How Products Work in ComCat
ComCat stores earthquake information as products contributed by seismic networks and other authorized sources. Products allow an event record to include source parameters, observations, scientific analyses, impact estimates, forecasts, and supporting information.
Browse all earthquake product types
How a product is identified
A specific version of a product is identified by four values:
- Source
- The network or system that contributed the product.
- Type
- The kind of information supplied, such as
originorshakemap. - Code
- An identifier assigned by the source for that product.
- Update time
- The time this version of the product was created.
Products with the same source, type, and code represent versions of the same product. A later update time supersedes an earlier version from that source.
How products are associated with events
ComCat associates products that describe the same earthquake with one event. An event may contain products from several contributors, and it may contain multiple products of the same type as networks and analysts refine their results. Product availability therefore varies by event, magnitude, region, contributor, and processing status.
Preferred products
When an event contains multiple products of the same type, ComCat identifies one as preferred. Preference is based on each product version's preferred weight; when weights are equal, the most recent update is preferred. Other versions remain available for review and comparison.
Product preferred weight
Within each product type, the product with the largest preferred weight is considered preferred. This calculated weight is the sum of four components:
DEFAULT_PREFERRED_WEIGHT = 1- All products have a preferred weight of at least 1.
SAME_SOURCE_WEIGHT = 5- Added when the product source is the same as the event source.
AUTHORITATIVE_WEIGHT = 100- Added when the product author is in the product's authoritative region.
AUTHORITATIVE_EVENT_WEIGHT = 50- Added when the product refers to an authoritative event.
Accessing products
Search results summarize the preferred information for each event. Detailed GeoJSON includes the associated product objects, their properties, links, and downloadable content.
