lgc33 / ads-b

A custom ArcGIS Pro toolbox with multiple Python-based geoprocessing script tools to automate and simplify processing and analysis of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) for better understanding aircraft overflights of National Park Service (NPS) management units.

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ADS-B Overflight Analysis Toolbox

A custom ArcGIS Pro toolbox with multiple Python-based geoprocessing script tools to automate and simplify processing and analysis of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data for better understanding aircraft overflights of National Park Service (NPS) management units.

• Overview of ADS-B Overflight Analysis
• Toolbox Purpose
• Access the Current ArcGIS Pro Package File
• Getting Started with the Toolbox
  • Tool #1 - Process Raw ADS-B Data Files
  • Tool #2 - Create Waypoint and Flightline Feature Classes
  • Tool #3 - Merge Daily Waypoints and Flightlines
  • Tool #4 - Screen Suspected Non-Tourism Flights
  • Tool #5 - Summarize Waypoint Altitudes
  • Tool #6 - Summarize Waypoints by Time, Operator, and Type
• References
• Credits
• License

Overview of ADS-B Overflight Analysis

Monitoring low-level overflights is important for the NPS to fulfill its mission of providing public enjoyment while preserving cultural and natural resources (Miller et al., 2017), which includes understanding relationships between overflights and quality terrestrial visitor experiences (Mace et al., 2013). Overflight noise can degrade the acoustic environment (Beeco et al., 2020) which has been shown to have adverse effects on the experiences of visitors (McDonald et al., 1995). Research at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, which received the most reported air tours of any national park in 2019 (Lignell, 2020), determined that visitors found it unacceptable to hear overflight noise more than once per 15-minute interval (Lawson et al., 2007). The sight of too many overflights may also experientially impact visitors (Tarrant et al., 1995). Furthermore, overflights have been shown to impact biophysical resources, such as wildlife (Shannon et al., 2016), which subsequently could also compromise the visitor experience (Prakash et al., 2019)

A relatively new technology, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), can be used to understand overflight travel patterns (Beeco & Joyce, 2019). ADS-B technology features a radio signal that is broadcasted from aircraft for monitoring purposes which improves airspace safety and air traffic efficiency (FAA, 2018). Data, including position, velocity, and aircraft identification, are sent to other aircraft and ground stations (Duong et al., 2019). Broadcasted ADS-B data is unencrypted, publicly accessible, and can be collected using a data logger (Beeco & Joyce, 2019).

Data logger components include antennas, software, display screen, USB dongle, 5V AC-DC regulator, 50’ AC power cable, thermal transfer pads, and a shielded aluminum enclosure (Beeco & Joyce, 2019). A terrestrial data logger with an expansive skyward exposure is effective at collecting large volumes of ADS-B data as millions of aircraft waypoints (Beeco & Joyce, 2020).

ADS-B data loggers can record latitude, longitude, a timestamp, altitude, and unique identification codes. The unique identification code can be related to data contained in the FAA Releasable Database which provides additional relevant data including the aircraft tail number, type, and operator.

Toolbox Purpose

This repository documents and points users to a downloadable ArcGIS Pro toolbox with multiple embedded Python-based geoprocesing script tools. The original Python scripts embedded in each tool may also be accessed. These tools can be used to process raw ADS-B data files recorded on site by data loggers, create aircraft waypoint and flightline feature classes, and compute required flight-related attributes to support a variety of analyses. Additional tools help automate merging daily waypoint and flightline files, facilitate screening of flights meeting certain criteria that may be omitted from further analysis, and generate summary statistics and analytical outputs for use in aircraft overflight analysis and reporting.

An example report that used this toolbox to help analyze aircraft overflights of Great Smoky Mountains National Park can be reviewed here (Peterson et al., 2023).

Access the Current ArcGIS Pro Package File from the K-State GIS Portal

https://arcg.is/1vLjHu

Getting Started with the Toolbox

Each geoprocessing tool in the ADS-B Overflight Analysis Toolbox is described below and includes a tool summary, dependencies, list of parameters, associated ArcGIS license and extension requirements needed for successful tool operation, and a description section containing details about the processing steps completed.

Before starting, be sure to have an ArcGIS Pro project file created with the features listed below. Click on the image to the right to see an example ArcGIS Pro project setup.

• Add a folder connection to a system folder containing raw ADS-B data files in TSV format.
• Create and add a folder connection to another system folder that will store processed TSV files as CSV outputs.
• Create and add a file or enterprise geodatabase to your project containing, at minimum, study area specific files for the management unit boundary and a digital elevation model that records elevation in units of meters. It is recommended that you use this geodatabase as the repository for all feature classes, tables, and rasters created by tools in the toolbox.
• Add a file or enterprise geodatabase to your project that contains, at minimum, two tables imported from the FAA Releasable Database which contains data from the FAA's Aircraft Registry for all civil aircraft in the United States. The required tables are Aircraft Registration Master File (MASTER) and Aircraft Reference File (ACTREF). A compressed file containing text-based attribute tables valid for a calendar year can be downloaded from the FAA.
• Finally, download the ADS-B Overflight Analysis Toolbox from this site and add it to your ArcGIS Pro project. The tools in the toolbox contain embedded versions of the scripts that are also hosted in this repository.

Tools in the ADS-B Overflight Analysis Toolbox provide several checks that remove records from further analysis. Users may need to modify these procedures to better suit particular needs. Filtering operations are outlined in the Description section for each tool and highlighted in bold text.

Tool #1 - Process Raw ADS-B Data Files

Summary

Reads raw ADS-B data collected from a logger, performs basic structural checks on each file, formats fields to ensure proper data types, removes flights not meeting a 1-2 second time since last communication (TSLC), identifies and creates unique flights based on a user-defined elapsed time between sequential aircraft waypoints, and generates output CSV files for later ADS-B GIS operations. The output CSV filename uses the convention ADSB_National Park Unit Code_ADS-B Acquisition Date.csv where the acquisition date is obtained from the input TSV file.

Dependencies

Requires access to the Python script ads_b_tool_1.py and raw ADS-B data logger files.

Parameters

Label	Explanation	Type	Direction	Data Type
National Park Unit Code	Enter the four letter park unit code (e.g., GRSM, HAVO) where the ADS-B data was collected. For management units operating more than one data logger, it is recommended to also include a short name for the logger location (e.g., ACAD for Acadia or BADL for Badlands). If your management unit operates multiple data loggers at different locations, include additional detail in the short name (e.g., GRSM_COVEMTN or GRSM_ELKMONT for the Cove Mountain and Elkmont locations within Great Smoky Mountains).	Required	Input	String
Logger Site Name	Enter a short name for the location of the ADS-B data logger. This is required when analyzing data from two or more units with temporal overlap.	Optional	Input	String
Raw ADS-B File	Select a single ADS-B TSV data logger file. This tool can also be operated in "batch" mode within ArcGIS Pro to process multiple input TSV files in a single tool run.	Required	Input	File
Flight Duration Threshold (secs)	Enter a duration threshold (in seconds) that defines the minimum time between successive aircraft waypoints that must pass before a new flight by that aircraft is considered to occur.	Required	Input	Long
Output CSV Folder	Select a folder workspace where where the output CSV file(s) will be saved.	Required	Input	Workspace

Licensing and Extension Information

• Basic - Yes
• Standard - Yes
• Advanced - Yes

Description

Ingests and pre-processes a single daily ADS-B data logger TSV file and returns a new output daily file in CSV format for use in later ADS-B GIS data processing. This tool can be operated in "batch" mode within ArcGIS Pro to process several daily ADS-B TSV files in a single tool run. Tool messaging includes data regarding QA/QC results, number of unique aircraft and flights, and total tool execution time. Key processing steps include:

• Checks for presence of required header line and exits with an appropriate error message if it is not present. Other structural errors are also trapped and an error message reported.
• Effectively reads logger data files that have recorded data using different field names for the same variable (e.g., TIME vs. timestamp).
• Unpacking validFlags data from the ADS-B input file and removing any records with invalid latitude, longitude, and/or altitude flags.
• Removes any records with Time Since Last Communication (TSLC) values equal to 0 or greater than or equal to 3 (i.e., only TSLC values of 1 or 2 are retained).
• Converts original Unix timestamps to Python datetime objects in UTC which are then re-scaled to integer values.
• Calculates the time difference between sequential waypoints for each unique aircraft.
• Removes any identical waypoints in a single daily file that have the same values for aircraft ICAO address, time, latitude, and longitude.
• Appends a zero-based index to the existing ICAO Address to create a new FlightID attribute and values (e.g., ICAO_0, ICAO_1, etc). A new flight by the same aircraft is indicated when two sequential waypoints have a time difference exceeding the user-defined parameter Flight Duration Threshold (secs) which is set to a default value of 900 seconds.
• Removes any record where a unique flight_id has just a single recorded waypoint.

Tool #2 - Create Waypoint and Flightline Feature Classes

Summary

Ingests ADS-B data processed with Tool #1 - Process Raw ADS-B Files and produces point (aircraft waypoint) and line (aircraft flightline) feature classes for all features within a user-defined distance of a management unit polygon and below a user-defined altitude threshold. The tool automatically searches for a buffer file in the Output Workspace that uses the naming convention "Buffer_National Park Unit Code_Management Unit Buffer Distance" (e.g., Buffer_GRSM_10Miles). If this buffer file does not exist it will be created. The attribute table for the output aircraft flightlines has appended to it select fields and values from the FAA Releasable Database, as well as the new field Sinuosity which may be useful in identifying specific types of flights, including straight line paths typical of commercial aircraft and regular curvilinear paths characteristic of survey flights. A new field Year is also included within the output line feature class to support segmenting datasets by calendar year for some reporting needs.

Dependencies

Requires access to the Python script ads_b_tool_2.py and uses as input the output from Tool #1 - Process Raw ADS-B Data Files.

Parameters

Label	Explanation	Type	Direction	Data Type
Processed ADS-B File	Select a processed ADS-B CSV file generated by Tool #1 - Process Raw ADS-B Files.	Required	Input	File
Management Unit Polygon File	Select a polygon feature class representing the boundary of the management unit study area.	Required	Input	Feature Class
Buffer Distance	Enter a horizontal buffer distance (in miles) within which aircraft waypoints will be processed.	Required	Input	String
MSL Altitude Threshold (feet)	Enter a MSL altitude value (in feet) above which flights will be excluded from further analysis.	Required	Input	Long
Input DEM	Select a digital elevation model (DEM) for the management unit.	Required	Input	Raster Dataset
FAA Releasable Database	Select the local geodatabase containing recent versions of the FAA Releasable Database tables MASTER and ACFTREF.	Required	Input	Workspace
Output Workspace	Choose an output geodatabase workspace to store output daily aircraft waypoint and flightline feature classes. This is also the location where the buffer file will be created and stored.	Required	Input	Workspace

Licensing and Extension Information

• Basic - Requires Spatial Analyst
• Standard - Requires Spatial Analyst
• Advanced - Requires Spatial Analyst

Special Environment Settings

This script tool uses the arcpy.env.parallelProcessingFactor = "50%" setting which means processes will be spread over half of the cores available on a machine. As of development, the only tools in this script which honor parallel processing are the Buffer and Clip functions.

Description

Ingests preprocessed ADS-B CSV files produced by Tool #1 - Process Raw ADS-B Files and creates point (aircraft waypoints) and line (aircraft flightlines) feature classes in an existing geodatabase workspace. Aircraft data located beyond user-defined horizontal (distance in miles) and vertical buffers (MSL altitude in feet) are excluded from the output. Tool messaging includes the number of waypoints and flightlines in each output feature class, the number of aircraft with a "null" value for N Number, and total tool execution time. Key processing steps include:

• Creates a buffer file for the management unit polygon feature class based on a user-defined distance and excludes any waypoints outside the buffer from further analysis.
• Checks to make sure aircraft waypoints exist within a buffered management unit boundary before proceeding and exits if none are present.
• Converts original MSL altitudes in the aircraft waypoints table from units of meters to feet.
• Calculates a new Alt_AGL field (altitude above ground level) in the aircraft waypoints table with values based on aircraft waypoint MSL altitudes minus corresponding terrain elevations from the user-supplied digital elevation model (DEM).
• Adds new fields and values for the aircraft flightlines feature class including ICAO Address (retrieved from the aircraft waypoint table), Sinuosity , and LengthMiles. Sinuosity is calculated as the ratio of the curvilinear length of the flightline and the Euclidean distance between the first and last waypoint comprising the flightline and may be useful in identifying specific types of flights, including straight line paths typical of commercial aircraft and regular curvilinear paths characteristic of survey flights. The field LengthMiles is the total length of the flightpath in miles.
• Removes any aircraft flightline features with a length of 0.
• Performs a table join between aircraft waypoints and select fields from the FAA Releasable Database. Joined fields from the Aircraft Registration Master File (MASTER) table include N-Number, TYPE AIRCRAFT, TYPE ENGINE, TYPE REGISTRANT, NAME, and MFR MDL CODE. A single field – MODEL – is joined from the Aircraft Reference File (ACFTREF) table. Users must create a local geodatabase (e.g., FAA_Releasable_Database.gdb), download current copies of the MASTER and ACFTREF tables from the FAA Releasable Database website (https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/releasable_aircraft_download), then import the tables into the local geodatabase for this join operation to be successful.

Tool #3 - Merge Daily Waypoints and Flightlines

Summary

Merges all daily aircraft waypoint and flightlines feature classes created by Tool #2 - Create Waypoint and Flightline Feature Classes and stored in a user-defined input workspace into single point and line feature classes. Note that this tool will consider any point or line feature class in the Input Workspace as either a daily waypoint or flightline file for merging purposes.

Dependencies

Requires access to the Python script ads_b_tool_3.py and uses as input the output from Tool #2 - Create Waypoint and Flightline Feature Classes.

Parameters

Label	Explanation	Type	Direction	Data Type
Input Workspace	Select the geodatabase workspace containing daily waypoint and flightline feature classes produced by Tool #2 - Create Waypoint and Flightline Feature Classes. Caution - All point and line features this workspace will be merged by this tool.	Required	Input	Workspace
Output Merged Waypoints	Enter a filename and geodatabase for the merged aircraft waypoint feature class.	Required	Output	Feature Class
Ouput Merged Flightlines	Enter a filename and geodatabase for the merged aircraft flightline feature class.	Required	Output	Feature Class

Licensing and Extension Information

• Basic - Yes
• Standard - Yes
• Advanced - Yes

Description

Merges all daily aircraft waypoint and flightline feature classes stored in the user-defined Input Workspace into single point and line feature classes. Waypoints are further filtered to identify and remove any duplicates which may be introduced when combining daily waypoint feature classes created from data recorded at two or more data loggers within the management unit. Tool messaging includes the number of original, duplicate, and final waypoints and the total number of unique aircraft flightlines in the merged aircraft waypoint and flightline feature classes, respectively. Key processing steps include:

• Creates a temporary new field called DATE based on the original datetime stamp field TIME, but including only the yyyyMMdd information. The newly created DATE field is deleted at the end of the script after it is no longer needed.
• Combines all point and line feature classes present in the user-defined input workspace into single merged waypoint and flightline feature classes.
• Removes duplicate waypoints from the merged feature class if identical values appear in the flight_id, lat, lon, and DATE fields.

Tool #4 - Screen Suspected Non-Tourism Flights

Summary

Creates a waypoint and flightline feature class containing features suspected of being unrelated to management unit tourism operations based on screening parameters including the FAA Releasable Database attribute Type Registrant, minimum and maximum Sinuosity values, and a minimum flight path length (in miles). The tool also automatically removes these suspect waypoints and flightlines from the existing merged feature classes produced by Tool #3 - Merge Daily Waypoints and Flightlines and creates new and "cleaned" merged waypoint and flightline feature classes.

Dependencies

Requires access to the Python script ads_b_tool_4.py and uses as input the output from Tool #3 - Merge Daily Waypoints and Flightlines.

Parameters

Label	Explanation	Type	Direction	Data Type
Input Waypoint File	Select the merged waypoint feature class produced by Tool #3 - Merge Daily Waypoints and Flightlines.	Required	Input	Feature Class
Input Flightlines File	Select the merged flightline feature class produced by Tool #3 - Merge Daily Waypoints and Flightlines.	Required	Input	Feature Class
Type Registrant Value(s)	Enter a single or comma-separated list of values representing aircraft registrant types from the FAA Releasable Database that should be eliminated from further analysis. Valid values include: 1 = Individual; 2 = Partnership; 3 = Corporation; 4 = Co-Owned; 5 = Government; 7 = LLC; 8 = Non-Citizen Corporation; 9 = Non-Citizen Co-Owned..	Required	Input	String
Sinuosity Value(s)	Enter a comma-separated list of values for the minimum and maximum sinuosity below or above which flightlines should be eliminated from further analysis (e.g., 0.10, 0.99). For reference, a sinuosity value of 1 equals a straight line.	Required	Input	String
Aircraft Operator Name(s)	Enter comma-separated values for aircraft operator names (e.g., AMERICAN AIRLINES INC, DELTA AIR LINES INC) to identify flights for further scrutiny. Note that operator names must exactly match those published in the FAA Releasable Database.	Required	Input	String
Minimum Flight Length (miles)	Enter the minimum flightpath length (in miles) below which flightlines will be eliminated from further analysis. For example, if a value of 1 is entered, flightlines with a total flight length less than 1 mile will be excluded.	Required	Input	Long
Output Suspect Waypoints	Enter a name for the output point feature class containing waypoints for further scrutiny.	Required	Output	Feature Class
Output Suspect Flightlines	Enter a name for the output line feature class containing flightlines for further scrutiny.	Required	Output	Feature Class
Output Screened Waypoints	Enter a name for the "cleaned" output point feature class with suspect aircraft waypoints removed.	Required	Output	Feature Class
Output Screened Flightlines	Enter a name for the "cleaned" output line feature class with suspect aircraft flightlines removed.	Required	Output	Feature Class

Licensing and Extension Information

• Basic - Yes
• Standard - Yes
• Advanced - Yes

Description

The output of this tool includes waypoints/flights that meet certain characteristics typical of flights that should be omitted from further overflight analyses. One example of this might be commerical airliner flights included in the parameter Aircraft Operator Name(s). The tool also automatically deletes suspect flights from the existing merged waypoint and flightline feature classes and creates "clean" versions of both. Key considerations when running this tool include:

• For the parameter Type Registrant Values, users should enter one or more comma-separated numeric values representing valid values from the Type Registrant field in the FAA Releasable Database (e.g., 5 = Government).
• For the parameter Sinuosity Values, users should enter a comma-separated minimum and maximum sinuosity value to select flightlines with less than the minimum or greater than the maximum for identifying suspect flights (e.g., 0.10, 0.99).
• For the parameter Aircraft Operator Name(s), users should enter comma-separated values for aircraft operator names (e.g., AMERICAN AIRLINES INC, DELTA AIR LINES INC) to select specific operators of suspect flights. Note that operator names must exactly match those published in the FAA Releasable Database.

Tool #5 - Summarize Waypoint Altitudes

Summary

Creates a new output point feature class that removes waypoints outside a more restrictive buffer distance, kernel density rasters (unit area = square kilometer) for waypoints occurring within ten user-defined AGL altitude bands, and output tables that summarize waypoint frequencies by both AGL and MSL altitude bands.

Dependencies

Requires access to the Python script ads_b_tool_5.py and uses as input the output from Tool #4 - Screen Suspected Non-Tourism Flights.

Parameters

Label	Explanation	Type	Direction	Data Type
National Park Unit Code	Enter the four letter park unit code (e.g., GRSM, HAVO) where the ADS-B data was collected.	Required	Input	String
Input Waypoint File	Select the screened merged waypoints feature class produced by Tool #4 - Screen Suspected Non-Tourism Flights.	Required	Input	Feature Class
Management Unit Polygon File	Select a polygon feature class representing the boundary of the management unit study area.	Required	Input	Feature Class
Buffer Distance (miles)	Enter a horizontal buffer distance (in miles) within which aircraft waypoints will be processed.	Required	Input	String
Minimum AGL Altitude	Enter the maximum AGL altitude value for the first (lowest altitude) class.	Required	Input	Long
Maximum AGL Altitude	Enter the maximum AGL altitude value for the last (highest altitude) class.	Required	Input	Long
AGL Altitude Interval	Enter the AGL altitude interval to use in a ten-class classification.	Required	Input	Long
Minimum MSL Altitude	Enter the maximum MSL altitude value for the first (lowest altitude) class.	Required	Input	Long
Maximum MSL Altitude	Enter the maximum MSL altitude value for the last (highest altitude) class.	Required	Input	Long
MSL Altitude Interval	Enter the MSL altitude interval to use in a ten-class classification.	Required	Input	Long
Output Waypoint File	Enter a name for the output point feature class containing waypoints used in the altitude summary.	Required	Output	Feature Class
Output Band Statistics Table	Enter a name for the output ASCII file containing detailed statistics from the kernel density rasters.	Optional	Output	Text File

Licensing and Extension Information

• Basic - Requires Spatial Analyst
• Standard - Requires Spatial Analyst
• Advanced - Requires Spatial Analyst

Special Environment Settings

This script tool uses the arcpy.env.parallelProcessingFactor = "50%" setting which means processes will be spread over half of the cores available on a machine. As of development, the only tools in this script which honor parallel processing are the Buffer, Clip, and Kernel Density functions.

Description

Produces a new waypoint feature class after a more restrictive buffer operation and two output tables that include the frequency and percentage of total waypoints by user-defined altitude bands. One table reports altitudes above mean sea level (WaypointSummary_MSL) and the other based on altitudes above ground level (WaypointSummary_AGL). The user-supplied altitude band information is also used to produce a total of ten AGL kernel density rasters to assist with visualization. Key processing steps include:

• A new buffer is created and used to clip the input screened waypoints file by a more restrictive distance than used in Tool #2 - Create Waypoint and Flightline Feature Classes.
• Waypoint altitudes (in both units of AGL and MSL) are reclassified according to user-defined values for the maximum altitude of the first altitude class, the maximum value of the last altitude class, and the desired altitude interval.
• Summary tables are produced that include the frequency and percentage of total waypoints within each AGL and MSL altitude band. The national park unit code provided by the user is appended to the beginning of the names for both of these tables which will appear automatically in the same output workspace used for the Output AGL Waypoint File.
• A series of ten kernel density rasters are produced for each AGL altitude band to assist with visualization of overflights.

Tool #6 - Summarize Waypoints by Time, Operator, and Type

Summary

Generates six output tables summarizing waypoint frequencies by hour, day of week, weekday vs. weekend, month, aircraft operator (e.g., individual, corporation), and aircraft type (e.g., fixed wing single engine, rotorcraft) using as input the same waypoints summarized by altitude bands in Tool #5 - Summarize Waypoint Altitudes.

Dependencies

Requires access to the Python script ads_b_tool_6.py and uses as input the output from Tool #5 - Summarize Waypoint Altitudes.

Parameters

Label	Explanation	Type	Direction	Data Type
National Park Unit Code	Enter the four letter park unit code (e.g., GRSM, HAVO) where the ADS-B data was collected.	Required	Input	String
Input Waypoint File	Enter the point feature class produced by Tool #5 - Summarize Waypoint Altitudes and containing the waypoints used in previous altitude summary.	Required	Input	Feature Class
FAA Releasable Database	Select the local geodatabase containing recent versions of the FAA Releasable Database tables MASTER and ACFTREF.	Required	Input	Workspace

Licensing and Extension Information

• Basic - Yes
• Standard - Yes
• Advanced - Yes

Produces six output tables that include the frequency and percentage of total flights based on the hour, day of week, weekday vs. weekend, month, aircraft operator, and aircraft type using as input the output waypoint feature class produced by Tool #5 - Summarize Waypoint Altitudes. Each table is written to the same workspace where the Input Waypoint File is located. One table reports the hourly summary (WaypointSummary_HR) and the other the monthly summary (WaypointSummary_MO). The national park unit code provided by the user is appended to the beginning of the names for each output table (e.g., GRSM_FlightSummary_DAY, GRSM_FlightSummary_Operators). Key processing steps executed include:

• Flight summaries are based on the hour and time of the first waypoint for each unique flight in the input file.
• UTC times for waypoints recorded by the ADS-B data logger are converted to local times prior to summarization.
• Performs a table join between aircraft flightlines and select fields from the FAA Releasable Database. Joined fields from the MASTER table include N-Number, MFR MDL CODE, TYPE REGISTRANT, NAME, and Type Engine. A single field – Model – is joined from the ACFTREF table. Users must create a local geodatabase (e.g., FAA_Releasable_Database.gdb), download current copies of the MASTER and ACFTREF tables from the FAA Releasable Database website (https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/releasable_aircraft_download), then import the tables into the local geodatabase for this join operation to be successful.
• Summary tables are produced that include the frequency and percentage of total flights occurring by hour of the day, day of week, weekday vs. weekend, month of the year, aircraft operator (i.e., TYPE_REGISTRANT field from the FAA Releaseable Database), and aircraft type (i.e., TYPE_AIRCRAFT field from the FAA Releasable Database).
• Possible TYPE_REGISTRANT values include: [1, "Individual"], [2, "Partnership"], [3, "Corporation"], [4, "Co-Owned"], [5, "Government"], [7, "LLC"], [8, "Non-Citizen Corporation"], [9, "Non-Citizen Co-Owned"].
• Possible TYPE_AIRCRAFT values include: [1, "Glider"], [2, "Balloon"], [3, "Blimp/Dirigible"], [4, "Fixed Wing Single Engine"], [5, "Fixed Wing Multi Engine"], [6, "Rotorcraft"], [7, "Weight-Shift-Control"], [8, "Powered Parachute"], [9, "Gyroplane"]

References

Beeco, J. A., & Joyce, D. (2019). Automated aircraft tracking for park and landscape planning. Landscape and Urban Planning, 186, 103-111.

Beeco, J. A., Joyce, D., & Anderson, S. (2020). Evaluating the use of spatiotemporal aircraft data for air tour management planning and compliance. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration. doi:10.18666/JPRA-2020-10341

Duong, Q., Tran, T., Pham, D. T., & Mai, A. (2019, March). A Simplified Framework for Air Route Clustering Based on ADS-B Data. In 2019 IEEE-RIVF International Conference on Computing and Communication Technologies (RIVF) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Lawson, S., K Hockett, B. Kiser, N. Reigner, A. Ingrm, J. Howard, and S. Dymond (2007). Social Science Research to Inform Soundscape Management in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Final Report. Department of Forestry, College of Natural Resources, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Lignell, B. W. (2020). Reporting information for commercial air tour operations over units of the national park system: 2019 annual report. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/NSNSD/NRR— 2020/2193. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Mace, B. L., Corser, G. C., Zitting, L., & Denison, J. (2013). Effects of overflights on the national park experience. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 35, 30-39.

McDonald, C. D., Baumgarten, R. M., & Iachan, R. (1995). Aircraft management studies: National park service visitors survey. HMMH Report, (290940.12), 94-2.

Miller, Z. D., Fefer, J. P., Kraja, A., Lash, B., & Freimund, W. (2017, January). Perspectives on visitor use management in the National Parks. In The George Wright Forum (Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 37-44). George Wright Society.

Peterson, B. A., J.M. Shawn Hutchinson, B. Gurung, J.A. Beeco, S.J. Anderson, and D. Joyce. 2023. Exploring spatial patterns of overflights at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Natural Resource Report NPS/GRSM/NRR—2023/2518. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. doi.org/10.36967/2299255

Prakash, S. L., Perera, P., Newsome, D., Kusuminda, T., & Walker, O. (2019). Reasons for visitor dissatisfaction with wildlife tourism experiences at highly visited national parks in Sri Lanka. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 25, 102-112.

Shannon, G., McKenna, M. F., Angeloni, L. M., Crooks, K. R., Fristrup, K. M., Brown, E., Warner, K. A., Nelson, M. D., White, C., Briggs, J., McFarland, S., & Wittenmyer, G. (2016). A synthesis of two decades of research documenting the effects of noise on wildlife. Biological Reviews, 91(4), 982-1005.

Tarrant, M. A., Haas, G. E., & Manfredo, M. J. (1995). Factors affecting visitor evaluations of aircraft overflights of wilderness areas. Society & Natural Resources, 8(4), 351-360.

Credits

Applied Park Science Laboratory and Geographic Information Systems Spatial Analysis Laboratory, Kansas State University

License

This project is in the worldwide public domain:

This project is in the public domain within the United States, and copyright and related rights in the work worldwide are waived through the CC0 1.0 Universal public domain dedication.

All contributions to this project will be released under the CC0 dedication. By submitting a pull request, you are agreeing to comply with this waiver of copyright interest.