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AusOverwatch User Manual
1. Overview
AusOverwatch is a real-time geospatial intelligence platform for Australia. It aggregates 14 live data feeds onto a single interactive 3D globe, giving you a comprehensive situational picture of what is happening across the country at any moment.
Live site: ausoverwatch.com
What makes AusOverwatch unique
- 14 simultaneous data layers covering natural events, transportation, atmosphere, space, infrastructure, and demographics
- AI-powered situational briefings that synthesise all active data into a plain-English summary
- Real-time streaming for vessels (AIS WebSocket) and near-real-time for flights (15-second polling)
- Interactive 3D globe with Google Photorealistic 3D buildings at street level
- Comprehensive filtering — 17 filter controls to focus on exactly the data you need
- All of Australia — from Darwin to Hobart, Perth to Brisbane, including coastal waters and near-space
2. Getting Started
System Requirements
- A modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari)
- WebGL support (required for 3D globe rendering)
- Internet connection
First Load
- Navigate to ausoverwatch.com
- The application loads with the 3D globe centred on Australia
- Default layers begin fetching data automatically — you will see entity counts appear next to each layer name as data loads
- Green toggle switches indicate active layers; grey switches indicate disabled layers
Interface Layout
+------------------+----------------------------------+------------------+
| | | |
| Layer Panel | 3D Globe / Map | Info Panel |
| (left side) | | (right side) |
| | | appears when |
| - AI Briefing | | you click an |
| - Layer toggles | | entity |
| - Map controls | | |
| - Filters | | |
| | | |
+------------------+----------------------------------+------------------+
3. Map Controls
Mouse Controls
| Action | Control |
|---|
| Pan the map | Left-click and drag |
| Zoom in/out | Scroll wheel |
| Tilt the camera (3D mode) | Right-click and drag |
| Select an entity | Left-click on any marker |
| Deselect entity | Left-click on empty map area |
Keyboard Controls
| Key | Action |
|---|
| Escape | Close the info panel or briefing panel |
Touch Controls (Mobile/Tablet)
| Action | Gesture |
|---|
| Pan | One-finger drag |
| Zoom | Pinch in/out |
| Tilt | Two-finger drag (vertical) |
| Select entity | Tap on marker |
4. Data Layers
AusOverwatch provides 14 data layers organised into five categories. Each layer can be independently toggled on or off using the switches in the Layer Panel.
4.1 Event & Incident Layers
Earthquakes
Displays earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater from the past 7 days across the Australasian region.
- Source: United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program
- Update frequency: Every 60 seconds
- Visualisation: Coloured circles sized by magnitude
- Magnitude 2.0–3.9: Small green circle
- Magnitude 4.0–5.9: Medium yellow circle
- Magnitude 6.0+: Large red circle
- Click to see: Magnitude, depth (km), location description, time, felt reports count, tsunami warning status
Bushfires
Shows active fire hotspots detected by NASA satellites using the VIIRS sensor aboard the NOAA-20 satellite.
- Source: NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS)
- Update frequency: Every 5 minutes
- Visualisation: Flame icons coloured by Fire Radiative Power (FRP)
- Under 10 MW: Yellow (small)
- 10–29 MW: Orange (medium)
- 30–99 MW: Orange-red (large)
- 100+ MW: Red (full size)
- Click to see: FRP in megawatts, confidence level, brightness temperature, detection type (day/night), satellite name, acquisition time
Weather Warnings
Displays active weather warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology, including flood, storm, heat, and wind warnings.
- Source: Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) API
- Update frequency: Every 5 minutes
- Visualisation: Triangle icons coloured by severity
- Watch: Yellow
- Warning: Orange
- Severe: Red
- Click to see: Warning title, severity level, warning type, affected area description
Traffic Incidents
Shows road incidents including crashes, roadwork, closures, and hazards in New South Wales and Victoria.
- Source: Transport for NSW (TfNSW) API + Transport Victoria (VicRoads) API
- Update frequency: Every 2 minutes
- Coverage: NSW and VIC only
- Visualisation: Diamond icons coloured by severity
- Minor: Yellow
- Moderate: Orange
- Major: Red
- Click to see: Incident type, severity, road name, description, state
4.2 Transportation Layers
Flights
Shows live aircraft positions across the Australasian region. Aircraft icons rotate to show their heading direction and smoothly interpolate between position updates.
- Source: airplanes.live / adsb.lol (ADS-B Exchange compatible)
- Update frequency: Every 15 seconds with smooth interpolation between polls
- Visualisation: Aeroplane icons
- In air: Blue
- On ground: Grey
- Click to see: Callsign, origin country, altitude (feet), ground speed (knots), heading with compass direction, vertical rate, ICAO24 hex code, squawk code, on-ground status
Vessels
Displays ships and maritime vessels in real-time using AIS (Automatic Identification System) data streamed via WebSocket.
- Source: AISStream (real-time WebSocket)
- Update frequency: Real-time streaming (continuous)
- Visualisation: Ship icons coloured by vessel type
- Cargo: Blue
- Tanker: Purple
- Passenger: Green
- Fishing: Amber
- Other: Grey
- Click to see: Vessel name, MMSI, vessel type, navigation status, speed (knots), course and heading, destination port, call sign, IMO number
4.3 Atmosphere & Environment Layers
UV Index
Shows current ultraviolet radiation levels measured at 17 ARPANSA monitoring stations across Australia.
- Source: Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA)
- Update frequency: Every 2 minutes
- Visualisation: Circles displaying the UV index number, coloured by risk level
- Low (0–2): Green
- Moderate (3–5): Yellow
- High (6–7): Orange
- Very High (8–10): Red
- Extreme (11+): Purple
- Click to see: UV index value, risk level, station name, measurement status
Air Quality
Displays Air Quality Index (AQI) readings from over 150 monitoring stations across the Australasian region.
- Source: World Air Quality Index (WAQI) project
- Update frequency: Every 5 minutes
- Visualisation: Circles displaying AQI number, coloured by health category
- Good (0–50): Green
- Moderate (51–100): Yellow
- Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (101–150): Orange
- Very Unhealthy (151–200): Red
- Hazardous (200+): Purple
- Click to see: AQI value, health category, station name
Weather
Shows current weather conditions for 20 major Australian cities, displayed as weather icons with temperature labels.
- Source: WeatherAPI.com
- Update frequency: Every 10 minutes
- Cities covered: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart, Canberra, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Parramatta, Wollongong, Logan, Morley, Mandurah, Mount Waverley, Toowoomba, Townsville, Cairns, Coffs Harbour
- Click to see: Temperature, "feels like" temperature, weather condition, humidity, wind speed and direction, gust speed, atmospheric pressure, cloud coverage, precipitation, visibility, dew point, UV index, local time
4.4 Space Monitoring Layers
Satellites
Tracks the International Space Station (ISS) and weather satellites in orbit, showing their current positions and orbital paths.
- Source: CelesTrak (Two-Line Element data)
- Update frequency: Every 60 seconds (TLE data cached for 6 hours)
- Visualisation:
- Space stations: White circles
- Weather satellites: Cyan circles
- Orbital paths shown as blue polylines
- Click to see: Satellite name, NORAD catalogue number, altitude (km), velocity (km/s), orbital inclination, orbital period
Webcams
Displays approximately 1,000 webcams across Australia from the Windy network, with live preview thumbnails.
- Source: Windy Webcams API
- Update frequency: Loaded once on startup (cached for 5 minutes)
- Categories: Beach, City, Traffic, Landscape, Other
- Visualisation: Camera pin icons
- Click to see: Camera title, city/region, live/offline status, category tags, preview thumbnail image
- Special feature: Click "View Timelapse" to open a live video player showing the webcam stream or day timelapse
4.5 Infrastructure & Demographic Layers
Energy Grid
Shows the current energy generation mix for each of the five National Electricity Market (NEM) regions, with a focus on renewable energy percentage.
- Source: OpenElectricity API
- Update frequency: Every 5 minutes
- Regions: NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, TAS
- Visualisation: Large circles with region name and renewable percentage
- Under 30% renewable: Orange
- 30–59% renewable: Yellow
- 60%+ renewable: Green
- Click to see: Region name, total renewable percentage, total generation (MW), breakdown by source — solar, wind, hydro, coal, gas, and battery (all in MW)
Census 2021
Overlays 2021 Australian Census demographic data as a choropleth (colour-shaded) map across 2,454 Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) regions.
- Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) via Esri FeatureServer
- Loading: Lazy-loaded when enabled (approximately 10 seconds to download)
- Cache: 24 hours (static 2021 data)
- See Section 11 for full details
Weather Radar
Overlays real-time precipitation radar data across Australia as a semi-transparent tile layer.
- Source: RainViewer (free, no API key required)
- See Section 10 for full details
5. Filters
The Filters section appears at the bottom of the Layer Panel. Filters allow you to narrow down the data shown on each layer. Only active layers show their filters.
Available Filters
| Layer | Filter | Options |
|---|
| Earthquakes | Magnitude | M0+ / M2+ / M3+ / M4+ / M5+ |
| Earthquakes | Time window | 1h / 6h / 24h / 7 days / All |
| Flights | Altitude | All / Ground / Low / High |
| Bushfires | Confidence | Nominal+ / High only |
| Bushfires | Time period | 24h / 48h / 5 days |
| Bushfires | Detection | All / Day / Night |
| Vessels | Type | Cargo / Tanker / Passenger / Fishing / Other |
| Satellites | Category | Space Station / Weather Satellite |
| Webcams | Category | Beach / City / Traffic / Landscape / Other |
| UV Index | Level | Low / Moderate / High / Extreme |
| Air Quality | Level | Good / Moderate / Bad |
| Warnings | Severity | Watch / Warning / Severe |
| Traffic | State | NSW / VIC |
| Traffic | Incident type | Crash / Works / Closure / Hazard |
| Census | Metric | See Section 11 |
| Census | Opacity | 10–80% slider |
| Weather Radar | Opacity | 0–100% slider |
How Filters Work
- Filters are button groups — click a button to select that filter value
- Some filters allow multiple selections (e.g., vessel types)
- Active filter buttons are highlighted
- Changing a filter immediately updates the map display
- Entity counts in the Layer Panel reflect the filtered count, not the total
6. AI Situational Briefing
The AI Briefing feature uses GPT-4o-mini to generate a plain-English situational summary of current conditions across Australia or for a specific city/state.
How to Use
- Select a location from the dropdown at the top of the Layer Panel:
- All Australia — national overview
- Cities — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart, Canberra
- States — NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, NT, TAS, ACT
- Click the "Brief Me" button
- Wait 2–3 seconds while the AI analyses current data (button shows "Analysing...")
- The Briefing Panel slides in from the right with the generated summary
What the Briefing Includes
The AI receives a summary of all active layer data and generates a 3–5 sentence briefing highlighting:
- Active weather warnings and their severity
- Significant earthquakes (magnitude, location, time)
- Bushfire activity (count, intensity)
- Dangerous air quality or UV conditions
- Notable weather conditions (extreme temperatures, storms)
- Traffic disruptions by state
- Energy grid status (renewable percentages)
- Flight and vessel activity levels
Location Targeting
When you select a specific city or state, the system filters all data to only include entities within the relevant geographic radius before sending to the AI. This means the briefing focuses specifically on conditions in that area.
Closing the Briefing
Click the X button on the Briefing Panel or press Escape.
7. Info Panel
The Info Panel appears on the right side of the screen when you click any entity (marker) on the map.
Panel Structure
- Header: Coloured dot indicating entity type + type label + close button
- Body: Type-specific information fields (see below)
- Footer: Timestamp of the data + source name
Information Shown by Entity Type
Earthquake
- Magnitude (e.g., M3.2)
- Location description
- Depth in kilometres
- Time (relative, e.g., "2 hours ago")
- Coordinates (latitude/longitude)
- Felt reports count
- Tsunami warning indicator
Flight
- Callsign (e.g., QFA475)
- Origin country
- Altitude in feet
- Ground speed in knots
- Heading with compass direction (e.g., 270 W)
- Vertical rate (climbing/descending)
- ICAO24 hex identifier
- Squawk code
- On-ground status
Bushfire
- Fire Radiative Power (MW)
- Confidence level with colour indicator
- Brightness temperature (Kelvin)
- Detection type (Day/Night)
- Satellite name
- Coordinates
- Acquisition date and UTC time
Vessel
- Vessel name
- MMSI number
- Vessel type + navigation status
- Speed over ground (knots)
- Course over ground with compass direction
- True heading
- Destination port
- Call sign
- IMO number
- Coordinates
Satellite
- Satellite name
- NORAD catalogue ID
- Altitude (km)
- Velocity (km/s)
- Orbital inclination (degrees)
- Orbital period (minutes)
- Category (Space Station / Weather)
Webcam
- Preview thumbnail image
- Camera title
- City and region
- Status (Live / Offline)
- Category tags
- Coordinates
- "View Timelapse" button — opens embedded video player
UV Index
- UV index number (large display)
- Risk level with colour
- Station name
- Measurement status
- Coordinates
Air Quality
- AQI number (large display)
- Health category with colour
- Station name
- Coordinates
Weather Warning
- Warning title
- Severity level with colour
- Warning type
- Area description
- Coordinates
Traffic Incident
- Incident type
- Severity with colour
- State (NSW/VIC)
- Road name
- Description (truncated to 200 characters)
- Coordinates
Energy Region
- Region name
- Renewable energy percentage with colour
- Total generation (MW)
- Source breakdown: Solar, Wind, Hydro, Coal, Gas, Battery (all in MW)
Weather Station
- Weather icon (64px)
- Current temperature (large display)
- Weather condition text
- "Feels like" temperature
- Humidity percentage
- Wind speed and direction
- Gust speed
- Atmospheric pressure (hPa)
- Cloud coverage percentage
- Precipitation (mm)
- Visibility (km)
- Dew point
- UV index
- Local time
Closing the Info Panel
- Click the X button in the panel header
- Press the Escape key
- Click on empty map space
8. Map Themes & Views
Themes
Three map themes are available under the MAP section of the Layer Panel:
| Theme | Description | Best For |
|---|
| Dark | Dark grey CartoDB tiles with subtle labels | Night viewing, data visibility, default |
| Light | Light grey CartoDB tiles with clear labels | Daytime viewing, presentations |
| Sat | Esri satellite imagery | Geographic context, natural features |
Click the theme button to switch. The map transitions instantly.
View Modes
| Mode | Description |
|---|
| 3D | Full 3D globe with perspective camera. Tilt and rotate freely. Default mode. |
| 2D | Flat orthographic projection (bird's-eye view). Traditional map layout. |
Switching between modes uses a smooth 1-second morph animation.
9. 3D Buildings & Street Explore
Google Photorealistic 3D Buildings
When available (requires Google Maps API key), you can toggle 3D Photorealistic Buildings. This overlays photorealistic 3D building models from Google on the map.
- Toggle is found under the MAP section in the Layer Panel
- Works best when zoomed into city level
- A "Loading 3D..." indicator appears at the bottom of the screen while tiles load
- When active, the flat base map is hidden and replaced with the 3D tileset
Street Explore Mode
Street Explore lets you fly down to street level in any major Australian city with 3D buildings enabled.
How to enter:
- Select a city from the Street Explore dropdown in the Layer Panel
- The camera flies down to 400 metres altitude with a tilted perspective
- 3D Buildings are automatically enabled
- All data layer markers are temporarily hidden for a clean view
Navigation in Street Explore:
- Scroll wheel: Zoom in/out
- Left-click drag: Pan
- Middle-click drag: Tilt the camera up/down
- Right-click drag: Rotate
How to exit:
- Click the "Exit Street Explore" button in the Layer Panel
- The camera flies back up to the overview position
- Data layers and previous 3D Buildings state are restored
10. Weather Radar Overlay
The Weather Radar layer overlays real-time precipitation data from RainViewer across Australia.
Features
- Toggle: Turn on/off like any other layer
- Opacity slider: Adjust transparency from 0% (invisible) to 100% (fully opaque). Default is 60%.
- Data: Shows the most recent radar sweep from the Bureau of Meteorology, processed by RainViewer
- Colour coding:
- Light blue/green: Light rain
- Yellow/orange: Moderate rain
- Red: Heavy rain
- Purple/white: Extreme precipitation
Tips
- Start with 40–60% opacity to see both the radar data and underlying map
- Weather radar works with all three map themes
- The radar tile updates automatically when you toggle the layer
11. Census Demographics
The Census 2021 layer displays Australian Bureau of Statistics demographic data as a choropleth overlay across 2,454 Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) regions.
Loading
The Census layer is lazy-loaded when first enabled — it downloads approximately 2,454 polygon regions from the ABS. This takes about 10 seconds. A progress bar and elapsed timer show the download status. Once loaded, the data is cached for 24 hours.
Metrics
Switch between 8 demographic metrics using the metric selector:
| Metric | Colour Scale | Unit |
|---|
| Household Income | Red (low) → Green (high) | $/week |
| Median Rent | Green (low) → Red (high) | $/week |
| Median Age | Blue (young) → Orange (old) | Years |
| Population | Light purple (sparse) → Dark purple (dense) | People |
| Indigenous % | Light amber → Dark amber | Percentage |
| Born Overseas % | Light teal → Dark teal | Percentage |
| Unemployment % | Green (low) → Red (high) | Percentage |
| Household Size | Light blue → Dark blue | People |
Colour Scale
The colour legend at the bottom of the census filter section shows the gradient with minimum and maximum values. Colours are calibrated to the 5th–95th percentile range to avoid outliers distorting the scale.
Opacity
Adjust the census overlay opacity using the slider (10–80%) to balance visibility of the choropleth data against the underlying map.
Clicking a Region
Click any shaded SA2 region to see its full demographic profile in the Info Panel:
- SA2 area name
- Population (formatted with commas)
- Median age
- Median household income ($/week)
- Median rent ($/week)
- Median mortgage ($/month)
- Average household size
- Indigenous population percentage
- Born overseas percentage
- Unemployment rate
- Labour force participation rate
Tips
- Switching metrics is instant — the polygons recolour without reloading data
- Combine Census with other layers (e.g., Air Quality + Income) to explore correlations
- Use the Sat theme with low Census opacity to see geographic context
12. Region Navigation
The Regions dropdown in the Layer Panel lets you quickly fly the camera to any major Australian city or back to the national overview.
Available Presets
| Region | Camera Height |
|---|
| All Australia | 5,000 km |
| Sydney | 100 km |
| Melbourne | 100 km |
| Brisbane | 100 km |
| Perth | 100 km |
| Adelaide | 100 km |
| Darwin | 100 km |
| Hobart | 100 km |
Each selection triggers a smooth 1.5-second camera flight animation.
13. Colour Coding Reference
Earthquakes (by magnitude)
| Magnitude | Colour | Size |
|---|
| 2.0–3.9 | Green | Small |
| 4.0–5.9 | Yellow | Medium |
| 6.0+ | Red | Large |
Bushfires (by Fire Radiative Power)
| FRP | Colour |
|---|
| Under 10 MW | Yellow |
| 10–29 MW | Orange |
| 30–99 MW | Orange-red |
| 100+ MW | Red |
Flights
| Status | Colour |
|---|
| In air | Blue |
| On ground | Grey |
Vessels (by type)
| Type | Colour |
|---|
| Cargo | Blue |
| Tanker | Purple |
| Passenger | Green |
| Fishing | Amber |
| Other | Grey |
UV Index
| UV Range | Level | Colour |
|---|
| 0–2 | Low | Green |
| 3–5 | Moderate | Yellow |
| 6–7 | High | Orange |
| 8–10 | Very High | Red |
| 11+ | Extreme | Purple |
Air Quality (AQI)
| AQI Range | Category | Colour |
|---|
| 0–50 | Good | Green |
| 51–100 | Moderate | Yellow |
| 101–150 | Unhealthy (Sensitive) | Orange |
| 151–200 | Very Unhealthy | Red |
| 200+ | Hazardous | Purple |
Weather Warnings
| Severity | Colour |
|---|
| Watch | Yellow |
| Warning | Orange |
| Severe | Red |
Traffic Incidents
| Severity | Colour |
|---|
| Minor | Yellow |
| Moderate | Orange |
| Major | Red |
Energy Grid (Renewable %)
| Renewable % | Colour |
|---|
| Under 30% | Orange |
| 30–59% | Yellow |
| 60%+ | Green |
14. Data Sources & Update Rates
| Layer | Source | Auth Required | Update Rate | Cache Duration |
|---|
| Earthquakes | USGS | None | 60 seconds | None |
| Flights | airplanes.live / adsb.lol | None | 15 seconds | 60 seconds |
| Bushfires | NASA FIRMS | API Key | 5 minutes | 5 minutes |
| Vessels | AISStream | API Key | Real-time | None |
| Satellites | CelesTrak | None | 60 seconds | 6 hours |
| Webcams | Windy | API Key | Once on load | 5 minutes |
| UV Index | ARPANSA | None | 2 minutes | 2 minutes |
| Air Quality | WAQI | API Key | 5 minutes | 5 minutes |
| Warnings | BOM | None | 5 minutes | 5 minutes |
| Traffic | TfNSW + VicRoads | API Keys | 2 minutes | 2 minutes |
| Energy Grid | OpenElectricity | API Key | 5 minutes | 5 minutes |
| Weather | WeatherAPI | API Key | 10 minutes | 10 minutes |
| Census 2021 | ABS (Esri) | None | Once on load | 24 hours |
| Weather Radar | RainViewer | None | On toggle | None |
| AI Briefing | OpenAI GPT-4o-mini | API Key | On demand | None |
15. Troubleshooting
No data loading / all layers show 0
- The API server may be starting up. Wait 30–60 seconds and refresh the page.
- Check your internet connection.
A specific layer shows "API error"
- The data source for that layer is temporarily unavailable. This is usually transient — try again in a few minutes.
- Red error text under the layer toggle indicates which API is having issues.
Map is blank or black
- Ensure your browser supports WebGL. Visit get.webgl.org to check.
- Try disabling browser extensions that might block WebGL.
- Try a different browser.
Census layer takes a long time to load
- This is normal. The Census layer downloads 2,454 polygon regions (~10 seconds). A progress bar shows the download status.
- Once loaded, it is cached for 24 hours, so subsequent enables are instant.
3D Buildings not showing
- The 3D Buildings feature requires a Google Maps API key to be configured. If the toggle is not visible, the key is not set.
- Zoom into a city to see buildings — they do not render at national zoom levels.
Webcam timelapse not playing
- Some webcams may be offline. Check the status indicator (Live vs Offline) in the Info Panel.
- The video player requires an active internet connection to stream.
AI Briefing not generating
- The Brief Me feature requires the OpenAI API key to be configured on the server.
- If the button stays on "Analysing..." for more than 10 seconds, try closing and clicking again.
Flights showing 0
- The flight data API (airplanes.live) may be temporarily unavailable. Data will return automatically on the next polling cycle (every 15 seconds).
Vessels showing 0
- Vessel data uses a real-time WebSocket connection. If the connection drops, it automatically reconnects every few seconds. Vessel counts will gradually increase as new AIS messages arrive.