Animated Atlas: Air Traffic over North America


The maps in this electronic atlas are animations depicting flight traffic over North America.  All animations depict traffic over a 24-hour period as a time-lapse and were captured during the period of March 2003 to September of 2007.

Over 70 individual animations are included on the DVD that can be played at different speeds.  At 1440 frames each (the number of minutes in a day), over 100,000 individual maps were used to create the animations.  Animation files average between 5 MB to 66 MB for a total size of 1.6 GB.  The distribution of this atlas is made possible with the use of DVD data discs.  Not only does the DVD provide enough storage capacity for the high resolution animations but the fast communication speeds associated with the DVD format also allows these animations to be viewed directly from the DVD.

The DVD is accompanied by a 44-page booklet that explains the North American air traffic control system, Aircraft Situational Display to Industry (ASDI), flight mapping, and air traffic patterns.