EarthBrowser Manual

Datasets Panel

EarthBrowser has several interesting and useful sets of data available in the Datasets tab of the control window.

Weather

Weather data is updated hourly and displayed as a set of current condition icons across the globe. Turning down the arrow on the weather dataset will reveal a set of cities based on continent, country and state or province. Please see the City Window for details on how to add a city and set the level of zoom for the weather icon.

Clouds

The global cloud coverage is generated from the infrared images of 5 separate geostationary satellites and updated every 3 hours.

Doppler Radar

Doppler Radar for the US and its territories is available within this dataset. There is a mosaic of the continental US, higher resolution regional mosaics and finally high resolution images from each individual station. All data is from National Weather Service Doppler Radar website.

Earthquakes

The Earthquakes dataset is updated every 10 minutes and shows global quakes with magnitude of 4 or greater and quakes for the US and its territories down to magnitude 1. All data is gathered from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program.

Popular Spacecraft

The Popular Spacecraft dataset contains a changing set of satellites that are most requested. It is updated every hour.

Volcanoes

This dataset shows the location and activity level of volcanos around the world. Periodic updates of new activity and unrest are issued on a weekly basis. All data is gathered from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.

Tectonic Plates

Plate boundaries are shown in this dataset generated by the USGS. Convergence data are shown by arrows describing direction and speed, relative to the plate across the boundary. More information is available at This Dynamic Planet.

Countries of the World

This complete list of internationally recognized political entities is generated from the CIA World Factbook and displayed as the flag for each country above its location. Clicking on a flag will display a comprehensive set of information about the country, its geographic, polulation, government, economy, transportation, military and a some history about its creation.

International Borders

Toggle the international country borders (warning: they are inexact)

US State Borders

Toggle the borders of the United States

Webcams

An ad-hoc collection of webcams from around the world categorized by region, country and state.

US Forecasts

US Forecast data is created with data generated from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction NAM (North American Mesoscale Model) datasets and is updated twice daily. The data is grouped in 3 hour blocks that show data for the past 3 days and provide forecasts for 3 days into the future.

Precipitation

Total precipitation above trace threshold.

Units: Inches and Centimeters

Snowfall

Accumulated snowfall in water equivalent snow depth.

Units: Inches and Centimeters

Temperature

Temperature forecast regions.

Units: °F and °C

Atmospheric Pressure

Atmospheric pressure.

Units: Inches of mercury (inHg) and Millibars (hPA Hectopascals)

Relative Humidity

Regions of relative humidity.

Units: % Percentage

Wind Direction

Wind direction arrows colored by wind speed.

Units: Miles per Hour (mph) and Meters per Second (m/s)

Wind Speed (gusts)

Wind gust prediction.

Units: Miles per Hour (mph) and Meters per Second (m/s)

Cloud Coverage

Mid level cloud coverage prediction.

Units: % Percentage Coverage

Global Forecasts

US Forecast data is created with data generated from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction GFS (Global Forecast System) datasets and is updated twice daily. The data is grouped in 3 hour blocks that show data for the past 3 days and provide forecasts for 3 days into the future.