Common questions about feeding GlobalAirData.

GlobalAirData is a live aircraft tracking and research network powered by community ADS-B feeders. The network helps show aircraft on the public map and supports analysis of coverage, route behavior, aircraft utilization, fuel-burn patterns, and climate-related aviation questions.

Use the ADS-B feeder install guide. You can add GlobalAirData to an existing feeder with one installer command, or flash a new Raspberry Pi image for a GlobalAirData-only receiver.

Yes. If you use the existing feeder overlay installer, GlobalAirData normally reads from your current decoder and keeps your existing PiAware, dump1090-fa, readsb, or other feeder services in place.

You can view the public tracking map without an account. An account is needed to claim feeders, manage receiver details, view your feeder analytics, and use account-specific feeder tools.

A typical feeder uses a Raspberry Pi, an RTL-SDR receiver, a 1090 MHz ADS-B antenna, a reliable power supply, and internet access. Better antenna placement usually matters more than the Raspberry Pi model.

Place the antenna as high and as clear of obstructions as practical. A window can work, but an outdoor or attic location with a clearer sky view usually improves range and message quality.

ADS-B feeder traffic is generally modest because the feeder sends decoded aircraft and health data, not raw radio samples. Exact bandwidth depends on local traffic density, update rate, and optional features.

Some receivers can also provide VHF streams, but ADS-B aircraft feeding and VHF audio are separate capabilities. The feeder dashboard identifies whether a receiver is used for ADS-B, VHF, or both.

More receivers improve track continuity, low-altitude visibility, airport-area coverage, signal diversity, and data confidence. That helps researchers study real-world flight paths, delays, routing efficiency, fuel consumption, and climate-impact questions.

Feeders may report decoded ADS-B fields such as position, altitude, speed, track, callsign, squawk, message counts, signal strength, and receiver health. When fields are missing from ADS-B messages, GlobalAirData may use other legitimate aviation data sources where available.

MLAT, or multilateration, estimates positions for some aircraft that do not broadcast GPS position. It requires accurate receiver locations, good timing, and reception from multiple feeders. GlobalAirData is being built to support MLAT-capable receiver workflows.

Receiver location is needed for coverage analysis, range estimates, feeder maps, and MLAT. Enter the location as accurately as you are comfortable with. Public views should avoid exposing unnecessary owner-specific details.

No. The local setup page is intended for your local network on port 8750. It is used for discovery, claiming, setup, and status checks.

Yes. The feeder package installs system services, timers, a service account, and managed directories, so it must run with sudo on the receiver.

SSH into the feeder and run systemctl is-active globalairdata-agent. You can also check globalairdata-updater.timer and globalairdata-command-runner.timer.

Open http://<feeder-ip>:8750 from a browser on the same network. The discovery endpoint is http://<feeder-ip>:8750/api/discovery.

Check antenna placement, SDR connection, receiver gain, local obstructions, and whether the decoder is receiving messages. A poor antenna location can make a healthy feeder see very few aircraft.

The GlobalAirData agent includes a daily updater timer. The app dashboard can also request feeder updates and reboots when supported by the installed feeder version.