Tracking the Skies: A Geospatial Demo with FlightPulse
Looking for a powerful example of how geospatial data can be visualized and analyzed on an interactive map?
FlightPulse is a web-based application designed to demonstrate how flight data can be brought to life through mapping and visualization technologies. This project showcases a fictional air traffic monitoring tool—built not for live tracking, but to highlight the potential of geospatial data for business, education, and research applications.
All aircraft data used in this demo was extracted from ADSBExchange, a community-driven, publicly available flight tracking network.
What Is FlightPulse?
FlightPulse visualizes a snapshot of aircraft activity using key metadata—flight identifier, coordinates, direction, and altitude. The application allows users to explore aircraft positions and flight paths on an interactive map and filter the dataset by altitude, time, and aircraft selection.
This dashboard serves as a demo of geospatial data in action, illustrating how businesses and organizations can turn location-based data into meaningful insights.
Key Features
Aircraft Position Tracking
Visualize aircraft locations from a flight data extract
Interactive Map Interface
Zoom and pan functionality powered by Mapbox GL JSFlight Path Visualization
Toggle flight path trails on or off
View altitude information embedded along each flight line
Multi-aircraft path rendering with smooth transitionsMulti-aircraft trails
Individual Aircraft Tracking
Select individual aircrafts
Toggle flight path trails on or off
View altitude information embedded along each flight line
Multi-aircraft path rendering with smooth transitions
Why This Matters
FlightPulse is a use case for how geospatial dashboards can support operational awareness, planning, and storytelling. This kind of visualization is ideal for:
Aviation and airport operations
Logistics and fleet management
Emergency response coordination
Urban planning and infrastructure monitoring
Educational tools involving geography or data literacy
Technical Overview
🖥 Frontend Stack
Framework: React with TypeScript
Design: Functional components, hooks, responsive design
🗺 Mapping Technology
Map Engine: Mapbox GL JS
Features:
Custom map styling
Efficient handling of many aircraft markers
📊 Data Visualization
Custom flight path rendering
Time range slider for temporal filtering
Altitude-based coloring with a visual legend
Inspired to Build Something Similar?
FlightPulse is a demonstration of what’s possible with geospatial data and modern web development. If you're interested in building an interactive map or dashboard for your own use case—whether tracking, analysis, or planning—we’d love to help bring that vision to life. Reach out and let’s explore what your data can do.
Credits:
Eyad Kurd-Misto: Data engineering, data extraction, and transformation from ADSBExchange
