Our Data Sources
Live Earth Watch does not collect its own measurements. A program on our server downloads public data from official agencies every few minutes, and the pages show it with the source and the time of the last update. If a source stops responding, the page says that the data is delayed instead of showing old numbers as current.
Sources and how often we check them
| Data | Source | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Earthquakes | U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) real-time feeds and event catalog | every 5 minutes |
| Weather alerts | National Weather Service API (weather.gov) | every 5 minutes |
| Hurricanes and tropical storms | National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center | every 5 minutes |
| Tsunami messages | National and Pacific Tsunami Warning Centers (tsunami.gov) | every 5 minutes |
| Air quality | State, local and tribal air agencies via the U.S. EPA AirNow program | every 15 minutes |
| Wildfires | National Interagency Fire Center (WFIGS incident data) | every 30 minutes |
| Satellite fire detections | NASA FIRMS, VIIRS instruments on NOAA-20 and NOAA-21 | every 30 minutes |
| Volcano alert levels | USGS Volcano Hazards Program notification service | every 30 minutes |
| World disaster alerts | GDACS (European Commission Joint Research Centre and UN OCHA) | every 15 minutes |
What we change and what we do not
We do not change values. Magnitudes, wind speeds, acres, containment and AQI readings appear as the agency published them. Official alert texts are shown word for word. We add only context that the source data does not contain: the nearest towns to an earthquake and its distance from them, a country or state for each quake, and simple maps.
Earthquake locations
Nearest towns come from GeoNames, a free geographic database (CC BY 4.0), using places with 15,000 or more people. An earthquake is listed under a country or a US state when the nearest such town within 300 km (186 mi) is there, or when USGS names that place in its location text. Quakes far out at sea may have no country.
Air quality data from AirNow
Air quality readings are collected by state, local and tribal agencies and distributed by EPA AirNow. We name the reporting agency next to each reading. AirNow data is preliminary: it has not been fully verified and may change. We show each station’s hourly AQI and its official color without averaging. For forecasts and official health guidance, visit AirNow.gov.
Satellite fire detections
We acknowledge the use of data from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS). A satellite detection is a hot spot seen from space. It is not a confirmed wildfire and may be a prescribed burn, a farm fire or an industrial heat source.
Limits
Data can arrive late or be revised after we show it. Early earthquake reports are automatic and change as seismologists review them. Wildfire sizes can lag behind local updates. Always check the official source linked on each page before you make decisions.