Introducing IMPACTIMPACT3D is live.
Find us on GitHub.
Introducing IMPACTIntroducing IMPACT (Identify Meteorite’s Position, Analysis, and Categorization Tool) 3D. Utilizing CesiumJS, this tool optimizes the use of global data in 1D, 2D, and 3D visualization methods. Making data more interactive, accessible, and traceable for education and scientific purposes is our purpose.
Country boundaries and night views of the surface are included on a 2D and 3D world view, but, as its name implies, this tool primarily gives easy access to meteorite impact locations. Impact areas are shown all across the world’s surface, color coded by mass, and updated in near real time whenever new impact locations are catalogued. Additionally, a timeline feature allows users to watch the historical progression of found meteorites in time.
A user can click a data point to learn more about every recorded meteorite like name, date discovered, and class. If they want even more data, there are links that allow the user to automatically Google more information about the meteorite in just a few clicks and to pull up a chart showing the classification types of meteorites.
Country boundaries and night views of the surface are included on a 2D and 3D world view, but, as its name implies, this tool primarily gives easy access to meteorite impact locations. Impact areas are shown all across the world’s surface, color coded by mass, and updated in near real time whenever new impact locations are catalogued. Additionally, a timeline feature allows users to watch the historical progression of found meteorites in time.
A user can even play a video via a timeline animation to chronologically and visually model meteorite discoveries. A working imagery layer imported via a NASA Open API maps population densities across the globe relative to meteorite discoveries on or after the year 2000. Why? Larger population densities appear to be directly related to meteorite location and detection.
Additionally, users can easily download the data for use in their external programs via a csv download option.
This is just the beginning. Meteorite tracking with Cesium was our Minimum Viable Product, but with the method in place, additional features are being created. We are currently adding extreme weather events like tornadoes and possibly NEO (Near Earth Objects) datasets to predict future meteorite falls.
Stayed tuned for what’s next for this tool.
Timeline:
Resources Used:
SpaceApps is a NASA incubator innovation program.