On the foundations of Earth foundation models
Abstract Foundation models have enormous potential in advancing Earth sciences. However, current approaches may not be optimal, as they focus only on a few basic features of a desirable Earth foundation model. Crafting the ideal Earth foundation model, we define eleven features which would allow such a foundation model to be beneficial for any geoscientific downstream application in an environmental- and human-centric manner. We further shed light on the way forward to achieve the ideal model and to evaluate Earth foundation models. What comes after foundation models? Energy efficient adaptation, adversarial defenses, and interpretability are among the emerging directions.
Authors
- Zhitong Xiong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3953-585X)
- Qingsong Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0906-7290)
- Zhenghang Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4014-0484)
- Konrad Heidler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8226-0727)
- Thomas Dujardin
- Yi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3096-6610)
- Adam J. Stewart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0468-5006)
- Yuanyuan Wang
- Yilei Shi
- Xiao Xiang Zhu
Institutions
- Munich Center for Machine Learning
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Earth & Environment
- Published
- 2026-01-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03127-x
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Infrastructure Resilience and Vulnerability Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 19.37
Funders
- Australian Government
- European Commission
- Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz