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ADS-B Exchange

The ADS-B Exchange feed type in ArcGIS Velocity connects to the ADS-B Exchange API and returns real-time live global flight data.

Examples

The following are example use cases for the feed:

  • A law enforcement agency uses the ADS-B Exchange feed during planned events to highlight aircraft that enter defined zones or exhibit unexpected behavior. This information can be combined with other real-time data sources for context and to support real-time decision making.

  • A regional planning agency uses the ADS-B Exchange feed data to capture actual flight path data to support environmental analysis. Analysts can examine aircraft altitude and frequency in relation to nearby communities and assess potential noise exposure and environmental impacts.

Usage notes

Keep the following in mind when working with the feed:

  • The ADS-B Exchange feed sends requests to the specified ADS-B Exchange API URL at the rate defined by the Feed Polling Interval step of the configuration wizard. The minimum feed polling interval is 10 seconds.

  • This feed supports removing unwanted fields and adjusting field names. The hex field is automatically configured as TRACK_ID, and the now field is automatically configured as START_TIME. Adding new fields is not supported, as the schema is predetermined based on the data provided by ADS-B Exchange.

    Learn more about ADS-B Exchange API schema

  • This feed can only be configured to return live data. Velocity offers four options for filtering live aircraft events: by Country, by Region, by Subdivision, and by a Custom filter.

    • If you use the Country filter option, refer to the full list of supported countries.

    • If you use the Subdivision filter option, refer to the full list of supported subdivisions (states or provinces).

    • If you use the Custom filter filter option:

      • Aircraft events are filtered based on configurable logical expressions.

      • When building logical expressions, the set of supported operators and the allowed input values are determined by the selected field.

      • If more than one logical expression is used, you must select a Logical Operator value of AND or OR. Logical operators determine how multiple logical expressions are evaluated. A value of AND returns aircraft events where all logical expressions evaluate to true. A value of OR returns aircraft events where at least one of the logical expressions is true.

      • A maximum of 10 logical expressions can be used to filter aircraft events.

Parameters

The following are the parameters for the feed:

Parameter

Description

Data type

API key

(Required)

The API key required to authenticate with ADS-B Exchange API.

String

Filter type

(Required)

Filters live aircraft events based on the following options:

  • Country— Filters aircraft within the boundaries of a given country.

  • Region—Filters aircraft within the boundaries of a given geographical region.

  • Subdivision—Filters aircraft within a given country’s subdivision (state or province).

  • Custom filter—Filters aircraft by user-defined logical expressions.

String

Logical expressions

(Optional)

This parameter is available if the Filter type parameter is set to the Custom filter option.

Aircraft events are filtered based on configurable logical expressions.

String

Logical Operator

(Optional)

This parameter is available if the Filter type parameter is set to the Custom filter option and when more than one logical expression is provided.

The Logical Operator parameter determines how multiple logical expressions are evaluated. For more information on logical operators, refer to the usage notes.

String

Additional logging

(Optional)

Specifies whether logging is turned on for raw requests and responses issued by Velocity to ADS-B Exchange API.

Note:

Only turn on this parameter for troubleshooting purposes and turn it off when troubleshooting is complete. Once turned on, start the feed; the debug level logs are available on the feed logs page. Contact  Esri Technical  Support for help with troubleshooting, if necessary.

Boolean

Considerations and limitations

Consider the following when using the feed:

  • An ADS-B Exchange subscription and API key are required to use this feed type.

  • The minimum polling interval for the ADS-B Exchange feed type is 10 seconds.

  • The following fields cannot be used when constructing logical expressions: nav_modes, lastPosition, mlat, tisb, acas_ra, and geometries.