EONET is an open-source Application Programmer Interface (API) built to provide a curated reference of continuously updated, near real-time, natural event metadata. The metadata data are accessible via web services that link natural events to thematically-related image sources.

Using client applications, such as NASA Worldview, users can browse the entire globe daily and look for natural events as they occur. Some applications include monitoring storms in the tropics, dust storms over deserts, or wildland fires in the summers. These events are constantly occurring, and NASA NRT imagery can represent them all using a variety of different data parameters. EONET provides flexibility by providing the curated data and leaving it to the application developer to decide how the data is displayed and paired for their application needs.

Event Curation

The curation of events is a significant component of the EONET system, and while the technical details are, to an extent, straight forward, the definition of what exactly constitutes an event is fluid and daring us to be constrained. What are the contextual parameters of an event? If one curator defines a specific wildfire in Idaho as a discrete event and another defines the summer wildfire season in the Pacific Northwest as a single event, what does that mean for the end user? If an end user can filter by source/curator, does that provide them with ample context for the development of their application?

We are still thinking about these issues and how to best represent them within EONET, and we encourage you to get in touch with us if you have ideas or suggestions or use cases that you have developed. To view a list of the sources, we are currently tracking for events (both automated and manually) please check out the sources feed. How events in EONET are curated.

Versions

Version 3.0 of the API is the current, stable release. Read the documentation and how-tos to get started.

Version 2.1 of the API will remain available for the time being, but will not be updated - V2.1 documentation.

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