~/work/open-earthLive
Open Earth
Combines earthquakes, volcanoes, tectonic context, faults and trenches while keeping provenance, freshness and scientific meaning visible.
What it does
An open-source Earth-science explorer built around heterogeneous reference datasets and live observations. The interface distinguishes reference, observed and derived information instead of implying that spatial proximity proves causation.
Problem
Scientific features and live observations come from different sources, formats and freshness models.
Constraints
- No application database, backend or runtime build service; provenance and uncertainty must survive normalization.
How it's built
- Scientific sources are normalized into browser-safe snapshots and a manifest.
- The browser combines snapshots with live USGS observations.
- The interface preserves provenance, freshness and distinctions between reference, observed and derived information.
Engineering decisions
Normalize sources into browser-safe snapshots
Keep the map fast and source-aware.
Trade-off Scheduled preparation is required when reference data changes.
Keep observed, reference and derived data distinct
Avoid presenting proximity as causation.
Trade-off The UI carries more semantic detail.
Evidence
- Live/reference sources
- USGS · GVP
- Map rendering
- MapLibre
- Deployment model
- Static
Earthquakes and volcano datasets
Native browser ES modules
No account, backend or API key
Related case study
The project page describes what exists. The case study follows the decisions, constraints, and trade-offs behind it.
Case studyHighlights
- Source model Upstream geology flows through scheduled normalizers into snapshots and manifests consumed by browser adapters.
- Semantic boundaries Reference, observed and derived features retain their different meanings and freshness.