GeoNDC: A Queryable Neural Data Cube for Planetary-Scale Earth Observation

arXiv cs.CV / 3/27/2026

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Key Points

  • GeoNDC introduces a queryable neural data cube that encodes large-scale Earth observation archives as a continuous spatiotemporal implicit neural field for on-demand queries and continuous-time reconstruction without full decompression.
  • Tests on a 20-year, 7-band MODIS MCD43A4 reflectance record show the learned representation enables direct spatiotemporal queries on consumer hardware and delivers strong reconstruction quality (e.g., mean R² > 0.98).
  • Experiments on Sentinel-2 imagery demonstrate that continuous temporal parameterization can recover cloud-free dynamics with high fidelity (R² > 0.85) even under simulated cloud occlusion.
  • On HiGLASS biophysical products (LAI and FPAR), GeoNDC achieves near-perfect accuracy (R² > 0.98), indicating robust applicability beyond reflectance.
  • The method compresses the 20-year MODIS archive to 0.44 GB (~95:1 vs an optimized Int16 baseline) while maintaining high spectral fidelity, positioning GeoNDC as an AI-native, analysis-ready Earth observation data layer.

Abstract

Satellite Earth observation has accumulated massive spatiotemporal archives essential for monitoring environmental change, yet these remain organized as discrete raster files, making them costly to store, transmit, and query. We present GeoNDC, a queryable neural data cube that encodes planetary-scale Earth observation data as a continuous spatiotemporal implicit neural field, enabling on-demand queries and continuous-time reconstruction without full decompression. Experiments on a 20-year global MODIS MCD43A4 reflectance record (7 bands, 5\,km, 8-day sampling) show that the learned representation supports direct spatiotemporal queries on consumer hardware. On Sentinel-2 imagery (10\,m), continuous temporal parameterization recovers cloud-free dynamics with high fidelity (R^2 > 0.85) under simulated 2-km cloud occlusion. On HiGLASS biophysical products (LAI and FPAR), GeoNDC attains near-perfect accuracy (R^2 > 0.98). The representation compresses the 20-year MODIS archive to 0.44\,GB -- approximately 95:1 relative to an optimized Int16 baseline -- with high spectral fidelity (mean R^2 > 0.98, mean RMSE = 0.021). These results suggest GeoNDC offers a unified AI-native representation for planetary-scale Earth observation, complementing raw archives with a compact, analysis-ready data layer integrating query, reconstruction, and compression in a single framework.