OVERWATCH.EARTH
initializing planetary telemetry…
About

The living planet, in real time

The environmental group is the planet's vital signs. Earthquakes stream from USGS and EMSC with rings scaled to magnitude; wildfires from NASA FIRMS thermal hotspots; lightning from the volunteer Blitzortung network the instant each bolt strikes. Layer on the auroral oval from NOAA's OVATION model, PM2.5 air quality from OpenAQ ground stations, severe-weather alert polygons from the US National Weather Service, multi-hazard alerts from GDACS, ocean buoys reporting waves and sea-surface temperature, Holocene volcanoes from the Smithsonian, and atmospheric fireballs from NASA CNEOS. Enable the whole group and the Earth's restlessness becomes visible at a glance — the Ring of Fire flickering with quakes, fire fronts across a dry continent, storm systems lit by lightning. Click any event to inspect it, with a link to the authoritative source. One of four theme groups; solo any layer or view them all on the homepage.

What's in the environmental group?

Earthquakes (USGS + EMSC), wildfires, lightning, aurora, air quality, severe-weather alerts, disaster alerts, ocean buoys, volcanoes and fireballs — each a toggleable layer, shown together here.

Where does the data come from?

USGS, EMSC, NASA FIRMS, Blitzortung, NOAA SWPC/NDBC/NWS, OpenAQ, GDACS, the Smithsonian GVP and NASA CNEOS — all open, public, real-time feeds.

How real-time is it?

Lightning is near-instant; earthquakes and air quality refresh within minutes; aurora every ~30 minutes. Slower catalogs (volcanoes) are near-static. Dead feeds are removed automatically.