Virtual globes and geospatial health.

Abstract

other infectious diseases that depend on intermediate hosts. These issues are discussed and a set of conclusions drawn from the examples is presented. 3.2 How It All Started A virtual globe is essentially a three-dimensional (3-D) representation of the earth, usually based on satellite imagery, upon which various types of information with a spatial character can be superimposed. It provides the users with the ability to append their own data, to share the added data layer with other interested users and to freely move around in the virtual environment by zooming in and out, and changing the position and viewing angle. In 1998, Al Gore, then Vice President of the USA, made a speech at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, where he presented a vision of a Digital Earth, in which satellite imagery, databases and georeferenced information were