Home » contrails » Interactive Flight/Contrail Map Visualization

Interactive Flight/Contrail Map Visualization

This link here will take you to the interactive map, but I suggest you first watch the video below which explains how it works (but watch it full screen, in HD), or look at some rather nice visualizations here. And to the point, here’s the worldwide distribution of air traffic. It’s mostly over Europe and the US, but is still worldwide, and a goodly proportion of the oceans, especially in the north.

I’ve programmed a visualization of air traffic that you can interact with in a web browser

Here’s a quick video explaining how to use it:

You can use it to see how many potential contrails you will get over any particular area by filtering out all traffic below 30,000 feet.

Works best in the latest versions of Chrome or Firefox, or in Internet Explorer with Google’s Chrome Frame plugin. Will not work currently on Opera or iOS. If you have to use Safari, then you need to enable WebGL (Preferences/Advanced -> Show Develop menu, then from the Develop menu “Enable WebGL”).

Feedback, bugs, etc appreciated!

13 thoughts on “Interactive Flight/Contrail Map Visualization

  1. taalf says:

    Hello,

    Paradoxically, this tool leads me to confirm the chemtrail theory… Indeed, I lived in France before. And in France persistent trails are everyday. I also know lots of people in lost parts of France who can see very often persistent trails, covering the sky.

    Now, for several months, I have lived in Czech Republic. I live in Prague and travel across the whole country up to several times per month. This country is at the very center of Central Europe. According to your simulation, there should be approximately the same amount of trails above France as above Czech Republic. But I don’t see any persistent trail above my head. This is a very rare phenomenon (I mean, they are visible only some days per month, and last time they covered the sky exactly like in Fance. I was on highway across the Czech Republic, it they were visible from Ostrava to Prague, covering the sky…).

    Do the climatic conditions are so different in Czech Republic than in France that all the contrails stop persisting?

    Or this is like this because persistent trails in France are chemtrails and because Czech Republic is not yet a target?

    Best regards,

    taalf

  2. taalf says:

    As I wrote before: they are, but with a very lower frequency than in France.

    In France it is almost everyday, everywhere. Here, it is sometimes. France and Czech Republic are separated by only 1000 km. Temperatures are almost the same. I know it from everyday experience.

    I don’t need reports. I live here and I look to the sky every day.

    Best regards,

    taalf

  3. SR1419 says:

    I was in France for a week this past fall and didn’t see any persistent contrails…

  4. taalf says:

    Hi SR1419,

    Can you say the date and location, if it is not indiscreet… ?

    Best regards,

    taalf

  5. Alexey says:

    Hi Taalf,

    I live in the UK, but occasionally I travel to Europe. I’ve just checked my iPhoto library for photos taken in France and Czech Republic. I went to France several times over the past ten years, but I could not find a single contrail in my France photos, whereas I was in Prague just once in September 2008, and recorded quite a few contrails there at the time.

  6. JFDee says:

    taalf and others,

    I live in the western part of Germany. No hard data, but my anecdotal impression is that our weather here is dominated by air masses from the Atlantic Ocean which are generally carrying more humidity than continental air masses found eastward.

    I think it’s at least not implausible to assume differences regarding the mean humidity level between Paris and Prague. Again, I did no any proper research here.

  7. taalf says:

    Hello JFDee,

    Thanks for your data and reflexion.

    I looked for such Europe map of humidity. I found this:

    http://www.findlocalweather.com/weather_maps/humidity_europe.html

    this:

    http://www.findlocalweather.com/forecast.php?config=&forecast=pass&pass=currentwx&usecountry=europe&region=&useplace=&usestate=&plot=humid&dpp=0&usemetric=

    this:

    http://www.wunderground.com/global/Region/EU/2xpxHumidity.html

    and this:

    http://www.lawrencevilleweather.com/conditions/europe

    But it is only short term data. I didn’t find some average map. It would be interesting to get one.

    But here is a ranking of towns classified by humidity rate:

    http://web2.airmail.net/danb1/european.htm

    We can see “Paris: 76.5%, Prague: 76.0%”

    Best regards,

    taalf

  8. JFDee says:

    taalf,

    interesting facts, particularly the ranking lists of cities.

    However, it is likely that the humidity values were determined on ground level, which would take into account the geographical features (micro-climate) of the respective city.

    If it comes to contrail conditions, the focus is obviously on the higher layers of the atmosphere (at 30000 feet and above).

    It might also be interesting to compare the flight route density over those two cities – not the respective airport traffic but lines going over at travelling altitude, in a range of 50 miles or so. I can’t check right now as my browser does not display WebGL, but you can have a look at a typical day on this map:

    https://contrailscience.com/map/

  9. MyMatesBrainwashed says:

    Confusion between ground level humidity and humidity at 30,000 feet, maybe?

    I’m guessing that those charts aren’t given humidity readings at that height? We aren’t that interested in the weather up there, more interested in what it’s like down here where we are.

    I don’t believe there’s much correlation between the humidity down here and the humidity up there.

  10. Deb says:

    You go a long way to explain CHEMtrails by using a CONtrail demonstration. CHEMtrails and CONtrails are different in that CHEMtrails linger and often become clouds. There is somethig other than water vapor in a CHEMtrail. I have seen thin veils, glistening in the sun (you have to be at the right angle to see them0, that is the effluent of a CHEMtrail. And I don’t see it high in the sky – I see it below the horizon line over the landscape. Jets that spew CHEMtrails do not follow the same patterns as passenger planes: reversing direction, loops, arcs, and a square grid pattern. This square grid pattern is DISsimilar to your spider web-like CONtrail patterns. You obfuscate the CHEMtrail issue with CONtrail facts which proves this assinine site for the CON it is. Who do you work for, anyway?

  11. Strawman says:

    Yeah, how dare Mick obfusctate the issue with facts. Like the fact that what some call chemtrails behave exactly as you would contrails to do. How dare he? He must have been paid for pointing these obfuscating facts, doesn’t he?

  12. Branko says:

    Thank you very much your website explains it very clear there is not such thing as”chemtrails”.Thank you for educating me also as I was “believer ” in “chemtrails”
    Thank you
    Branko

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