Big Earth Data … but which Earth are we talking about? A Baseline Exploration of a Virtual Globes Library

Digital globes are emerging as one of the latest avatars in the cartography of global changes. The SPHEROGRAPHIA project uses virtual globes as its research focus. The project has two main objectives. Firstly, it aims to improve understanding of the design of virtual globes by analyzing the intentions of those who created them and the various means by which they were created, and by tracing the origins of their sources. Secondly, the project examines the impact of globes on the imagination and political commitment of those who create or use them. This specific article is part of the first objective, it focuses on a statistical exploration of a library of over 200 virtual globes. Combining descriptive statistics with classifications based on content (authors, data, functions and sources), discourse analysis of associated arguments (written or spoken) and semio-aesthetics studies allows us to establish several typologies. Together, these analyses provide a comprehensive overview of contemporary visibility regimes that depict global changes through textual and graphical means.