Quick Start Guide

Get up and running in 30 seconds

What is AusOverwatch?

AusOverwatch is a real-time geospatial intelligence platform for Australia. It displays 14 live data layers on an interactive 3D globe — earthquakes, flights, bushfires, vessels, satellites, weather, air quality, UV index, warnings, traffic, energy grid, webcams, census data, and weather radar.

Getting Started

Open ausoverwatch.com in your browser
The map loads centred on Australia with the default layers already active
Green toggles on the left panel = active layers. Toggle any layer on/off
Click any marker on the map to see detailed information in the right panel
Use your scroll wheel to zoom in/out, and click-drag to pan

Key Controls

Control	How
Toggle layers	Click the green/grey switches in the left panel
View entity details	Click any marker on the map
Close info panel	Click X or press Escape
Zoom	Scroll wheel
Pan	Left-click and drag
Tilt (3D)	Right-click and drag
Switch theme	Dark / Light / Sat buttons under MAP section
Switch view	3D / 2D buttons under MAP section
Fly to city	Select a city from the Regions dropdown
AI Briefing	Select a location, click "Brief Me"

Layers at a Glance

Layer	What It Shows	Updates
Earthquakes	M2.5+ quakes (past 7 days)	60s
Flights	Live aircraft positions	15s
Bushfires	NASA satellite fire hotspots	5 min
Vessels	Ships via AIS tracking	Real-time
Satellites	ISS + weather satellites	60s
Webcams	1000+ Australian cameras	On load
UV Index	UV levels at 17 stations	2 min
Air Quality	AQI at 150+ stations	5 min
Warnings	BOM weather warnings	5 min
Traffic	NSW + VIC road incidents	2 min
Energy Grid	NEM renewable % by region	5 min
Weather	Conditions in 20 cities	10 min
Census 2021	Demographics by SA2 area	Static
Weather Radar	Rain overlay (RainViewer)	On toggle

AI Briefing

Select a location from the dropdown (All Australia, a city, or a state)
Click "Brief Me"
Wait 2–3 seconds for AI analysis
Read the situational summary highlighting the most important events, hazards, and conditions

Tips

Entity counts appear next to each layer name (e.g., "Earthquakes 27")

Filters appear at the bottom of the left panel — filter by magnitude, severity, vessel type, etc.

The Census layer takes ~10 seconds to load (2,454 regions) — a progress bar shows download status

The 3D Buildings toggle shows Google Photorealistic 3D buildings at street level

For the complete documentation, see the Full User Manual.