Aircraft Position

The Aircraft Position object specifies the physical location of an aircraft that is seen by our network. The same object is used independently of the source of the data, making it possible to receive information from multiple sources, like ground- and satellite-based ADS-B, ADS-C, Eurocontrol and FAA, all in one consistent format.

The Aircraft Position object is broken down into a part with information about the Aircraft, and a child object with the Position information.

{
  "icao24": "4D212D",
  "registration": "9H-VJT",
  "blocked": false,
  "position": {
    "baroAltitude": 0,
    "groundSpeed": 0,
    "course": null,
    "verticalRate": null,
    "coordinates": {
      "latitude": 42.69123,
      "longitude": 23.400879
    },
    "observed": "2021-05-21T12:52:09.36603",
    "onGround": true,
    "callsign": "VJT817T",
    "squawk": "1054",
    "technology": "ADSB"
  }
}

Property

Type

Description

icao24

String

The ICAO 24bit address of the transponder in hexadecimal format.

registration

String, null

The aircraft registration marks, as commonly displayed in the country of registration. For example G-AVIO, or N372AW .

A value of null indicates that the information is not available.

blocked

Boolean

The Position object

The Position object contains information on an individual position tracked by our network.

Property

Type

Description

baroAltitude

Number, null

The barometric altitude as reported by the aircraft's transponder, in metres.

null indicates that this information is not available, or that the aircraft is on the ground, when onGround is true.

verticalRate

Number, null

The rate of climb/descent as reported by the aircraft's transponder, in metres per second. This can be negative, which indicates a

null indicates that this information is not available.

groundSpeed

Number, null

The ground speed as reported by the aircraft's navigation system, in metres per second.

null indicates that this information is not available.

course

Number, null

The True Course as reported by the aircraft's navigation system, in degrees (0 to 359).

null indicates that this information is not available.

Be aware that this information is only reliable when the aircraft is moving.

coordinates

Object

observed

String

The UTC time at which this position was received by us. This is usually just a few milliseconds after the aircraft transmits the information.

Time is formatted in ISO format.

onGround

Boolean

Indicates if the transponder is transmitting that the aircraft is on the ground. This parameter works differently for different types of aircraft avionics. In some aircraft it is commanded by a pressure switch on the main landing gear, in others it is derived by the avionics' software. Not all transponders offer this information.

null indicates that this information is not available, because it either was not provided by the aircraft or it was not possible to reliably derive.

technology

String

The source of the position report. Possible values are:

  • ADSB: for positions by a Mode S or ADS-B transponder, using a 24-bit ICAO address, and received by a ground receiver.

  • ADSB_SAT: for positions by an ADS-B transponder, using a 24-bit ICAO address, and received by satellite.

  • ADSC: for a position received monitoring the ADS-C satellite downlink

  • MLAT: for a Multilateration position, calculated by arrival time differences using multiple receivers, outliers and varying accuracy is expected

  • MODE_S: for ModeS data from the plane's transponder (no position transmitted)

  • ADSB_NT: for positions from an ADS-B equipped “non-transponder” emitter e.g. a ground vehicle, using a 24-bit ICAO address, and received by a ground receiver.

  • ADSB_REBROADCAST: for rebroadcast of ADS-B messages originally sent via another data link e.g. UAT, using a 24-bit ICAO address

  • TISB: for traffic information about a non-ADS-B target identified by a 24-bit ICAO address, e.g. a Mode S target tracked by secondary radar

  • ADSB_OTHER: for positions from an ADS-B transponder using a non-ICAO address, e.g. anonymized addresses issued by the FAA.

  • ADSR_OTHER: for rebroadcast of ADS-B messages originally sent via another data link e.g. UAT, using a non-ICAO address

  • TISB_OTHER: for traffic information about a non-ADS-B target using a non-ICAO address

  • TISB_TRACKFILE: for traffic information about a non-ADS-B target using a track/file identifier, typically from primary or Mode A/C radar

  • OTHER: miscellaneous data received via Basestation receivers or in SBS format. Quality and source is generally unknown.

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