About LiveEarthViewer

What this is

Most live maps do one thing. Weather sites show you rain and clouds. Tracking sites show you flights or ships. LiveEarthViewer puts them on the same map, so you can see not just a storm, but the flights diverting around it and the ports in its path. The guides and trackers in this section exist to help you read that map with confidence.

Where the data comes from

Everything here is built on free, open, public data from official agencies. We do not generate our own forecasts or measurements — we present the agencies' data and explain it. Primary sources include:

• NOAA National Hurricane Center — active tropical cyclone positions, intensity and advisories
• NASA EONET & FIRMS — wildfire events and satellite heat detections
• NASA GIBS — satellite cloud imagery (GeoColor and True Color)
• USGS — real-time earthquake feeds
• RainViewer — precipitation radar imagery

Editorial standards

Our standards for the written guides and trackers are simple and strict:

• Accuracy first. Explanations are checked against the science and the source agencies' own documentation. Where the data has limits, we say so plainly.
• Plain language. No jargon for its own sake. If a term matters, we define it.
• Honest live data. Trackers show real current data when events are active, and clearly say so when nothing is happening — an off-season hurricane tracker should look calm, not broken.
• Defer to officials. We are an information and visualisation tool, never a substitute for your national weather service. Every guide says this, because it is true.
• Corrections. Found something wrong? We want to fix it — reach us at the contact below.

Independence

LiveEarthViewer is independent and reader-focused. It runs on open data and is not affiliated with NOAA, NASA, the USGS or any government agency; their names appear only to credit the data sources we rely on.

Contact

Questions, corrections or data-source suggestions are welcome via @simplifaisoul.