Observed
A sensor, register or service publishes data with its acquisition and coverage.
Method · provenance · uncertainty
Every layer must finish the sentence: “this source proves…”
The method favors a weaker but verifiable claim over a dramatic claim the source cannot support.
Public pages
- Published
- Revised
01
Three classes that are never silently merged
Measured or observed: a source recorded a value, position, pixel or geometry at a time. Modeled: a calculation applies equations and assumptions to inputs. Inferred: Fire Maps identifies a pattern across observations, such as an orbit or probable zone.
The interface preserves that class in legends, maps and API responses. An inference can direct attention, but it does not take the name of a measurement or official decision.
Modeled
The result depends on a model, resolution, valid time and published assumptions.
Inferred
An algorithm identifies a pattern and exposes the supporting clues and evidence level.
02
Acquisition, validity, retrieval and age
A single “updated” time is not enough. Where the source permits, Fire Maps separates when the phenomenon was observed, when a forecast applies, when the server retrieved it and the age shown to the reader.
Caches prevent overload of public and volunteer services. They do not change the source date: a retained response remains labeled with its real time, and a last good state served through an outage is marked stale.
03
Coverage and absence
Coverage is what the source and server actually provided, not what the product name suggests. ADS-B gaps, satellite cloud, administrative limits and upstream refusals are published when known.
“No result” is used only when the area was genuinely covered and the method supports that conclusion. Outside coverage, the state remains unknown.
04
Scenarios and models
Wind, air quality, smoke, danger and spread fields each have their own resolution. Sampling is capped at that resolution: drawing more cells does not create more information.
A spread projection is conditional on its start, wind, terrain, fuel and horizon. Variants or disagreements are preserved to show uncertainty instead of hidden inside a reassuring average.
05
Aircraft, identity and photographs
A Mode-S address is never guessed from a registration. Fleet entries are cross-checked against what the network actually associates with the address. Tracks show received positions; segments between them are graphic connections, not continuous measurement.
A cover photograph is either the exact aircraft or an explicitly representative type image. Only freely licensed images are stored; author, license and source page remain visible.
06
Revision and reproducibility
Editorial pages have a revision date. Aircraft sheets carry the collection time of their sources. Decisions that change a business rule or architecture are recorded as versioned decisions.
Tests verify routes, translations, discovery links, structured data and security contracts. A correction changes the visible source and relevant date; it does not silently rewrite the nature of the evidence.