Back to Earth
Where the data comes from
PlanetLens only ever shows real signals from Earth-monitoring networks. We never invent an event to make the globe look busy. Every event is labelled with how confident we can be — observed, detected, estimated, or forecast.
USGS Earthquake Feeds
- What it measures
- Real-time earthquake locations, magnitude, and depth worldwide.
- Update frequency
- Updated roughly every minute.
- Data status
- Observed — recorded by physical seismometer networks.
- Important limits
- Magnitudes are preliminary and refined as more station data arrives. Very small quakes may only appear in some regions with dense instruments.
NASA FIRMS Active Fire Detections
- What it measures
- Heat signatures on the ground picked up by the VIIRS satellite instrument, grouped into nearby clusters. Each cluster shows how many hot spots were seen and how much heat they were giving off (Fire Radiative Power, in megawatts).
- Update frequency
- New satellite passes arrive several times a day.
- Data status
- Detected — a satellite saw a patch of ground that was unusually hot. This is a heat signal, not a confirmed, mapped wildfire.
- Important limits
- A detection can be a wildfire, but also a farm burn, a gas flare, or land clearing. Thick smoke and cloud can hide fires, so the real number is often higher than what is shown. Detections come and go as satellites pass overhead.
GDACS Flood Alerts
- What it measures
- Flood events worldwide, including estimated severity, alert level (green, orange, red), affected country, and population exposure. Covers river floods, flash floods, and coastal flooding.
- Update frequency
- Updated multiple times per day as new reports and satellite observations arrive.
- Data status
- Observed — combines satellite imagery, hydrological models, river gauge data, and ground reports from national agencies.
- Important limits
- Alert levels are estimates based on models and may be revised as more data arrives. Small, localised floods may not appear if they fall below the detection threshold. Coverage depends on the availability of satellite passes and ground-based monitoring in each region.
More Earth signals — space weather, aurora, and air quality — are on the way, each with its own transparent source listing.