Real-time Air Traffic in 3D

Introduction


The application presented here shows live air traffic over parts
of Northern Switzerland and surrounding Central Europe.

The major goal of this project is to demonstrate how traffic
data can be efficiently visualised in real-time and in 3D by
combining state-of-the-art tools MATLAB and Google Earth.

The air traffic data displayed are collected by an ADS-B receiver (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) on
one of the buildings at ZHAW Zurich University of Applied
Sciences, School of Engineering, Winterthur, Switzerland.

The receiver that collects the raw data of the airplanes was developed by Marcel Rupf (ZSN) and his group. The well known application http://radar.zhaw.ch/, which was initiated and designed by Karl Rege (InIT) and developed as part of a diploma thesis at ZHAW, makes use of the same data.

There is a huge variety of other data (static or dynamic), from various fields, which can be visualised with Google Earth.
In many cases the adaptation / extension of the framework
developed in this project is quite straightforward.

      Related website
      http://www.idp.zhaw.ch/airtraffic3d

Recommended Google Earth settings

While you are running this application, disable all layers, except: borders and labels, terrain, and 3D buildings.

To prevent the airplane text become too dominant on the screen, set the label/icon size to small as follows: Select Tools in the GE menu, choose "Options" and set "Labels/Icon Size" to small within "3D View".

Hide the sidebar to see the maximum area/airspace.

Screen shots and movies

To demonstrate some of the capabilities of the tool we provide several screen shots and movies below. Please note that the image resolution of the movies is reduced (in comparison to the original) due to file compression.

Landing airplanes (JPG, 1.2 MB)

Close-up view of an airplane model (JPG, 1.2 MB)

Starting airplane (JPG, 1.3 MB)

Airplanes in waiting loop (JPG, 1.3 MB)

Tracing airplanes in real-time (WMV, 43.8 MB)

Hints for navigation with Google Earth

By navigation in this context we mean that you (the observer) can move virtually through the 3-dimensional space.
Besides well known standard operations with the mouse (e.g., rotation of the earth), there are two options to
navigate in GE:
(1) by using the navigation elements on the top right of the screen (if active), or
(2) by using the scroll wheel of the mouse together with some specific buttons on the keyboard.

We recommend to use the second option, as it allows more precise and often faster navigation.

Action (movement)

Altitude above sea level

Mouse scroll wheel

Heading: angle of line of sight relative to north,
e.g., heading towards east is 90 degrees

CTRL + Mouse scroll wheel

Tilt: angle between the line of sight and the vertical,
i.e., the line perpendicular to the earth surface

SHIFT + Mouse scroll wheel

Forward relative to current heading

ALT + Keyboard arrow ↑ (up)

Backward relative to current heading

ALT + Keyboard arrow ↓ (down)

Left relative to current heading

ALT + Keyboard arrow ← (left)

Right relative to current heading

ALT + Keyboard arrow → (right)

Note that by additionally pressing the ALT button, the first three movements listed above become a lot smoother.

Useful links

Google Earth

KML Reference

Next arrivals and Next departures

Slot Coordination Switzerland

Airport capacity Zurich, Winter 2009, 25.10.2009 to 27.03.2010 (Coordination step: Start of Season)
Number of arrivals and departures per 30 minute interval, CET, Monday to Sunday: Table, Chart

Airport capacity Zurich, Summer 2010, 28.03.2010 to 30.10.2010 (Coordination step: Start of Season)
Number of arrivals and departures per 30 minute interval, CEST, Monday to Sunday: Table (tba), Chart (tba)

Live air traffic over parts of Switzerland with Google Maps, developed at ZSN/InIT of ZHAW, best known as the "radar" project.

AirlineUpdate.com: International airline industry directory

List with airplanes per airline worldwide

FlightStats: Flight, airline, and airport information

Software and hardware environment

The application is written completely in MATLAB (release 2009b) and runs on an ESXi 4.0 server with operating system Linux CentOS 5.4. The kml files generated are in accordance with KML version 2.2. The 3D airplane model was drawn with Google Sketchup 7 (Credits to Patrick13 for providing the basic version of the Airbus A340-300 model).

Acknowledgement

Remo Maurer (Head IT, SoE) for providing invaluable support with the Linux server and for getting it running!

Daniel Kramarz (InIT) for hints on connecting to the web service (raw data).

Comments and contact

Any comments and suggentions are highly welcome! Please find my contact information here.

Project funding

Disclaimer

The application presented on this website is for demonstration purposes only. All kinds of liability claims for the data presented here, their correctness, their accuracy, or any resulting conclusions on true airplane trajectories in the considered airspace are overruled. Nor myself neither my employer (ZHAW) shall be liable for any damage of any kind in connection with the use of this application. All information provided additionally by Google Earth is in the sole responsibility of Google, Inc.

Google™, Google Earth™, and Sketchup™ are trademarks of Google, Inc.

MATLAB® is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.

© A. Steiner (2010)