{"audit_date":"2026-08-17","audit_method":"Each candidate was evaluated for scientific quality, spatial/temporal resolution, coverage, latency, historical depth, license, API/access method, reliability, documentation, uncertainty and relevance to wildfire prevention/validation. Statuses: integrated | candidate | rejected (with reason). Nothing is claimed as used unless it is integrated in the live pipeline. 2026-08-17 update: population-exposure and smoke-intelligence source audit (WorldPop/GHSL/GPW/Eurostat; CAMS/HYSPLIT/Sentinel-5P/lightning).","audit_note":"Entries carry: name, provider, official url, purpose, coverage, resolution, update_frequency, latency, access, license, kind, status (integrated/candidate/rejected), limitations, hydrashield_use (detail), integrated_in. URLs live-checked 2026-08-17 (28/29 direct-200; bot-protected JRC/ESA sites verified via browser fetch; SEDAC GPWv4 served via its persistent DOI).","sources":[{"access":"Public STAC catalog, no credentials","coverage":"Global land","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"analysis (satellite), micro-area NDMI variability","kind":"observed","latency":"days (L2A publication lag)","license":"Copernicus free and open data policy","limitations":"Optical sensor \u2014 unusable under persistent cloud cover","name":"Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (via Element84 Earth Search STAC)","provider":"ESA / Copernicus (catalog: Element84/AWS open data)","purpose":"Vegetation condition, NDVI/NDMI/NDWI, fuel-moisture estimation","resolution":"10 m (B03/B04/B08), 20 m (B11/SCL)","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"~5-day revisit","url":"https://earth-search.aws.element84.com/v1"},{"access":"Free tier, no key","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"analysis (weather, FWI inputs), risk grid, snapshot, smoke transport (wind profile)","kind":"modeled / forecast","latency":"near-real-time","license":"CC-BY 4.0","limitations":"Numerical model output, not station observations; 850 hPa winds approximate the smoke-transport layer but ignore plume rise, vertical shear and chemistry","name":"Open-Meteo forecast API","provider":"Open-Meteo (ECMWF/ICON/DWD model output)","purpose":"Current + forecast weather, daily fire-weather series, soil moisture, hourly wind profiles (10 m + 850 hPa pressure level) for smoke-transport screening","resolution":"~11 km model grid","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"hourly","url":"https://open-meteo.com/"},{"access":"Free, no key","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"/api/history, change detection, validation pipeline","kind":"modeled (reanalysis)","latency":"~5 days","license":"Copernicus C3S terms","limitations":"Archive lag; daily aggregates approximate noon-standard FWI inputs","name":"ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis (via Open-Meteo archive)","provider":"Copernicus C3S (via Open-Meteo)","purpose":"Historical daily weather for fire-danger history, change detection, validation features","resolution":"~25 km (ERA5) / ~11 km (ERA5-Land)","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"daily, lag of several days","url":"https://open-meteo.com/en/docs/historical-weather-api"},{"access":"Free public API, no key","coverage":"Europe (EU-DEM) / 60\u00b0N-56\u00b0S (SRTM)","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"analysis (terrain), risk score slope term","kind":"observed","latency":"n/a","license":"EU-DEM: EEA/Copernicus terms; SRTM: NASA open","limitations":"Static snapshot; slope is a derived approximation at grid scale","name":"EU-DEM 25 m (Copernicus/EEA) + SRTM 90 m (NASA) via OpenTopoData","provider":"EEA Copernicus / NASA, served by OpenTopoData","purpose":"Elevation, slope, aspect","resolution":"25 m / 90 m","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"static","url":"https://www.opentopodata.org/"},{"access":"Public COG bucket, no credentials","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"analysis (landcover), burnability, ecology layer","kind":"observed (classified product)","latency":"months (product release)","license":"CC-BY 4.0","limitations":"Fuel-model assignment is a screening approximation","name":"ESA WorldCover v200","provider":"ESA (with VITO, Brockmann, etc.)","purpose":"Land-cover classification \u2192 burnability and fuel-model mapping","resolution":"10 m","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"yearly product","url":"https://esa-worldcover.org/"},{"access":"Free MAP_KEY (registration) \u2014 FIRMS_MAP_KEY env var; documented in docs/VALIDATION.md","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"integrated (activates with key; currently UNAVAILABLE \u2014 no key configured)","integrated_in":"analysis (active_fires, fire_evidence), history, validation, smoke (observed-fire mode)","kind":"observed","latency":"near-real-time (~hours)","license":"NASA open data","limitations":"Hotspots, not perimeters; cloud/overpass gaps; NRT archive window is short","name":"NASA FIRMS (VIIRS S-NPP NRT, MODIS NRT)","provider":"NASA LANCE / FIRMS","purpose":"Active-fire detections (375 m / 1 km), observed-fire locations for smoke-transport estimates, historical fire labels for ignition/risk validation","resolution":"375 m (VIIRS) / 1 km (MODIS)","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"several overpasses/day","url":"https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/"},{"access":"Public HTTPS per-country GeoTIFFs (data.worldpop.org), no credentials; one-time country download into local cache (HYDRASHIELD_POPULATION_DIR, default data/population/)","coverage":"Global (per-country rasters)","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"analysis (population block), /api/population-exposure, smoke corridor population overlay, exposure summary","kind":"modeled (dasymetric gridded estimates)","latency":"n/a (static annual product)","license":"CC-BY 4.0","limitations":"Modelled estimates, not a census count; constrained variant allocates population to settled cells; country lookup by reverse geocoding rounded to ~0.1 deg; report wording must keep the reference year","name":"WorldPop gridded population (Global 2 R2025A constrained 100 m; Global 1 2020 UN-adjusted fallback)","provider":"WorldPop, University of Southampton","purpose":"Estimated population counts/density for human-exposure analysis and smoke-corridor population overlay","reference_date":"2025 (R2025A) / 2020 (fallback)","resolution":"~100 m grid cells","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"annual series","url":"https://hub.worldpop.org/"},{"access":"Public download (JRC Data Catalogue / GHSL), no credentials","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate (cross-check layer for population/built-up exposure)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"modeled (gridded estimates)","license":"CC-BY 4.0","limitations":"Coarser temporal reference than WorldPop annual series; download sizes are large; would add cross-validation value, not a second truth","name":"GHSL \u2014 Global Human Settlement Layer (GHS-POP, GHS-BUILT-S)","provider":"European Commission JRC","purpose":"Gridded population + built-up surface \u2014 independent cross-check of WorldPop and settlement/built-up exposure","reference_date":"2020/2025 epochs","resolution":"100 m / 1 km (GHS-POP R2023A epochs 1975-2030)","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"~5-year epochs","url":"https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/"},{"access":"SEDAC download; requires free NASA Earthdata login (direct site unreachable in link check 2026-08-17; DOI persistent identifier used)","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate (fallback/cross-check only)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"derived (census disaggregation)","license":"CC-BY 4.0","limitations":"Coarser than WorldPop; older reference years; login barrier; no added value over WorldPop+GHSL for the current pipeline","name":"GPWv4 \u2014 Gridded Population of the World","provider":"NASA SEDAC (CIESIN, Columbia University)","purpose":"Census-based gridded population (unmodeled allocation)","reference_date":"2020 (v4.11)","resolution":"~1 km (30 arc-second)","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"~5-year releases (v4.11, reference ~2015-2020)","url":"https://doi.org/10.7927/H4JW8BX5"},{"access":"Public download, no credentials","coverage":"EU/EFTA","hydrashield_use":"candidate (European reference cross-check)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed/derived (census grid)","license":"Eurostat free re-use","limitations":"Europe-only; 1 km cells coarse vs WorldPop 100 m; census-round vintage","name":"Eurostat GEOSTAT population grid","provider":"Eurostat / EFGS","purpose":"Official 1 km population grid for EU/EFTA \u2014 authoritative reference for European pilot areas","reference_date":"2021","resolution":"1 km","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"per census round (2021 grid)","url":"https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/gisco"},{"access":"Atmosphere Data Store (ADS) via cdsapi; requires free CDS credentials (CAMS_ADS_URL/CAMS_ADS_KEY)","coverage":"Global (~40 km) + Europe regional (~10 km)","hydrashield_use":"candidate (smoke context + validation target once credentials are configured)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"modeled (data-assimilation forecast)","latency":"hours","license":"Copernicus free and open (attribution)","limitations":"Credential setup required; 40 km grid is regional context, not street-level smoke; no plume-rise per fire","name":"CAMS \u2014 Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (global aerosol/PM forecasts)","provider":"ECMWF / Copernicus C3S-CAMS","purpose":"Smoke-relevant atmospheric composition: aerosol optical depth, PM2.5/PM10 forecasts \u2014 context and future validation of smoke-transport estimates","resolution":"~40 km global","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"twice daily forecasts","url":"https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/"},{"access":"READY web interface is interactive; local installation + meteorological data downloads needed for programmatic use","coverage":"Global (with meteorological input)","hydrashield_use":"candidate (optional offline/reference comparison; not wired into the request path)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"modeled","license":"US Government work (public domain); met data terms vary","limitations":"No open low-latency programmatic API suitable for per-request embedding; heavy operational footprint (met data pipeline); would replace \u2014 not complement \u2014 the screening transport model","name":"NOAA HYSPLIT (trajectory/dispersion model)","provider":"NOAA Air Resources Laboratory","purpose":"Reference-grade Lagrangian smoke transport/dispersion modelling","resolution":"depends on met input (GFS ~25 km)","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"model runs on demand","url":"https://www.ready.noaa.gov/HYSPLIT.php"},{"access":"Blitzortung raw data requires a participant/contributor agreement; no open operational API","coverage":"Variable network density","hydrashield_use":"rejected for now (access/licence barrier; declared as a known gap in the ignition indicator)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed","license":"Restricted (contributor terms)","limitations":"Access/licence barrier; coverage inhomogeneity; lightning ignitions are a minority of ignitions in current European pilot areas","name":"Lightning detection networks (e.g. Blitzortung community data)","provider":"Blitzortung.org community / national LN providers","purpose":"Natural-ignition predictor (lightning-caused fires)","resolution":"stroke-level (km accuracy)","status":"rejected","update_frequency":"real-time","url":"https://www.blitzortung.org/"},{"access":"Free public APIs, no key","coverage":"Global (completeness varies)","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"analysis (exposure), recommendations","kind":"observed (crowd-mapped)","latency":"weeks","license":"ODbL","limitations":"Completeness varies by region; counts are mapped features, not ground truth","name":"OpenStreetMap (via ohsome API; Overpass fallback)","provider":"OSM contributors / Heidelberg Institute (ohsome)","purpose":"Exposure: mapped buildings, critical facilities, roads, water features, WUI signal","resolution":"feature-level","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"ohsome extract lags ~3 weeks","url":"https://ohsome.org/"},{"access":"Free, no key (1 req/s policy respected via cache)","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"analysis, history, report, jobs","kind":"observed","latency":"n/a","license":"ODbL","limitations":"Place-name ambiguity; rate limits","name":"Nominatim (OpenStreetMap geocoding)","provider":"OpenStreetMap Foundation","purpose":"Free-text location \u2192 coordinates","resolution":"place-level","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"continuous","url":"https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/"},{"access":"Public WMS is VIEW-ONLY (GetFeatureInfo disabled on danger layers \u2014 probed 2026-08-16); data download requires JRC data-portal registration","coverage":"Europe + global (GWIS)","hydrashield_use":"candidate (reference comparison + burned-area perimeters once a real access path exists)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"modeled / observed","latency":"daily","license":"Copernicus EMS terms","limitations":"No open point-data API found; view service only","name":"EFFIS / GWIS (Copernicus EMS, JRC)","provider":"European Commission JRC","purpose":"European fire-danger maps, burned-area perimeters, fire news","resolution":"~10 km danger grids","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"daily","url":"https://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/"},{"access":"Requires registered OAuth2 credentials (free)","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate (would enable Sentinel-1 SAR gap-filling and Sentinel-3 LST)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed","latency":"hours-days","license":"Copernicus free and open","limitations":"Credential setup + quota management required","name":"Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem (CDSE)","provider":"ESA / Copernicus","purpose":"Direct Sentinel-1/2/3 product access (SAR moisture, SLSTR LST)","resolution":"10-1000 m by mission","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"per mission revisit","url":"https://dataspace.copernicus.eu/"},{"access":"via CDSE credentials","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed","latency":"hours-days","license":"Copernicus free and open","limitations":"SAR\u2192moisture retrieval needs careful calibration; not yet scientifically justified in the score","name":"Sentinel-1 SAR","provider":"ESA / Copernicus","purpose":"All-weather radar \u2014 potential soil-moisture/backscatter gap-filling under cloud","resolution":"10 m (IW)","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"6-12 day revisit","url":"https://sentiwiki.copernicus.eu/web/s1-mission"},{"access":"via CDSE credentials","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed","latency":"hours","license":"Copernicus free and open","limitations":"Coarse vs Sentinel-2; value for the screening score unproven","name":"Sentinel-3 SLSTR","provider":"ESA / Copernicus","purpose":"Land surface temperature, active-fire radiative power context","resolution":"500-1000 m","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"daily","url":"https://sentiwiki.copernicus.eu/web/s3-mission"},{"access":"via CDSE credentials (or Copernicus Data Space STAC)","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate (smoke-transport cross-check; the 2026-08-16 rejection was because no atmospheric purpose existed then \u2014 Smoke Intelligence now defines one)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed","license":"Copernicus free and open","limitations":"Daily overpass (single afternoon snapshot); UV aerosol index is qualitative for smoke; requires CDSE credential setup","name":"Sentinel-5P (TROPOMI)","provider":"ESA / Copernicus","purpose":"Atmospheric composition (aerosol index, NO2, CO) \u2014 potential observed cross-check for smoke-transport estimates","resolution":"~5 km","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"daily","url":"https://sentiwiki.copernicus.eu/web/s5p-mission"},{"access":"Requires CLMS/WEkEO credentials","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate (validation + recovery architecture)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed/derived","latency":"days","license":"Copernicus terms","limitations":"Credential requirement; 300 m minimum mapping unit","name":"CLMS Global Burnt Area (300 m, daily)","provider":"Copernicus Land Monitoring Service","purpose":"Mapped burned areas \u2014 validation labels and post-fire recovery tracking","resolution":"300 m","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"daily product","url":"https://land.copernicus.eu/"},{"access":"NASA Earthdata login required","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate (validation)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed/derived","latency":"weeks-months","license":"NASA open data","limitations":"Monthly granularity; coarse for small fires","name":"MODIS MCD64A1 burned area","provider":"NASA LP DAAC / University of Maryland","purpose":"Monthly mapped burned area at 500 m \u2014 validation labels","resolution":"500 m","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"monthly","url":"https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/products/mcd64a1v061/"},{"access":"Requires API key + ToS acceptance","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate (redundant with FIRMS; backup only)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed","license":"GFW terms","limitations":"Largely duplicates NASA FIRMS (same VIIRS source)","name":"Global Forest Watch fire layers","provider":"WRI (VIIRS-based)","purpose":"Fire alerts visualization","resolution":"375 m (VIIRS source)","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"weekly API","url":"https://www.globalforestwatch.org/"},{"access":"Portal registration + approval; programmatic API availability unclear; documentation primarily in Chinese","coverage":"Global (FY-3), Asia-Pacific (FY-4)","hydrashield_use":"rejected for now (access/license barriers; no gap it uniquely fills)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed","license":"Research use with registration (verify per dataset)","limitations":"Access barrier; license verification needed; no added value over integrated sources for current European pilot areas","name":"FY-3 / FY-4 satellites (CMA NSMC)","provider":"China Meteorological Administration","purpose":"Meteorological/EO observations","resolution":"varies (250 m - 4 km)","status":"rejected","update_frequency":"per mission","url":"https://www.nsmc.org.cn/"},{"access":"Open with registration; citation requirements","coverage":"Tibetan Plateau / Asia focus","hydrashield_use":"rejected for now (coverage mismatch)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed/derived","license":"Dataset-specific","limitations":"Regional coverage does not match current monitored areas","name":"National Tibetan Plateau Data Center (TPDC)","provider":"Chinese Academy of Sciences","purpose":"Regional Earth-system datasets","resolution":"varies","status":"rejected","update_frequency":"per dataset","url":"https://data.tpdc.ac.cn/"},{"access":"Public AWS open-data bucket, no credentials","coverage":"Global","hydrashield_use":"candidate (global DEM upgrade)","integrated_in":"\u2014","kind":"observed","license":"Copernicus terms","limitations":"Would replace only the SRTM fallback path; EU-DEM already covers Europe at 25 m","name":"Copernicus DEM GLO-30/GLO-90 (AWS open data)","provider":"ESA / Airbus (Copernicus)","purpose":"Global 30/90 m DEM \u2014 potential upgrade of non-European terrain","resolution":"30 m / 90 m","status":"candidate","update_frequency":"static","url":"https://registry.opendata.aws/copernicus-dem/"},{"access":"Free, no key","coverage":"Global (modelled river network)","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"flood hazard module (river discharge intelligence)","kind":"modeled","latency":"near-real-time (GloFAS nowcast)","license":"CC-BY 4.0 (GloFAS: Copernicus EMS terms)","limitations":"Hydrological model output, not gauge observations; no discharge for points far from modelled rivers","name":"Open-Meteo Flood API (GloFAS river discharge)","provider":"Open-Meteo (data: Copernicus EMS / EC JRC GloFAS)","purpose":"Daily river discharge (current nowcast + historical series) for flood analysis","resolution":"GloFAS ~0.1\u00b0 grid (~10 km)","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"daily","url":"https://open-meteo.com/en/docs/flood-api"},{"access":"Free, no key","coverage":"Global ocean","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"coastal hazard module (wave conditions)","kind":"modeled / forecast","latency":"near-real-time","license":"CC-BY 4.0","limitations":"Wave-model output; coastal bathymetry and surf zone not resolved; no data over land","name":"Open-Meteo Marine API (ECMWF WAM ocean waves)","provider":"Open-Meteo (data: ECMWF WAM wave model)","purpose":"Daily wave-height/period maxima (nowcast + short forecast) for coastal exposure","resolution":"wave-model grid (tens of km)","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"daily","url":"https://open-meteo.com/en/docs/marine-weather-api"},{"access":"Free, no key","coverage":"Global land","hydrashield_use":"integrated","integrated_in":"drought hazard module (soil-moisture anomaly)","kind":"modeled (reanalysis)","latency":"~5 days","license":"Copernicus C3S terms","limitations":"Modelled soil moisture, not in-situ sensors; not exposed over water bodies","name":"ERA5-Land soil moisture 0\u20137 cm (via Open-Meteo archive)","provider":"Copernicus C3S (via Open-Meteo)","purpose":"Daily soil-moisture series for drought anomaly analysis","resolution":"~11 km (ERA5-Land)","status":"integrated","update_frequency":"daily, lag of several days","url":"https://open-meteo.com/en/docs/historical-weather-api"}]}