How does live tracking work?

Computing Age group: KS3 and KS4: data and networks

Planes broadcast their position. Follow the data from the aircraft to the map on your screen.

Before you start

Read or play with these Learn topics first.

Choose an airport

Latest weather report (explained in "How do you read an airport weather report?")

Name: ______________________ Date: ____________

Use the live board for this worksheet.

What information does a plane broadcast, and how often?
Who collects the signals, and why do we need lots of receivers?
Draw a flow chart of what happens to the data on its way from the plane to a map on your screen.
What could go wrong with the data? Think about accuracy and privacy.

Ten questions on this lesson. Pupils open the link on any device. Nothing is stored about them.

Teacher notes and answers

Suggested answers. Many will vary with the live data, so check units and working. The curriculum links are a guide only.

Its identity (a unique code), position, height and speed, several times a second.
Volunteers and companies run small radio receivers. A signal only travels line-of-sight (a few hundred miles at height), so many receivers are needed to cover an area.
Plane transmits → receiver picks it up → sent over the internet to a server → data combined and cleaned → website → map on the screen.
Gaps where there is no receiver, delays, wrong or missing data. Some owners can ask for their aircraft to be hidden, which raises questions about privacy and safety.