Documentation

Welcome to the EarthView documentation hub. This page provides quick access to installation steps, system requirements, feature details, data sources, and support resources. Earth View is designed to be simple to run on a single computer, reliable in continuous operation, and clear in presentation.

Getting Started

To begin using EarthView on your computer:

  1. Complete your purchase and download the EarthView package.
  2. Open the EarthView HTML file (for example, earthview.html) in a supported browser.

For more details, see the Installation section below.

Installation

EarthView is a browser-based application with no installers, accounts, or external dependencies. It is licensed for use on a single computer by a single user. See the License Agreement (EULA) for full details.

Local Use (Single Computer)

  • Open the EarthView HTML file in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari on your computer.
  • Press F11 (or your browser’s equivalent) to enter full-screen mode if desired.

System Requirements

EarthView runs on any modern device with a current browser. Recommended:

  • Browser: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari (latest versions)
  • Display: 1080p or 4K single display for best clarity
  • CPU: Any modern processor
  • RAM: 4 GB or more
  • Internet: Required for live data refresh (earthquakes, weather, alerts, TLE updates)

EarthView continues to operate in a reduced but useful mode if the network connection drops. See Offline Behavior for details.

Feature Overview

EarthView includes the following capabilities:

Global Map & Day/Night Overlay

  • Real-time day/night terminator (grayline)
  • Optimized for full-screen, continuous display

World Clocks

  • A row of global city clocks using IANA time zones for quick time-zone awareness

Live Earthquake Data

  • USGS 24-hour GeoJSON feed
  • Magnitude-scaled map markers with hover tooltips
  • Stats for strongest event, most recent event, total count, and most-active region

Volcano Overlay (Toggleable)

  • Volcano locations from the USGS catalog
  • Curated “Volcanoes of Interest” lists for quick reference
  • Overlay can be switched on/off; your preference is remembered

Tectonic Plate Boundaries (Toggleable)

  • Global PB2002 plate boundary overlay
  • Lightweight styling for geophysical context without clutter
  • Can be enabled/disabled at any time; state is remembered

ISS & Tiangong (CSS) Tracking

  • Real-time position, orbital trail, altitude, and speed
  • Orbits seeded from embedded TLEs, then upgraded to live CelesTrak data when available

Two Selectable Amateur Satellites

  • SAT 1 / SAT 2 from a curated list of ham-centric satellites
  • Orbit paths and footprint rings
  • “In-view” status based on your location (station/QTH)
  • Optional AOS/LOS timing for lightweight pass planning

Location (station/QTH)

  • Enter latitude/longitude to place a precise location (station/QTH) marker on the map
  • Satellite footprint and “in view” checks are computed relative to your location (station/QTH)
  • Local weather and alerts at your location (station/QTH) are displayed via tooltips

Local Weather & Alerts (Optional)

  • Location-based weather snapshots and basic forecast from MET Norway services
  • Optional weather/alert integration (e.g., NWS where available) for added context

Feed Health & Status

  • A dedicated status bar summarizing the state of major feeds:
    • Earthquakes, volcano, weather, alerts, and TLEs
  • Each feed is labeled OK, STALE, or UNAVAILABLE, with last-update age
  • Helps you understand how current your data is at a glance

Help, Info & Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Built-in Help overlay for on-screen guidance (keyboard shortcuts such as H or F1)
  • Info panel providing a Quick Start summary plus in-app access to README and License & Credits (for example, via the I key)
  • Keyboard shortcuts for quickly toggling overlays and accessing reference information while Earth View is running full-screen

For attribution details, see the Third-Party Notices and Data Credits page.

Offline Behavior

EarthView continues to function with reduced capability if the network connection is lost:

Continues working (using last-good or embedded data)

  • ISS / Tiangong and amateur satellite propagation (using last-known TLEs)
  • Location (station/QTH) marker, clocks, day/night grayline, and map rendering
  • Last-good earthquake, volcano, and weather data (while cached data remains valid)

Stops receiving fresh updates until connection returns

  • New earthquake events
  • Updated volcano and plate data (if refreshed remotely)
  • Weather forecasts and alerts
  • Live TLE refresh from CelesTrak

Data Sources

EarthView combines local computation with trusted public data feeds, including USGS (earthquakes and volcano catalog), PB2002 (tectonic plate boundaries), Natural Earth (base map data), CelesTrak (orbital elements), MET Norway (weather), and NWS where available (alerts). For full attribution details and licensing information, see the Third-Party Notices & Data Credits page.