Discrete global grid systems (DGGS) are spatial references that use a hierarchical tessellation of cells to partition and address the entire globe. DGGS are designed to portray real‐world phenomena by synthesizing digital values on a common discrete geospatial data structure. DGGS provide an organizational structure that permits fast integration between multiple sources of large and variable geospatial data sources sufficient for fast web‐based visualization and analysis. They are commonly used to create virtual globes. The adoption of an optimized DGGS is considered a favorable choice for the establishment of distributed Digital Earth information systems. A DGGS is designed to be an information grid, not a navigation grid. DGGS provide a reference frame for repeating the location of measured earth observations, feature interpretations, and extrapolated predictions. Information integration, decomposition, and aggregation can be optimized in the hierarchical structure, which can be exploited to support data processing, storage, discovery, transmission, visualization, computation, analysis, and modeling.