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Sources

Everything on Earthasium comes from public sources. Here is each one: what it gives us, who publishes it, how often it updates, its terms, and the credit it asks for. On the globe, the Sources panel lists what is on screen right now.

What we derive from these sources (fire events, where the air came from, our maps) is shared under CC BY 4.0, unless a source's own terms are stricter; then its terms apply.

Fires

NASA FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System)

  • What it gives us: active fire detections (thermal anomalies) and the heat each one gives off, from VIIRS on NOAA-20, NOAA-21 and Suomi NPP (375 m pixels) and MODIS on Terra and Aqua (1 km): the last 24 hours worldwide, and the whole 2026 season over Kalimantan (since 1 January, through NASA GIBS's archive of FIRMS detections).
  • Updates: within about 3 hours of each satellite pass.
  • Terms: NASA open data, no restrictions.
  • Credit: "We acknowledge the use of data and/or imagery from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) (https://earthdata.nasa.gov/firms), part of NASA's LANCE and ESDIS."
  • Note: Suomi NPP stops on 2 November 2026; NOAA-20 and NOAA-21 carry on.

Satellite imagery

NASA GIBS (Global Imagery Browse Services)

  • What it gives us: the live sky from GOES-East and GOES-West (GeoColor) and Himawari-9; daily true color from VIIRS and MODIS; night lights (VIIRS Black Marble); the Blue Marble base imagery; and the 58 layers in the Layers panel, from aerosols and rain to floods, snow and vegetation.
  • Updates: every 10 minutes for the geostationary satellites, daily for the others.
  • Terms: NASA open data.
  • Credit: "We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS)."

EUMETSAT Meteosat (through EUMETView)

  • What it gives us: the live sky over Europe, Africa and the Atlantic (MTG GeoColour).
  • Updates: every 10 minutes. Shown at least one hour old, as EUMETSAT's free-data terms ask.
  • Terms: free and open (CC BY 4.0) for data at least one hour old.
  • Credit: "Contains modified EUMETSAT Meteosat data 2026".

Sentinel-2 cloudless (EOX)

  • What it gives us: sharp, cloud-free ground imagery at 10 m as the camera comes down (the 2024 mosaic).
  • Terms: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: non-commercial, share alike.
  • Credit: "Sentinel-2 cloudless 2024 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024)".

Terrain

Copernicus DEM, through Mapterhorn

  • What it gives us: the height of the ground, for 3D terrain and the elevation in the footer. Mapterhorn serves it as map tiles built from the Copernicus DEM (GLO-30) and finer national models.
  • Terms: the Copernicus DEM's free worldwide licence.
  • Credit: "© DLR e.V. 2010–2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014–2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved." Terrain tiles by Mapterhorn.

Weather and climate

NOAA GFS (Global Forecast System)

  • What it gives us: the air temperature, rain and wind maps, each labeled "model", and the winds behind "Where the Air Came From".
  • Updates: four runs a day (00, 06, 12 and 18 UTC), each published about 4 hours after it starts.
  • Terms: open to the public, to be used as desired.
  • Credit: "NOAA Global Forecast System (GFS)".

Open-Meteo

  • What it gives us: each place's forecast (now, the next 48 hours and 16 days), its air quality, its river, its sea, and its weather in the past. Open-Meteo draws on the forecast models of ECMWF, DWD, NOAA and others; air quality comes from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), rivers from the Copernicus Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS), and the past from ERA5.
  • Updates: current conditions every 15 minutes; forecasts with each model run.
  • Terms: CC BY 4.0, free for non-commercial use.
  • Credit: "Weather data by Open-Meteo.com". The Kalimantan page's air (CAMS: "Generated using Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information 2026") and weather (ERA5: "Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026") come through it too.

Singapore's Pollutant Standards Index (NEA)

  • What it gives us: Singapore's official 24-hour PSI and PM2.5 readings, on the Kalimantan page.
  • Updates: hourly.
  • Terms: Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0.
  • Credit: "Contains information from the Pollutant Standards Index (NEA) accessed from data.gov.sg, made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0".

NOAA Climate Prediction Center: Oceanic Niño Index

  • What it gives us: El Niño and La Niña, for "Why Now".
  • Updates: monthly.
  • Terms: public domain.
  • Credit: "NOAA Climate Prediction Center".

Earthquakes and disasters

USGS earthquakes

  • What it gives us: earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 and above in the past day, worldwide.
  • Updates: every minute; the globe checks every 5 minutes.
  • Terms: public domain.
  • Credit: "U.S. Geological Survey".

GDACS (Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System)

  • What it gives us: current alerts for tropical cyclones, floods, volcanoes, droughts and wildfires. Earthquakes come from USGS.
  • Terms: the European Commission's reuse notice (CC BY). GDACS alerts are automatic and don't replace national warnings.
  • Credit: "GDACS".

Places and borders

Natural Earth

  • What it gives us: the borders and place names on the globe, countries in search, and the provinces and states on the Kalimantan page. Its borders show where control lies today; disputed areas aren't marked.
  • Terms: public domain.
  • Credit: "Made with Natural Earth".

geoBoundaries (Indonesia's regencies and cities)

  • What it gives us: the regency and city boundaries the Kalimantan page counts fires in, from Indonesia's statistics office (BPS) with WFP and OCHA, 2020.
  • Terms: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
  • Credit: "BPS, WFP and OCHA ROAP via geoBoundaries (Runfola et al. 2020)".

GeoNames

  • What it gives us: the towns and cities in search, the places "Where the Air Came From" is traced for, and the town names on the Kalimantan page.
  • Terms: CC BY 4.0.
  • Credit: "GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0".

Kalimantan's fire history

SiPongi+ (Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry)

  • What it gives us: burned-area figures by year, in the history of Kalimantan's fires.
  • Credit: "SIPONGI KEMENHUT".

Every other figure and event in the history names its own source where it appears: official records, intergovernmental bodies, research and news reporting.