16
$\begingroup$

I was looking at http://www.gelib.com/aeronautical-charts-united-states.htm, where you can download shape files for Google Earth that show US airspaces. I'm writing some software that has a similar need and need to find a source for this data. I'm looking for data that defines the extents of airspaces including MOAs, restricted areas, etc.

I have been pouring through the FAA's website with no luck. The link I referenced above says its source was the National Aeronautical Charting Office (NACO), which I'm having very little luck finding as well. I think it may have been renamed, thus the poor results. I also called the FAA and can't seem to find anyone there that knows where to transfer me.

So, does anyone here have any helpful pointers on finding said information? I want to pull it directly from the source to make sure it is always up-to-date and accurate.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
7
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ I hope you are making an open-source data card that would free people from the grip of Jepp updates. $\endgroup$
    – 2NinerRomeo
    Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 22:41
  • $\begingroup$ can you actually download shape files from the gelib.com URL you gave? I've tried, and don't see anything in GoogleEarth. $\endgroup$
    – abelenky
    Commented Jan 23, 2014 at 15:09
  • $\begingroup$ No. I was able to download some shape files from the link 2NinerRomeo provided in his answer below but they appear to be 2 dimensional shape files. I'm still looking into that because I don't have much experience working with shape files... maybe they are 3d and I just haven't found the "magic button" in the viewer yet. $\endgroup$
    – dazedandconfused
    Commented Jan 23, 2014 at 15:32
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, I don't think it works.... but I'm looking at some of the data from the other sources, and I'm going to try to change it into GoogleEarth KML files. If I'm successful, I'll followup here. $\endgroup$
    – abelenky
    Commented Jan 23, 2014 at 15:51
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @mins: Sure enough. I've deleted the comment. $\endgroup$
    – 2NinerRomeo
    Commented Sep 11, 2016 at 16:13

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
14
$\begingroup$

Take a look at the National Flight Data Center. The data appears to be contained in NASR. I mentioned in my comment that there may be no official source for spatial data, but I think this may include what you are looking for.

These are derived products. The cannonical definitions are the legal descriptions found in FAA Orders with the prefix 7400. At the time of this writing, JO 7400.11 (current version E) covered airspace classes A,B,C,D and E as well as reporting points. The JO 7400.10 (current version C) covered special use airspaces. Both publications can be found at the FAA's Website.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ Found some good stuff here, thanks. My initial opinion is that the airspace files won't suit my needs but there was a lot of other good information there that I needed as well. Appreciate the link. $\endgroup$
    – dazedandconfused
    Commented Jan 23, 2014 at 15:34
  • $\begingroup$ Are the 2D shapefiles the canonical master definitions or derived products? For Class C airspace, for example, does the FAA maintain exact definitions of a cylinder with a given center, radius, and altitude within one or more radarcs having a certain center, inner and outer radii, start and stop radials, etc.? $\endgroup$
    – Greg Bacon
    Commented Nov 25, 2015 at 17:42
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I would call these derived products. The cannonical definitions would be the legal descriptions found in FAA Orders with the prefix 7400. At the time of this comment, order 7400.9Z covered Classes A,B,C,D,E as well as reporting points. 7400.8X covered special use airspaces., Both can be found here: faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/#orders 7400.9Z superseded 7400.9Y. These are published yearly. I'm not sure what will come after .9Z. $\endgroup$
    – 2NinerRomeo
    Commented Dec 3, 2015 at 0:06
3
$\begingroup$

You are looking for Aeronautical Navigation Products (AeroNav Products) (formerly NACO).

They have a number of digital products, which should have the data that you are looking for.

If not, their contact information is:

Customer Service: (800) 626-3677
[email protected]

Abigail "Abby" Smith, Director
FAA, AeroNav Products AJV-3
1305 East-West Hwy
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(301) 427-5000

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Thanks, I have left a message with them and will post a comment here if I get any good information from them. $\endgroup$
    – dazedandconfused
    Commented Jan 23, 2014 at 15:33
2
$\begingroup$

You may take a look at openAIP. It contains nearly up-to-date airspace and airport information besides other aviation topics. Airspace data is available for download as .aip file. This is actually a very simple XML file that can easily be used in any application.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ OpenAIP is a pretty cool project, but they describe it as a "crowd-sourced aeronautical information platform that allows registered users to add, edit and download aeronautical data" -- that strikes me as having a big red NOT FOR NAVIGATION - USE OFFICIAL CHARTS FOR FLIGHT stamp on it :-) $\endgroup$
    – voretaq7
    Commented Jan 26, 2014 at 7:36
  • $\begingroup$ Or take a look at Open Flightmaps, map and raw data as OFMX (a slight variation of AIXM 4.5) as well as a few other formats available. $\endgroup$
    – svoop
    Commented Mar 23, 2020 at 16:07
1
$\begingroup$

The current information can be downloaded at:

https://nfdc.faa.gov/xwiki/bin/view/NFDC/56+Day+NASR+Subscription

This includes the digital vector copies of the sectionals and shape files for the airspaces.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

FAA's Coded Instrument Flight Procedures.

Data elements included are: Airports and Heliports, Runways, VHF, NDB and ILS Navigation Aids, Waypoints (Terminal and Enroute), Airways, Off Route Obstruction Clearance Altitude (OROCA) records, Departure Procedures (DPs), Standard Terminal Arrival Procedures (STARs), Special Use Airspace (SUAs) and Class B, C, and D Airspace. Also included are GPS, RNAV (GPS), RNAV (RNP), GPS Overlay, ILS, LOC, LDA and SDF Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) with their associated Minimum Safe Altitude (MSA) data.

SUAs most likely includes MOAs.

It's encoded in ARINC 424. The specification is not free but can be found using a search engine.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .