A layered monitoring model
PlanetSentry is built around the idea that one feed is never enough. NASA EONET is the broad event backbone, but it does not cover every event type with the same speed or depth. That is why the product also checks focused sources such as USGS for earthquakes, NOAA NHC for tropical systems, GDACS for alerting context, and weather or atmospheric imagery for visual interpretation.
The result is a monitoring surface that favors authoritative public sources and keeps them distinct. We do not invent events, and we do not collapse every source into a single opaque score. The interface shows you what happened, where it happened, what source contributed the signal, and what supporting overlays help interpret it.
What happens before an event appears in the UI
Each source is fetched through a server-side adapter that normalizes field names, geometry, timestamps, and category mapping before anything reaches the frontend. That boundary matters because public feeds drift over time. By isolating provider quirks in adapters, the globe and detail panels can work with a predictable event model instead of ad hoc per-provider logic.
Once normalized, events are merged into shared collection and detail routes. This keeps the homepage, deep links, Open Graph images, and API responses aligned so a wildfire or storm does not look correct in one surface and disappear in another.
- Fetch raw data from authoritative public endpoints
- Normalize category, severity inputs, coordinates, and timestamps
- Merge multi-source events into shared list and detail pipelines
- Render the same event model across SSR, API, and map UI
Why imagery and alerts are kept separate
A common monitoring mistake is to treat imagery as if it were ground truth for the event catalog. PlanetSentry does not do that. Imagery layers help you interpret context such as smoke, moisture, temperature contrast, vegetation stress, or rainfall structure, but the event feed remains its own verified object with title, source geometry, and timeline.
Alerts work the same way. GDACS circles are not replacements for EONET or USGS items. They are an additional emergency-significance layer that helps users understand when a disaster has broader humanitarian or operational consequences.
What PlanetSentry is and is not
PlanetSentry is a public information and situational-awareness product. It is useful for researchers, journalists, educators, climate observers, and curious readers who want a fast read on what the planet is doing.
It is not an emergency dispatch system, evacuation service, or official warning authority. When a situation is time-critical, users should always follow local emergency management, national meteorological agencies, civil protection bodies, and other official instructions.