The iconic Spaceship Earth philosophy that reversed our inward view of our planet has now inspired a new satellite imagery exhibition that opens in Sydney this week.

The iconic Spaceship Earth philosophy that reversed our inward view of our planet has now inspired a new satellite imagery exhibition that opens in Sydney this week.

The Spaceship Earth: Observing Our Planet From Satellites exhibition is now on display at City of Sydney's Customs House, at Circular Quay in Sydney, until 20 July 2014.

Speaking at the launch of the exhibition, Dr Stuart Minchin, Chief of Geoscience Australia's Environmental Geoscience Division, explained the integral relevance of Earth observations from space to our everyday lives.

"The amount of Earth observation data has been increasing exponentially over the last 30 years, so we need to work towards ways of working smarter with this data to enable us to realise its full potential," Dr Minchin explained.

"Nations invest billions of dollars in launching and operating Earth observation satellites, and it is essential that we make the most of the resulting images and observations,"Dr Minchin said.

"Making the most of this spatial information leads to better decision making in important fields such as agriculture, resource management and community safety," Dr Minchin explained.

The Spaceship Earth exhibition builds upon the Digital Earth vision, a term first coined by former US vice-president Al Gore in his 1992 book Earth in the Balance, and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems project, coordinated by the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) based in Geneva, Switzerland of which Australia is a key proponent.

The exhibition includes videos and high-resolution stills from a range of international partners including GEO, Geoscience Australia, the European Space Agency, NASA, NOAA, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, NSW Land and Property Information, digital artists and commercial operators Digital Globe and EOVision.

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