Living near KMIA (a very busy airport), I spend a lot of time plane spotting and thought it would be cool to track planes in 3D.
In October 2021, I built a prototype 3D ADS-B flight tracker called skies-adsb using p5.js.
In April 2022, I released version 1.0 of skies-adsb, rewritten in Three.js. However, this release still relied on manual editing of GeoJSON layers.
By late 2024, I had learned enough about GIS and GeoPandas to automate map creation using custom GeoJSON layers. During the Christmas holiday, I developed a script to generate these layers from Natural Earth, FAA, and OpenStreetMap data using GeoPandas, then refactored skies-adsb to render multiple GeoJSON layers.
Today, version 2.0 of skies-adsb is available! This release simplifies installation, automates GeoJSON map creation, and features a new rendering engine. skies-adsb is compatible with all major WebGL-enabled mobile and desktop browsers.
To run skies-adsb you will need an RTL-SDR receiver and a Linux workstation or Raspberry Pi, or you can connect to an existing RTL-SDR ADS-B installation.
Working on this app has brought me a lot of joy and I also learned a lot about aviation, weather, GIS, and Three.js along the way. I use it daily, typically leaving it running in the background like a digital aquarium. I hope you enjoy it too.
Please check out skies-adsb by following the links below:
Source Code: https://github.com/llopisdon/skies-adsb
Video of skies-adsb: https://youtu.be/HnY1vFUBXS0