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traffic

What traffic is
traffic is a free Python library for analyzing air-traffic data, flight trajectories, and airspaces. It reads open ADS-B sources such as OpenSky Network data and EUROCONTROL DDR files, with support for additional sources. Flight and Traffic structures wrap pandas DataFrames, while airspaces use Shapely geometries. Documented analysis includes detecting flight phases, landings, holding patterns, and pushbacks, plus trajectory resampling and fuel or emissions estimation. Matplotlib supports static charts; Altair and ipyleaflet provide dynamic Jupyter views. Results can be exported for CesiumJS and Google Earth. Integrations include OpenSky live and historical data, EUROCONTROL files, OpenStreetMap airport information, and OpenAP estimates. Installation through conda-forge is documented for Python 3.9 or newer. The library runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and can be used through APIs or self-hosting under an MIT license.
Who it suits
traffic suits Python users analyzing flight paths, airspaces, navigation events, or aviation emissions. It also fits teams needing Jupyter visualization, export formats, or self-hosted processing.
What it does well
- Free MIT-licensed library
- Trajectory detection tools
- Static and dynamic visualizations
- CesiumJS and Google Earth exports
- OpenSky and EUROCONTROL access
What to know first
- OpenSky historical data needs credentials
- Coverage or storage limits may return empty results
- EUROCONTROL B2B access needs a certificate
- Python 3.9+ documented for conda installation
Verdict
traffic provides aviation data structures, trajectory analysis, visualization, and export capabilities for Python workflows. Access requirements from OpenSky and EUROCONTROL may affect which datasets you can use.
Facts from traffic's own pages
- Academic use
- The documentation asks academic users who find the project useful to cite a 2019 Journal of Open Source Software article by Xavier Olive. · traffic-viz.github.io, 12 Oct 2026
- Analysis features
- Documented trajectory tools include flight phase, landing, holding pattern, and pushback detection, trajectory resampling, and fuel or emissions estimation. · traffic-viz.github.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Data access limits
- OpenSky historical data access requires credentials, may return empty results due to coverage or storage limits, and commercial use is subject to OpenSky terms. · traffic-viz.github.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Data analysis
- The user guide covers data sources, trajectory labelling and generation, statistical analysis, and navigation events. · traffic-viz.github.io, 12 Oct 2026
- Data model
- Flight and Traffic structures wrap pandas DataFrames, while airspaces use Shapely geometries. · traffic-viz.github.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Data sources
- It can access open ADS-B traffic sources such as OpenSky Network and EUROCONTROL DDR files, and is designed to be extended to other data sources. · traffic-viz.github.io, 12 Oct 2026
- Exports
- The library supports exports to formats including CesiumJS and Google Earth. · traffic-viz.github.io, 12 Oct 2026
- Free plan
- Yes · traffic-viz.github.io, 24 Sept 2026
- Installation
- The maker recommends installation in a fresh conda environment and says the required Python version is 3.9 or later. · traffic-viz.github.io, 12 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The documentation lists access to OpenSky live and historical ADS-B data, EUROCONTROL data files, OpenStreetMap airport information, and OpenAP for fuel and emissions estimates. · traffic-viz.github.io, 5 Oct 2026
- License
- The project is distributed under the MIT License, which grants use, copying, modification, and distribution free of charge subject to its stated conditions. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Traffic is a Python library for processing and analysing air traffic data, including trajectories and airspaces. · traffic-viz.github.io, 12 Oct 2026
- Support
- The project README directs users to its Gitter chat for assistance and welcomes issue reports and contributions through GitHub. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Third-party access conditions
- Access to EUROCONTROL B2B AIXM files requires a EUROCONTROL-granted B2B certificate, and DDR access conditions are managed by EUROCONTROL. · traffic-viz.github.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Visualisation
- The documentation describes static visualisation with Matplotlib and dynamic visualisation in Jupyter Lab with Altair and ipyleaflet. · traffic-viz.github.io, 12 Oct 2026
- Visualization
- The library supports static visualization with Matplotlib and dynamic Jupyter visualizations with Altair and ipyleaflet, plus exports including CesiumJS and Google Earth. · traffic-viz.github.io, 5 Oct 2026
- Warranty
- The MIT license provides the software “AS IS” and disclaims warranties and liability. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Where traffic stands on Freedom251
- Data Visualization Software#65 of 98