Recent UCLA graduate Aaron Koblin collected latitude, longitude, and altitude data of U.S. and Canadian flights from March 19, 2005, through the early morning of March 21, 2005. After parsing and plotting the enormous chunks of information, Koblin ended up with this depiction of 28 hours' worth of air traffic. In all, the number of flights recorded by the Federal Aviation Administration was more than 20,000.
1 EXPERIENCING TURBULENCE
Koblin used the Bézier method of curve analysis (which coincidentally is also used to design airplane bodies) to accentuate any flight plan changes hidden by the map's massive scale. Minor turbulence shows up as slight, undulating curves while major, more abrupt changes—such as avoiding heavy cloud cover or maneuvering to land—appear as radical loops. Here, international flights enter large holding patterns just before reaching New York City.
2 ROUND 'EM UP Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport herded 85,907,423 passengers through its gates ...
