Air Traffic Live – the air traffic over Frankfurt am Main

To Airtraffic Live

Questions and answers on the representation of air traffic – Air Traffic Live – by the Umwelt- und Nachbarschaftshaus (UNH).

1. What does the application Air Traffic Live represent?
Air Traffic Live shows the current air traffic in the area of Frankfurt Airport. The main information is shown:

• aircraft on arrival (green),
  aircraft on departure (blue) and
  aircraft in overflight or
  incomplete data set (red)

• aircraft with an overflight altitude in excess of 7,500 metres are not shown in the interests of a clear overview.

 2. Which detailed information is available?

When you click on the aircraft, detailed information for the flight appears:

• Callsign, ICAO code, position, speed, altitude above sea level and climb and descent rate. The corresponding flight path over the flight route registered so far is also shown if there is a complete set of data. The colouring of this flight path shows the transmitted flight altitude (see also the colour scale on the left).

• This information can be called up in different units and in English. 

• At the top right of the navigation you can change the language setting: “deu” for German and “eng” for English.

• Also at the top right after the language settings you can select from different units (aviatic, metric and English units are available).

 3. What views can be selected?

• At the top right you can select different backgrounds. The views map, satellite or terrain are available.

4. How can I move the map?

• At the top left you will see the navigation bar for the map. Here you can zoom in and out and move the map in all directions. You can also move the map with the mouse and make it bigger or smaller (by double clicking on the left and right respectively).

 
5. What does the colour of a flight path mean?

• At the bottom left you will see the colour scale for the flight path altitudes. Here you can follow the altitudes with the aid of the flight path.

As the visualisation is built up on the basis of transponder data (ADS-B data), it is only possible to show aircraft that send a signal. Aircraft which are out of range or not sending a signal cannot be visualised. In addition to this, the accuracy depends on the quality of the data. 


Data basis
The information shown is represented with a time delay of around 15 seconds based on the ADS-B data sent from the aircraft. This data is sent by the aircraft at regular intervals. The position is based on the position data sent (GPS data). 

The ADS-B data are used in some countries as navigation data, in particular where radar cover is not available. It is assumed that this technology for satellite-based navigation (GPS, in future also Galileo) will also become increasingly important in Europe with its dense air traffic and the numerous airports. 

Analyses carried out up to now have shown, however, that this data is not sufficiently accurate for a whole series of reasons. The quality of the data fluctuates considerably, depending on the equipment of the aircraft. You can observe this regularly in the Air Traffic Live representation when, for example, an aircraft departing from the 18 West runway does not start on the runway but 1 kilometre to the west in the forest. Not all aircraft transmit ADS-B data in Mode S, so that the representation is not only sometimes inaccurate but also sometimes subject to gaps. Nonetheless, the use of this information to represent the current flight situation is perfectly adequate as an initial overview. 

Within the framework of the UNH air traffic noise monitoring program, a project with the DFS and with participation of Lufthansa is also planned in order to examine the reliability, validity, technical aspects and potentials compared with conventional radar data for air-traffic control. 
 

The following illustration shows a possible deviation of transponder data from radar data:
 
Fig. 1: Arrival B747-400, on 19.07.2010, landed at 05:35 hrs (UTC) EDDF.

The distances 600m, 1800m and 4000m state the maximum lateral difference.

© 2010  Umwelthaus gGmbH
This website is exclusively for demonstration purposes. We do not accept any liability for the data contained therein, their correctness, accuracy or any resulting conclusions about actual flight movements in the airspace shown.
The information about public transport in Google Maps is provided by Umwelthaus GmbH and serves only to demonstrate the air traffic over the Frankfurt region. Umwelthaus GmbH does not assume any guarantee or liability for the correctness or the completeness of this content. 

 Air Traffic Live is based on an upgrade for Firefox 3.6. The functions of the application may be restricted in other browsers. Make sure that JavaScript is activated on your browser.

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