Earth Sciences

Earth sciences comprise the fields of study concerned with understanding the physical composition, structure, and processes of the Earth (and, in some framings, its place within the solar system). Earth scientists work to understand Earth’s interconnected systems and support informed decisions about natural resources, hazards, and environmental change.

Earth science is typically treated as an umbrella term that brings together several interconnected disciplines, including:

• Geoscience
• Climate science
• Atmospheric science
• Ocean science

It also relies on tools like remote sensing, GIS, and spatial analysis to model and visualize these systems, which is a big part of how geospatial platforms are applied to the field.

ArcGIS can bring together satellite and airborne imagery, sensor feeds, field observations, open geoscience data, multidimensional scientific data, models, and authoritative map layers.

Earth scientists can manage these sources as maps, imagery layers, multidimensional datasets, and services, then apply spatial, imagery, 3D, and time-series analysis without separating the data from its geographic context. Python, R, notebooks, APIs, and open standards support integration with existing research workflows.

Open science makes research data, methods, software, and results more transparent, accessible, and reusable. 

With ArcGIS, organizations can publish data and metadata as web services, provide open access through ArcGIS Hub, share code and analytical methods in notebooks, and use open formats, APIs, and standards to connect with other scientific systems. These practices help other researchers find, evaluate, reproduce, and build on the work.

Organizations can use ArcGIS to: 

• Process Earth observation data
• Classify imagery
• Measure change over time
• Analyze time series
• Combine observations with terrain, weather, infrastructure, population, or ecosystem data

The resulting insights can be shared through maps, dashboards, applications, and stories that support research, operations, policy, and planning. ArcGIS Living Atlas also provides ready-to-use data and models that help reduce the time spent finding, preparing, and managing inputs.

Organizations can publish authoritative datasets such as web layers and imagery services, organize shared content in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise, and provide open access through ArcGIS Hub. 

Common schemas, metadata, persistent services, and APIs help partners use compatible data without recreating it for each project. Shared maps, notebooks, and apps also preserve geographic context as research moves among field teams, analysts, institutions, and public agencies.

Reproducibility is essential for scientific credibility. Reproducible workflows record the data, parameters, code, and processing steps used to produce a result. 

ArcGIS supports this work through: 

• Geoprocessing models
• Python and R integration
• ArcGIS Notebooks
• Imagery and raster functions
• Multidimensional data tools
• Metadata
• Shared web services

Organizations can rerun automated processes as new observations arrive and share notebooks, models, data, and outputs for review or reuse across teams.

GIS gives these disciplines a shared geographic reference for studying relationships across land, water, air, ecosystems, and human activity. 

Researchers can: 

• Compare observations collected at different locations, times, depths, and elevations
• Analyze interactions among Earth systems
• Publish common data and models for cross-disciplinary work

This helps teams study connected questions such as coastal flooding, drought, wildfire, erosion, groundwater, and changing ocean conditions.