A prototype of virtual geographical environment (VGE) for the Tibet Plateau and its applications

Based on the World-Wide-Web (WWW) and Internet, the virtual geographical environment (VGE) is a virtual and three-dimensional environment shared for multiusers, where multidimensional geo-scientific data can be released, and geo-scientific process or phenomena can be simulated. A prototype of VGE for the Tibet Plateau has been conceived and is being built, under which the evolving processes of the Tibet Plateau can be simulated by a user's interactions. The multisource geo-scientific information including oil-gas seepages, active structures, permafrost distribution, earthquakes, and so on, were integrated successfully to predict oil-gas or gas-hydrates under the permafrost by the application of the prototype. The topography over the Tibet Plateau is visualized three-dimensionally by overlaying color composite image of remote sensing on to a digital elevation model (DEM) according to the scales the users assume. The three-dimensional information and the results simulated can be Web browsed by a Web plug-in.