Editorial: Next generation visualization and communication systems for earth science using immersive reality and serious gaming

High-variety earth science data is being produced at an increasing volume and velocity to power environmental research, reinforced by the advancements in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and the widespread deployment of internet-connected sensors (Sermet and Demir, 2022a). Utilizing this enormous data set for contextaware and on-site analysis that is enhanced with realistic visualizations and event dynamics transcends the capabilities and reach of traditional information systems for environmental management (Kolditz et al., 2019). High volume data from diverse sources requires integrated and interactive solutions to allow professionals, academics, decision makers, and the public to perceive the complete picture regarding the consequences of climate change as well as the environmental issues revolving around a community and to discover actionable knowledge upon contextinformed analysis (Rink et al., 2020). Mixed reality and serious gaming present immense potential in earth sciences to overcome the challenges of engaging stakeholders and community members in decision-making and disaster preparedness, communicating huge environmental data within a geospatial context, and simulating non-replicable extreme events for evaluation (Sermet and Demir, 2020). Furthermore, the incorporation of gamification and interaction into data exploration and decision-making for risk reduction and environmental management shows significant potential for participatory planning, collaborative learning, and building conceptual understanding of physical phenomena and processes (Teague et al., 2021). OPEN ACCESS