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Flightradar24, ADS-B and Mode S Data for Aircraft Performance Analysis

Tim Maximilian Jansen

Abstract
Automatic dependent surveillance broadcast, short ADS B, is used for surveillance purposes by air traffic control. Besides that, it is used by flight tracking services and also gains popularity among private users. In this project, different sources of aircraft and flight data are discussed. On the one hand, the data is provided by the flight tracking service Flightradar24. Different cases, each representing another possible aircraft performance or flight analysis, are presented and it is evaluated whether Flightradar24 data is suitable for this analysis. To demonstrate the value of Flightradar24 data, a study of initial cruise altitude and step climbs with 440 data sets of different aircraft types is conducted and the first findings are derived. On the other hand, a homebuilt receiver for ADS B and other Mode S data is used. The technology behind ADS B is presented and a decoding script for ADS B and Comm-B messages, based on the open source python library pyModeS, is developed. The potential of this data source is shown by analyzing flight data from an aircraft using the homebuilt set-up. The different sources are compared, and the results show that the data sources differ significantly in terms of the number of parameters, data rate, and coverage. Finally, a recommendation of data sources for different fields of application is proposed.

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Date:2020-03-25
Type of work: Project
Advisor / Examiner:Dieter Scholz
Published by:Aircraft Design and Systems Group (AERO), Department of Automotive and Aeronautical Engineering, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
This work is part of:transparent pin for text alignment Digital Library - Projects & Theses - Prof. Dr. Scholz --- http://library.ProfScholz.de pin
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Persistent Identifier: https://doi.org/10.48441/4427.2892
 
PERSISTENT IDENTIFIER:
URN: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:18302-aero2020-03-25.02 (to reach this page)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.15488/20721
ARK:https://n2t.net/ark:/13960/s2s9370681z
Associated research data:https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/D2DCBF    (Data)
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Keywords, German (GND): Luftfahrt,   Luftfahrzeug,   Flugbetrieb,   Mode-S-Radar
Keywords, English (LCSH): Aeronautics,   Airplanes,   Flight,   Electronic surveillance
Keywords, free: Radar, Flugleistung, Flugmechanik, Flugzeug, Surveillance, Überwachung, Rundfunk, Radar, Air Traffic Control, ATC, Flightradar24, ADS-B, Mode S, aircraft performance, flight tracking services, Comm-B messages, python
DDC: 629.13,    629.133340423,    629.135,    629.1366
RVK: ZO 7600

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Any further request may be directed to:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Scholz, MSME
E-Mail see: http://www.ProfScholz.de

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JANSEN, Tim Maximilian, 2020. Flightradar24, ADS-B and Mode S Data for Aircraft Performance Analysis. Project. Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Aircraft Design and Systems Group (AERO). Available from: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:18302-aero2020-03-25.02 [viewed YYYY-MM-DD].

Major results / graphical abstract:
Major results / graphical abstract
Rate of Climb (ROC) during step climbs. The horizontal red line shows the median while the blue box indicates the first and third quartile. Black whiskers are used to show the range of values that are not considered outliers. The red pluses mark outliers, i. e. their value is lower or greater than 2.7 σ of the sample data.

Major results / graphical abstract
Initial Cruise Altitude (ICA) versus Great Circle Distance (GCD) of selected Airbus wide-body aircraft.
dGCGreat Circle Distance (GCD) between origin and destination airport
hicInitial Cruise Altitude (ICA)

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LAST UPDATE:  25 February 2026
AUTHOR:  Prof. Dr. Scholz
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