Comment by lexlambda

14 hours ago

This is certainly missing some kind of legend explaining the colors of the lines, and what data is actually shown.

Is "red" high or low velocity? And as an example, I do not understand what the "Boeing vs. Airbus" selection is trying to represent, as well as how "Altitude & Velocity" are supposed to be displayed at the same time.

Project certainly requires a bit more care if any discussion should happen around it.

6 comments

lexlambda

Reply
amiga386  12 hours ago

Boeing vs Airbus:

    count() AS total,
    sum(desc LIKE 'BOEING%') AS boeing,
    sum(desc LIKE 'AIRBUS%') AS airbus,
    sum(NOT (desc LIKE 'BOEING%' OR desc LIKE 'AIRBUS%')) AS other,

    greatest(1000000 DIV {sampling:UInt32} DIV zoom_factor, total) AS max_total,
    greatest(1000000 DIV {sampling:UInt32} DIV zoom_factor, boeing) AS max_boeing,
    greatest(1000000 DIV {sampling:UInt32} DIV zoom_factor, airbus) AS max_airbus,
    greatest(1000000 DIV {sampling:UInt32} DIV zoom_factor, other) AS max_other,

    pow(total / max_total, 1/5) AS transparency,

    255 * (1 + transparency) / 2 AS alpha,
    pow(boeing, 1/5) * 256 DIV (1 + pow(max_boeing, 1/5)) AS red,
    pow(airbus, 1/5) * 256 DIV (1 + pow(max_airbus, 1/5)) AS green,
    pow(other, 1/5) * 256 DIV (1 + pow(max_other, 1/5)) AS blue

    SELECT round(red)::UInt8, round(green)::UInt8, round(blue)::UInt8, round(alpha)::UInt8

The redder the pixel, the more Boeing planes there.

The greener the pixel, the more Airbus planes there.

The bluer the pixel, the more non-Boeing/Airbus planes there.

The less transparent the pixel, the more planes in total.

White means all planes fly there, yellow means Boeing and Airbus dominate, red means Boeing dominates, green means Airbus dominates, cyan means Airbus+others, magenta means Boeing+others, etc.

  • cameronh90  8 hours ago

    Around Heathrow at least, there seem to be a few paths where Airbus and Boeing both fly, but seem to be reporting slightly different offsets within that path.

    I wonder if that's a systemic difference in how they report their GPS position to ADS-B, or an actual real difference caused by slightly different autopilot systems, or something else?

    • dlgeek  2 hours ago

      Could be airlines that have a bias towards one or the other manufacturer, which results in a m'fr bias towards different origin/destination airports.

keepamovin  14 hours ago

I see you highlight that, but I believe the visualization is designed to be intuitive once you interact with it a bit—no legend stricty needed if you calibrate against what you already know.

Pick a flight you know (maybe one near yer home) and play with the options -- what patterns emerge? Red draws attention, “Boeing vs. Airbus” compares data, while “Altitude & Velocity” combines them. Explore hands-on; discovery often makes insights click better than instructions.