If you’ve ever wondered what it must be like to study the movement of airplanes as they take off and land across the entire world, then this interactive app let’s you do just that.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen air traffic data visualized, but it is the first time we’ve seen an interactive made from the 70,000 flight trajectories provided by Flightradar24. Put together by Luciad, the app visualizes a full 24 hours of flight data — made up of over 3,500,000 recorded positions — and allows you to pan, zoom and filter the data any way you choose.
You can search to find the flights heading in and out of any aiport, switch on views to see a selection of 1,200 controlled airspaces in the United States, see flights made just by particular airlines, or simply sit staring at it in a daze. The data is most complete around London, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where you can see holding patterns in action and even identify the flight paths lining up perfectly with runways.
The whole thing is bewilderingly addictive. Go have a play.
[Luciad]
