Digital Heritage

Abstract Natural and cultural heritage, the common wealth of human beings, are keys to human understanding of the evolution of our planet and social development. The protection and conservation of natural and cultural heritage is the common responsibility of all mankind. Spatial information technology provides a new applied theory and tool for the protection and utilization of natural and cultural heritage. This chapter is divided into four parts. The first part elaborates the connotation of digital heritage, the differences and connections between digital heritage and physical heritage, the technology of digital heritage formation and the research objectives and content of digital heritage. Parts 2 and 3 discuss the contents and methods of digital natural heritage and cultural heritage, respectively, and some practical case studies. In the fourth part, the future development trends of digital heritage research in protection and utilization are described, as well as six research directions that deserve attention