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Research

Scientific research

With the ADS-B and Mode-S data of the FlyItalyADSB network we ran a weather research project, weather32, now complete: aircraft in flight used as sensors of the wind at altitude.

Completed project

weather32 Meteorology Completed

Upper-troposphere wind measurement from aircraft in flight

We worked out the wind components (u, v) from Mode-S BDS50/BDS60 and ADS-B messages: airspeed (TAS and magnetic heading) subtracted from ground speed (GPS speed and track) gives the local wind. The results were compared with ERA5 reanalysis (ECMWF) and with vertical profiles from IASI (MetOp satellite).

Data source
ADS-B + Mode-S BDS50/60
Validation
ERA5 · IASI (MetOp)
RMSE (u)
7.38 m/s vs ERA5

Data access for researchers

ADS-B tracks since 2022 are already open: they are self-serve through the API, see the historical archive. For university or institutional research, bulk extractions (many aircraft or long periods) are available on request. Contact us with a brief description of your project and institution.

Request access →