Meta-Earth and Digital Twin: Breakthrough concept, technological revolution and paradigm shift

doi:10.13745/j.esf.sf.2024.1.48

Abstract

Abstract:

Digital Twin has been used in aerospace and industrial manufacturing for more than 20 years, but it is only introduced into marine science recently. Here we adopt Digital Twin technology to realize the integration of real- and virtual-Earth, and build a virtual-real, symbiotic community of real- and digital-Earth which we call “meta-Earth.” We first summarize the essential differences between meta-Earth and the early proposed digital-Earth, virtual-Earth, glass-Earth and smart-Earth, and then highlight the great breakthroughs in the concept or idea of “meta-Earth.” The core idea is that under the current metaverse BIGANT technic system we can realize gapless, cross-sphere dynamic simulation of the Earth system, which allow to build a global, multi-sphere, real-time, all-weather, three-dimensional Earth observing system, reconstruct the deep-time Earth beyond the present-day Earth, and realize space-time travel. By doing so we can integrate all previous Earth models—digital, virtual, glass, smart, present and deep-time—into a community called meta-Earth. This novel concept should bring a technological paradigm shift surpassing real- and virtual-Earth, thus opening a new way for mankind to understand, explore and develop the Earth. Promoting multi-tier application of meta-Earth while making research paradigm shift shall advance the development of new trillion-RMB industries in the future.

Key words: meta-Earth, real-Earth, virtual-Earth, digital-Earth, digital twin, Earth system, paradigm

CLC Number:

LI Sanzhong, SUO Yanhui, DAI Liming, WANG Liangliang, JIANG Zhaoxia, CAO Xianzhi, SU Guohui, LIU Lijun, ZHOU Jianping, LI Xiyao, LIU Jie, ZHU Junjiang, QIAO Lulu, WANG Guangzeng, JIANG Suhua, WANG Xiujuan, LIU Lin, GUAN Hongxiang, LI Xiaohui, HU Jun, LIU Peng, LIU Ze, DONG Dongdong, GUO Lingli, ZOU Zhihui, DONG Hao, ZHONG Shihua, SUN Guozheng, LIU Yang, YU Shengyao, WU Lixin, ZOU Zhuoyan, SUN Yi. Meta-Earth and Digital Twin: Breakthrough concept, technological revolution and paradigm shift[J]. Earth Science Frontiers, 2024, 31(1): 46-63.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig.1 History of the development of various Earth models and Digital Twins. Below the timeline in the figure, the emergence times of concepts such as Digital Earth, Google Earth, Glass Earth, Smart Earth, Deep-Time Digital Earth, Target Earth, and Elemental Earth are presented. It also delineates the initiating institutions or individuals, as well as the target Earth sphere or geological stage they focus on. Additionally, above the timeline, the developmental history of digital twins is listed in parallel.

Fig.2 New scheme for global microplate division (Version OUC2022). Adapted from [15].

Fig.3 Structural restoration of the Bohai Bay Basin using 3D Move

Fig.4 Workflow of paleogeomorphological reconstruction

Fig.5 Six-layer technical system of “Digital Twin Earth”

Fig.6 Perspective illustration of dynamic coupling between Meta-Earth and Earth's surface. Modified after [25⇓-27].

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