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Views from a plane window

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About the map

Have you ever looked out of a plane window in awe of how far you can see into the horizon? Then perhaps you spend the remainder of the flight wondering whether that tiny spec in the distance was the Eiffel tower or the Crystal Palace broadcasting tower. Well, this map took one step closer to answering those unanswered plane thoughts, as we mapped the field of view for 3 popular flights around the world.

Why it works

Throughout this series of maps, Esri UK have calculated how far you can (theoretically) see from a specified altitude based on real flight data, then created a faded buffer based on that value. Obviously, the weather doesn’t always play ball so we’ve used the fade to indicate the potential viewing range. This buffer combined with imagery basemaps for both day and night helps to create a stunning visual.

Requirements

  • Data and software

    Esri UK created the new maps using its ArcGIS Pro 2.9 and data from using data from Flight Aware.

  • Analysis

    To create the buffers based on the altitude of the flight, this required us to build a model which used iterators to buffer at regular intervals. This ensuring accuracy throughout the flight, particularly at the start and end when altitude is much lower.

  • Time

    Creating the model using iterators took some time to perfect, but once it was working then the visual was fairly easy to piece together.

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Tips and tricks

  • ModelBuilder

    Use ModelBuilder to iterate through your Geoprocessing tools when you need to use the tool repeatedly

  • Faded Buffer

    Creating a series of buffers at regular distances from the flight path (i.e. 100m, 200m etc.) allowed us to create a faded buffer visualisation to represent the gradual decrease in visibility

  • Blend modes

    We combined the Esri VIIRS night-time layer with imagery data using blend modes to keep things colourful and imitate the view of city lights from above.

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Molly Fergus, Graduate

Map Author

Molly Fergus

Molly is on the Graduate Programme at Esri UK, and has a background in Geography and GIS. Outside of work she enjoys painting, live music and swimming in the Irish Sea.

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