena and the impact of human activities on them, scientists have collected data about the Earth’s surface for hundreds of years (Jacobson et al. 2000). For example, the Earth’s surface temperature (Kusuda and Achenbach 1965), volcanic eruptions (Robock 2000), hurricanes (Goldenberg et al. 2001), and other parameters of geographic phenomena have been recorded. In the past century, the invention of computers for information processing, launching of satellites and the evolution of remote sensing technologies have greatly improved our capabilities to observe and record various physical parameters of the Earth’s surface (Christian 2005). This is reflected in at least five aspects.