Scenario of human activities 
Input 
  
     
    
  
Global Database 
EIC 
the Earth II in a Computer 
  
  
    
   
  
  
  
Model 
of 
Global Environment 
  
  
  
  
   
  
Output 
Change of global environment 
Figure 1 The Earth II in a Computer (EIIC) 
2. GLOBAL DATASETS 
What are key environmental variables? In 1988, 
the Earth System Science Committee of NASA 
summarized physical quantities which should be 
observed and measured over long duration for 
global change studies (NASA 1988). On the 
other hand, sixty-six vanables were identified by 
panel participants of the International 
Symposium on Core Data Needs for 
Environmental Assessment and Sustainable 
Development Strategies which was held at 
Bangkok, Thailand in November 1994 
(UNDP/UNEP 1994). Key environmental 
variables are consists of physical variables and 
social variables. Examples of physical one are 
DEM, land cover, and soil type for terrestrial 
854 
variables, temperature, precipitation, and 
evapotranspiration for meteorological variables, 
concentrations of atmospheric gases, and sea 
surface temperature and chlorophyll for 
oceanographic variables. Examples of social 
variables are population, land use, energy 
consumption, water use, and industrial exhaust 
gas. 
The production of global datasets of key 
environmental variables is the results of the 
above Step 1. The Step 2 is the understanding 
of the global environmental mechanisms which 
is the main part of global change studies. To 
perform the Step 2, global database including 
physical and social variables is necessary. The 
result of the Step 2 is reliable modelings of 
global change. After successful Step 2, Step 3 
is not a difficulttask. The Step 4 is not a job by 
only scientists but a job by all people including 
policy makers, scientists, and general people. 
The preceding part is the description from the 
view point of global change studies. Next, let 
me focus on global datasets. What are needs for 
global datasets? There are scientific needs, 
social needs, and educational needs. The 
scientific needs are described in the above as the 
input to the Step 2. Even if we cannot 
understand the mechanisms of global change, 
we have to decide how to use land and 
resources. The social needs are for large scale 
land use planning and utilization and 
management of natural resources which needs 
the information of the present situation of the 
earth surfaces, that is global datasets. The last 
type of needs is educational needs. In order to 
improve knowledge of general people about 
global change, environmental education is 
important. Global datasets are the powerful tool 
to make people notice the seriousness of global 
change. Users of global datasets are 
scientists(scientific needs), policy makers(social 
needs), and general people(educational needs). 
What are the information sources for global 
datasets? Key environmental variables can be 
derived from one or some of the following 
sources. 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B4. Vienna 1996 
SERMGM p ad pu iu au 4 at ZR 
Pe ec j—- AY Mh de py 
ji OO "Cj TO > 
2 0 uv