Home / TerraTruth / TerraTruth Specification
TerraTruth
Where Accuracy Meets Accessibility
TerraTruth is an open-source, comprehensive geological survey database designed to make accurate, verifiable, and accessible Earth science data available to everyone. It provides a unified platform for discovering, examining, contributing to, and analyzing geological information from around the world.
TerraTruth is designed for scientists, researchers, engineers, educators, students, developers, governments, industry professionals, citizen scientists, and the public. The system brings geological, environmental, hydrological, geophysical, seismic, mineralogical, paleontological, remote-sensing, and other Earth science data together while preserving the provenance, uncertainty, interpretation, and authority of the underlying sources.
TerraTruth is designed around modularity, open access, interoperability, transparency, data provenance, scientific integrity, and community participation.
Core Modules
Geological Data Core
- Geological formations and units
- Lithology and rock classifications
- Stratigraphy
- Geological ages and chronologies
- Geological boundaries and contacts
- Rock and mineral relationships
- Geological regions
- Outcrops
- Geological observations
- Geological maps
- Geological cross-sections
- Historical geological interpretations
- Regional and national geological survey data
- Geological terminology and classifications
- Relationships between geological features
Geospatial Intelligence
- Global geographic coverage
- Spatial indexing
- Coordinate systems
- Geographic boundaries
- Spatial queries
- Distance and proximity analysis
- Spatial relationships
- Location-based discovery
- Coordinate conversion
- GIS interoperability
- Map-layer management
- Spatial measurements
- Elevation and terrain relationships
Mineralogy and Mineral Resources
- Mineral species
- Mineral classifications
- Mineral occurrences
- Mineral deposits
- Mineral chemistry
- Critical minerals
- Rare earth elements
- Precious-metal deposits
- Industrial minerals
- Aggregate resources
- Economic geology
- Resource estimates
- Exploration areas
- Historical exploration records
- Mineralization information
Soil and Sediment
- Global soil classifications
- Soil horizons
- Soil composition
- Soil chemistry
- Soil mineralogy
- Soil depth
- Sediment composition
- Sediment thickness
- Alluvial deposits
- Glacial deposits
- Loess
- Colluvial deposits
- Coastal sediments
- Surface deposits
- Weathering profiles
- Erosion features
Seismology
- Earthquake catalog
- Historical earthquakes
- Earthquake locations
- Magnitude
- Depth
- Seismic intensity
- Focal mechanisms
- Aftershock sequences
- Seismic stations
- Seismic waveforms
- Seismic zones
- Seismic hazard information
- Paleoseismology
- Volcanic seismicity
- Historical seismic events
Tectonics and Structural Geology
- Fault systems
- Active faults
- Inactive faults
- Suspected faults
- Fault geometry
- Fault movement history
- Plate boundaries
- Tectonic plates
- Folds
- Structural measurements
- Strike and dip measurements
- Tectonic history
- Crustal structure
- Structural relationships
Volcanology
- Active volcanoes
- Dormant volcanoes
- Extinct volcanoes
- Volcanic centers
- Eruption histories
- Eruption chronology
- Lava flows
- Ash deposits
- Pyroclastic deposits
- Caldera systems
- Volcanic hazards
- Gas emissions
- Thermal activity
- Volcano monitoring information
- Satellite-derived volcanic observations
Hydrology and Groundwater
- Aquifers
- Aquifer boundaries
- Groundwater levels
- Groundwater flow
- Groundwater recharge
- Groundwater discharge
- Wells
- Well construction records
- Well depths
- Water chemistry
- Groundwater quality
- Springs
- Artesian systems
- Watersheds
- Drainage basins
- Rivers and streams
- Lakes
- Wetlands
- Floodplains
- Surface-water measurements
- Hydrogeological formations
- Saltwater intrusion
- Groundwater contamination
- Geothermal groundwater systems
Geophysics
- Seismic surveys
- Magnetic surveys
- Gravity surveys
- Electromagnetic surveys
- Electrical resistivity
- Radiometric surveys
- Ground-penetrating radar
- Geophysical measurements
- Geophysical interpretations
- Crustal models
- Moho depth
- Geothermal gradients
- Subsurface temperature
- Rock-property measurements
Subsurface and Geological Modeling
- Borehole records
- Borehole logs
- Well logs
- Core samples
- Core imagery
- Geological cross-sections
- Subsurface geological models
- Three-dimensional geological models
- Depth-to-bedrock models
- Fault models
- Aquifer models
- Resource models
- Underground geological structures
- Volumetric geological models
Paleontology
- Fossil localities
- Fossil species
- Fossil specimens
- Fossil occurrences
- Stratigraphic position
- Geological age
- Paleoenvironments
- Paleogeography
- Fossil imagery
- Museum specimen references
- Collection information
- Type specimens
- Fossil excavation records
- Paleontological publications
- Specimen provenance
Geological Time
- Geological time scale
- Eons
- Eras
- Periods
- Epochs
- Ages
- Formation ages
- Mineralization ages
- Fossil ages
- Radiometric dating
- Stratigraphic correlation
- Geological time relationships
- Time-based map filtering
- Paleogeographic reconstruction
Mining and Resource Information
- Active mines
- Historical mines
- Abandoned mines
- Mining districts
- Exploration areas
- Mining activity
- Production information
- Resource estimates
- Extraction information
- Historical mining records
- Mining-related environmental information
- Resource confidence
- Resource uncertainty
Remote Sensing and Earth Observation
- Satellite imagery
- Multispectral imagery
- Hyperspectral imagery
- Synthetic aperture radar
- Thermal imagery
- LiDAR
- Digital elevation models
- Digital surface models
- Digital terrain models
- Aerial photography
- Drone imagery
- Surface deformation
- InSAR measurements
- Change detection
- Mineral spectral signatures
- Surface temperature
- Terrain analysis
- Geological feature detection
Topography and Terrain
- Elevation data
- Contour information
- Slope
- Aspect
- Hillshade
- Terrain classification
- Mountains
- Valleys
- Plateaus
- Canyons
- Coastal morphology
- River morphology
- Glacial landforms
- Karst features
- Sinkholes
- Caves
- Natural geological landforms
Caves and Karst
- Cave locations
- Cave entrances
- Cave surveys
- Cave passages
- Cave depth
- Cave extent
- Sinkholes
- Karst formations
- Speleothems
- Underground rivers
- Subterranean groundwater
- Cave mineralogy
- Cave environmental measurements
- Cave photographs
- Three-dimensional cave models
Geological Hazards
- Earthquake hazards
- Landslide hazards
- Rockfall hazards
- Sinkhole hazards
- Volcanic hazards
- Tsunami hazards
- Ground subsidence
- Ground uplift
- Soil liquefaction
- Expansive soils
- Coastal erosion
- River erosion
- Debris flows
- Mudslides
- Hazard probability
- Hazard severity
- Historical hazard events
- Geological risk information
- Hazard uncertainty
Environmental Geology
- Contaminated sites
- Soil contamination
- Groundwater contamination
- Naturally occurring contaminants
- Acid mine drainage
- Mining impacts
- Land degradation
- Erosion
- Sedimentation
- Ground subsidence
- Environmental monitoring
- Remediation sites
- Geological environmental risk
Paleogeography and Earth History
- Ancient continents
- Plate reconstructions
- Historical environments
- Geological evolution
- Ancient oceans
- Paleogeographic maps
- Continental movement
- Historical geological conditions
- Long-term Earth system changes
Geological Archives
- Historical geological maps
- Archived reports
- Historical field notes
- Historical photographs
- Legacy datasets
- Scanned geological records
- Historical terminology
- Digitized geological documents
- Historical interpretations
- Original source preservation
Scientific Literature and References
- Geological publications
- Survey reports
- Government reports
- Academic papers
- Technical reports
- Theses
- Dissertations
- DOI references
- Dataset citations
- Bibliographic metadata
- Research-project relationships
- Citation tracking
- Publication provenance
- Links between publications and geological features
Data Provenance and Verification
- Original-source attribution
- Dataset lineage
- Collection dates
- Processing history
- Transformation history
- Dataset versioning
- Contributor attribution
- Verification status
- Confidence ratings
- Uncertainty representation
- Data-quality scoring
- Audit history
- Duplicate detection
- Contradiction detection
- Corrections
- Retractions
- Source preservation
- Authority identification
TerraTruth must distinguish measured observations from interpretations, authoritative source information from derived information, and AI-generated analysis from established scientific findings.
Data Quality
- Automated validation
- Spatial validation
- Temporal validation
- Unit validation
- Coordinate validation
- Geological consistency checks
- Metadata validation
- Source reliability assessment
- Confidence scoring
- Expert verification
- Community verification
- Dataset health indicators
- Known limitations
- Uncertainty mapping
- Data-quality reporting
Interactive Geological Mapping
- Global interactive maps
- Geological layer visualization
- Layer transparency
- Layer comparison
- Geological time filtering
- Spatial search
- Coordinate search
- Address search
- Feature identification
- Distance measurement
- Area measurement
- Elevation profiles
- Geological cross-section generation
- Map annotations
- Custom map creation
- Saved locations
- Saved map views
- Custom data layers
- Offline map packages
Three-Dimensional Visualization
- Three-dimensional terrain
- Geological formations
- Subsurface structures
- Borehole visualization
- Fault visualization
- Aquifer visualization
- Mine visualization
- Cave visualization
- Point-cloud visualization
- LiDAR visualization
- Geological volumes
- Three-dimensional geological models
- Interactive subsurface exploration
Field Data Collection
- Mobile field observations
- GPS-enabled observations
- Offline field collection
- Rock identification
- Mineral identification
- Fossil identification
- Geological sample records
- Field photographs
- Field video
- Audio field notes
- Geological measurements
- Strike and dip measurements
- Structural measurements
- Sample locations
- Sample identification
- Field notebooks
- Synchronization
Citizen Science
- Public geological observations
- Geological photographs
- Rock discoveries
- Mineral discoveries
- Fossil observations
- Earthquake reports
- Landslide reports
- Sinkhole reports
- Water observations
- Environmental observations
- Community validation
- Expert review
- Contributor reputation
- Moderation workflows
- Observation confidence levels
Search and Discovery
- Natural-language search
- Geological terminology search
- Mineral search
- Formation search
- Fossil search
- Location search
- Coordinate search
- Geological time search
- Spatial intersection search
- Proximity search
- Attribute filtering
- Boolean search
- Full-text search
- Cross-dataset search
- Source-based search
- Confidence-based search
- Date-based search
Open Data and APIs
- Public REST API
- GraphQL API
- Open geospatial services
- Web map services
- Web feature services
- Web coverage services
- Spatiotemporal asset support
- GeoJSON
- GeoPackage
- Shapefile interoperability
- CSV
- Parquet
- Cloud-optimized raster data
- NetCDF
- LAS and LAZ
- Three-dimensional data formats
- Bulk downloads
- Dataset snapshots
- API documentation
- Developer access
- Machine-readable metadata
GIS Interoperability
- QGIS interoperability
- ArcGIS interoperability
- OGC standards
- Coordinate reference systems
- Reprojection
- Spatial joins
- Raster processing
- Vector processing
- Custom GIS layers
- GIS project sharing
- GIS data export
- GIS data import
Data Ingestion and Integration
- Government geological survey ingestion
- National geological survey integration
- Scientific dataset ingestion
- Research institution datasets
- Satellite data ingestion
- Seismic feed ingestion
- Sensor data ingestion
- Public data ingestion
- User-submitted data
- Batch imports
- Scheduled updates
- Incremental updates
- Schema validation
- Coordinate validation
- Metadata validation
- Automated quality checks
- Duplicate detection
- Provenance capture
- Source synchronization
Standards and Interoperability
- Open geospatial standards
- Controlled geological vocabularies
- Persistent identifiers
- Machine-readable metadata
- Geological data schemas
- Interoperable classifications
- Geological terminology mapping
- Crosswalks between classification systems
- Standardized measurements
- Standardized units
- Linked geological relationships
- Cross-source entity matching
AI Geological Intelligence
- Geological feature recognition
- Rock identification assistance
- Mineral identification assistance
- Fossil identification assistance
- Geological interpretation assistance
- Geological anomaly detection
- Mineralization pattern analysis
- Fault detection
- Structural interpretation assistance
- Landslide detection
- Geological change detection
- Geological correlation assistance
- Subsurface model assistance
- Metadata extraction
- Historical-map digitization
- Geological document analysis
- OCR-assisted geological records
- Scientific literature analysis
- Dataset quality analysis
- Duplicate detection
- Pattern discovery
- Natural-language geological research
AI Transparency
- AI-generated results clearly identified
- Source citations for AI-generated claims
- Model provenance
- Model version tracking
- Confidence estimates
- Supporting evidence
- Explainable analytical results
- Reproducible analysis
- Human verification
- Distinction between observations and predictions
- Distinction between measurements and interpretations
- Preservation of authoritative source data
- No silent modification of authoritative geological records
Research Workspaces
- Saved datasets
- Saved queries
- Saved map views
- Research projects
- Dataset comparison
- Spatial comparison
- Temporal comparison
- Research annotations
- Reproducible workflows
- Analysis records
- Exportable research packages
- Citation-ready datasets
- Persistent research references
Reporting and Visualization
- Geological dashboards
- Custom charts
- Geological profiles
- Statistical analysis
- Time-series visualization
- Seismic activity visualization
- Groundwater trends
- Mineral occurrence statistics
- Resource maps
- Hazard dashboards
- Environmental dashboards
- Custom reports
- Automated report generation
Community and Collaboration
- User accounts
- Researcher profiles
- Organization profiles
- Dataset stewardship
- Collaborative projects
- Discussions
- Dataset comments
- Issue reporting
- Data corrections
- Expert review
- Peer review
- Contributor attribution
- Moderation
- Governance workflows
Education
- Geological learning resources
- Interactive geological time scale
- Guided map exploration
- Rock and mineral identification
- Virtual field trips
- Geological terminology resources
- Educational datasets
- Classroom projects
- Student research tools
- Teacher resources
- Public science dashboards
Security and Integrity
- Secure authentication
- Role-based permissions
- Data security
- Encryption
- Cryptographic dataset checksums
- Signed datasets
- Provenance verification
- Audit logging
- Abuse protection
- Backup and recovery
- Data integrity monitoring
- Administrative controls
Open-Source Collaboration
- Public source code
- Public documentation
- Public schemas
- Public APIs
- Public issue tracking
- Contribution workflows
- Dataset contribution workflows
- Transparent governance
- Reproducible deployments
- Self-hosting support
- Plugin development
- Community review
- Version control
- Open standards
Optional Plugin Modules
TerraTruth supports optional plugins that extend the core system without requiring specialized capabilities to be installed for every deployment.
Geological Survey Plugins
- National geological survey integrations
- Regional geological surveys
- Government data connectors
- Historical survey archives
- Survey-specific classification systems
Remote Sensing Plugins
- Satellite providers
- Aerial imagery providers
- Drone data
- LiDAR repositories
- Hyperspectral datasets
- InSAR processing
- Earth observation feeds
Seismic Plugins
- Real-time earthquake feeds
- Seismic networks
- Waveform repositories
- Seismic sensor networks
- Regional seismic monitoring
Hydrology Plugins
- Water monitoring networks
- Groundwater databases
- Well databases
- River monitoring
- Water-quality systems
- Hydrological forecasting
Mining Plugins
- Mining databases
- Mineral exploration systems
- Mine production data
- Mining claim data where legally available
- Resource reporting systems
- Mining environmental monitoring
Research Plugins
- Scientific publication databases
- Institutional repositories
- Research data repositories
- Citation systems
- Laboratory databases
- Scientific computing environments
AI Model Plugins
- Local AI models
- Remote AI models
- Geological vision models
- Geological language models
- Mineral identification models
- Remote-sensing models
- Custom research models
AI plugins must preserve TerraTruth’s provenance, transparency, confidence, and human-review requirements.
Field Device Plugins
- GPS devices
- Geological instruments
- Seismic sensors
- Water sensors
- Environmental sensors
- Drone systems
- Digital microscopes
- Field cameras
- Laboratory instruments
GIS Plugins
- GIS applications
- GIS servers
- Mapping services
- Spatial databases
- Remote GIS workspaces
- Specialized visualization systems
Laboratory Plugins
- Mineral analysis
- Geochemical analysis
- Isotope analysis
- Petrographic analysis
- Soil analysis
- Water analysis
- Rock-property analysis
- Sample laboratory records
Education Plugins
- Classroom systems
- Learning platforms
- Educational datasets
- Virtual field environments
- Student research environments
Data Exchange Plugins
- Data repositories
- Cloud storage providers
- Institutional archives
- Government portals
- Research networks
- Federated TerraTruth instances
Notification Plugins
- Email notifications
- Research alerts
- Geological event alerts
- Earthquake alerts
- Volcano alerts
- Dataset update notifications
- Monitoring alerts
Specification Branding License (SBL)
Standard
- Fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant system
- Copyleft enforced for network deployments
- Required attribution:
- Roxanne Ardary
- https://www.roxanneardary.com/
Optional
- Specification Branding License (SBL)
- Attribution-free commercial deployment
- Pricing based on scale, usage, and deployment scope
- https://roxanneardary.com/terratruth/
License & Notice Requirements
TerraTruth is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).
By contributing to any Open Arsenal project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.
Please note the following:
- All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
- Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to: Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
- TerraTruth specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
- The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements and contributor acknowledgments. Any update that adds new contributors or modifies attribution should also update
notice.md. - When submitting a pull request, ensure that any new files maintain the attribution headers where applicable.
- Network-deployed versions of this software must also remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications when applicable under the license.
For full legal details, please refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.
Notice – TerraTruth
Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
Contributors
This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.
- Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – October 7, 2026
Created the repository for TerraTruth. Established the open-source geological survey database specification and its comprehensive framework for making accurate, verifiable, and accessible Earth science data available to the public. - [Add other contributors here] – [Date]
[Describe contribution in one sentence]
License – TerraTruth
This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).
Key Points:
- You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
- All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com as required under Section 7 of the license.
- The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.
For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License.