This is an old revision of the document!
USA (NARCAP / R. Haines, rev. for CAIPAN 2014 — updated links 2026)
1. Aerophysics
- Atmospheric extinction at all wavelengths —- google search
- Coronal mass ejection from the Sun —- geomag.usgs.gov
- Real Time Solar Quiet display (real-time display of quiet solar regions) —- geomag.usgs.gov
- Proton flux at low and medium altitudes —- spaceweather.gov
- U.S. - lightning strikes - 60 min. duration 1) —- eldoradoweather.com
- U.S. - lightning strikes —- weatherusa.net
- World - lightning strikes —- science.nasa.gov
- Lightning - monitoring - 20 min. duration —- interactive-lightning-map.vaisala.com
- U.S. - lightning strike monitoring (paid) —- dtn.com
- U.S. - atmospheric UV index —- cpc.ncep.noaa.gov
- U.S. - atmospheric UV index —- epa.gov
- Stratosphere - UV index —- cpc.ncep.noaa.gov
- Blue jets and sprites —- angelfire.com
- Blue jets and sprites —- vlf.stanford.edu
2. Astronomy
- World - sunrise/sunset —- usno.navy.mil
- World - sunrise/sunset, Moon, other —- gml.noaa.gov
- World - sunrise/sunset, Moon —- timeanddate.com
- U.S., Canada, England, Australia —- sunrisesunset.com
- World - time zones, converter 2) —- greenwichmeantime.com
3. Geophysics
- World - earthquake locations / faults 3) —- earthquake.usgs.gov
- Recent seismic activity —- earthquake.usgs.gov
- Europe - seismic activity —- emsc-csem.org
- Earth Resources Observation & Science (EROS) —- usgs.gov
- Land-sea surface temperature 4) —- neo.gsfc.nasa.gov
- Magnetic fields at the Earth's surface 5) —- intermagnet.org
- Electric fields at the Earth's surface —- en.wikipedia.org
- U.S. - real-time seismic monitoring 6) —- geomag.usgs.gov
- U.S. - ultrasonic monitoring 7) —- lanl-seismoacoustics.github.io
- World - place names, coordinates —- geonames.nga.mil
4. Oceanography
- U.S. - NOAA —- ndbc.noaa.gov
- Sea state —- oceanweather.com
- U.S. - Pacific, sea-state analysis every 3 hours —- ocean.weather.gov
- Sea state, British Isles / Western France —- seastates.abpmer.co.uk
- World - surface temperature 8) —- eldoradoweather.com
- World - sea surface temperature —- ncei.noaa.gov
- World - sea surface conditions —- oceanweather.com
5. Meteorology - in-flight
- U.S. - national conditions —- nws.noaa.gov
- U.S. - national conditions —- weather.gov
- U.S. - national conditions —- weather.gov
- U.S. - regional conditions —- weather.yahoo.com
- U.S. - regional conditions —- accuweather.com
- U.S. - radiosonde launch sites —- weather.gov
- World —- eldoradoweather.com
- World - climate analysis —- ncei.noaa.gov
- Europe - satellite radar imagery 9) —- eldoradoweather.com
- Canada - satellite radar imagery 10) —- eldoradoweather.com
- Historical 11) —- wunderground.com
- World - current conditions and forecasts 12) —- cnn.com
- World - current conditions —- landings.com
- World - current conditions - interactive 13) —- weatherspark.com
- Extreme forecasts —- extremescience.com
- Extreme forecasts —- wmo.int
- U.S. - national conditions —- ncei.noaa.gov
- U.S. - heavy rain, thermodynamics 14) —- eldoradoweather.com
- Wind shear data —- eldoradoweather.com
6. Radar antenna sites
- U.S. - ARTCC sites (NAS) 15) —- nfdc.faa.gov
7. Airport(s)
- Worldwide identifiers, lat., long. —- landings.com
- Airport identifiers (e.g. KBOS) —- airnav.com
- U.S. - airport diagrams (with search engine) —- faa.gov
- World - airport data —- al-nasir.com
- World - airport codes 16) —- world-airport-codes.com
- U.S. - IATA airport codes —- airportcitycodes.com
8. Orbital imagery
- U.S. - Landsat imagery —- science.nasa.gov
- Earth Observatory —- earthobservatory.nasa.gov
- Earth exploration mission —- earthexplorer.usgs.gov
- NASA-USGS, MODIS spectroradiometer —- lpdaac.usgs.gov
- U.S. - NOAA imagery —- nhc.noaa.gov
- U.S. - NOAA satellite imagery 18) —- aev.class.noaa.gov
- U.S. - California coastline —- californiacoastline.org
- U.S. - Washington State coastline —- apps.ecology.wa.gov
- U.S. - National Park Service —- nps.gov
- U.S. - Federal Government - public domain images —- en.wikipedia.org
9. Rocket launch data
- World - rocket launch sites —- planet4589.org
10. Incident databases
- U.S. - FAA accident / incident data system —- asias.faa.gov
- U.S. - NTSB - Near-miss accident reports —- my.ntsb.gov
- U.S. - NASA - ASRS —- asrs.arc.nasa.gov
- U.S. - NATCA —- natca.org
11. Near-miss events
- U.S. - ASRS —- asrs.arc.nasa.gov
- USAQ - pilot-reported events —- bts.gov
- U.S. - in-flight events, narrative search —- my.ntsb.gov
- U.S. - Aviation Safety magazine —- aviationsafetymagazine.com
- U.S. —- 37000feet.com
- U.S. - NTSB —- my.ntsb.gov
12. Accident databases
- U.S. - FAA —- faa.gov
- U.S. - NTSB —- ntsb.gov
- U.S. - NTSB serious accidents / incidents —- my.ntsb.gov
- U.S. - NTSB accidents of the previous ten days —- ntsb.gov
- U.S. - Flight Safety Foundation —- aviation-safety.net
- U.S. - SKYbrary —- skybrary.aero
- U.S. - Air transportation safety —- bts.gov
- U.S. - ERAU (University) —- prescott.erau.edu
13. Accident / incident investigation
- ICAO - Annex 13 —- cockpitseeker.com
- NASA - ASRS —- 37000feet.com
14. Operational - flight-related
- Flight tracking / schedules 20) —- flightradar24.com
- Flight tracking / schedules 21) —- flightstats.com
- World - flight planning —- landings.com
- U.S. - NOTAMs —- notams.aim.faa.gov
- U.S. - NOTAMs —- landings.com
- U.S. - FAA NOTAMs —- notams.aim.faa.gov
- United Kingdom - NATS —- landings.com
- U.S. - temporary flight restrictions —- tfr.faa.gov
15. FAA forms
- Flight plan (U.S.) - FAA 7233-1 —- faa.gov
- Flight plan (U.S.) - FAA 7233-4 —- faa.gov
- Data request - FAA 1200-5 —- faa.gov
- ASRS report forms —- asrs.arc.nasa.gov
16. Aircraft
- World - all models ever built —- aviastar.org
- ICAO - make / model designations 22) —- icao.int
- Design specifications - civil aviation only —- airliners.net
- Design specifications —- planeandpilotmag.com
- Design software (5 profiles) - free —- aircraftdesigns.com
17. ATC operations
- U.S. - FAA —- faa.gov
18. Navigation charts and aids
- U.S. - NAS —- faa.gov
- U.S. —- skyvector.com
- U.S. - large selection —- skysupplyusa.com
- U.S. - large selection —- faa.gov
- World —- skyvector.com
- World (subscription) —- ww2.jeppesen.com
- World - FAA —- faa.gov
- World —- landings.com
19. Accidents - thematic
- Investigation data —- ntsb.gov
- Investigation data —- faa.gov
- Investigation data —- flightsafety.org
- Lasers - pilot vision —- en.wikipedia.org
20. Flight simulation
- Plans for building a full-size cockpit at home —- simpits.org
- Computer-based training / recreation —- simshack.net
21. Electronics (avionics)
- EWSIGINT (electronic warfare) —- ewsigint.net
- World - HF radio propagation —- bidstrup.com
- "Association of Old Crows" (>50 sub-categories) —- crows.org
- "Association of Old Crows" (projects) —- crows.org
1)
, 8)
, 9)
, 10)
, 14)
www.eldoradoweather.com provides a wealth of near-real-time weather data and forecasts, including printable maps, quick-replay barographs, etc.
2)
greenwichmeantime.com contains a wealth of practical information on GMT, conversion to local time, local time anywhere, etc.
3)
USGS seismic data lets you search the archives using multiple search options. The resulting graphics are clear.
4)
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Image date: March 30 to April 30, 2014, 8-day average. Measures 1 mm of sea depth.
5)
INTERMAGNET network (International Real-Time Magnetic Observatory Network). Collects / analyzes digital data every minute for USGS observatories since 1985. For World Data Centre data going back to 1985, see: http://www.wdc.bgs.ac.uk/catalog/master.html
6)
This seismic monitoring site provides many free research sub-sites under the Data & Products heading: real-time H index, HEZF (for 15 stations, mostly in the U.S.), K index display, Dst index, and others.
7)
Ultrasonic monitoring is carried out by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (since 1981), with six sensor arrays in the western U.S. and one on Ascension Island. Data streams are sent to the U.S. Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) and the Prototype International Data Center (PIDC) in Alexandria, Virginia. The sensors detect nuclear explosions, space-shuttle launches and reentries, small-missile launches, atmospheric projectile reentries, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, gas explosions, etc.
11)
Climate data prior to the 1980s must be purchased from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC): http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/
12)
To use weather.cnn.com, enter the city name and/or ZIP code.
13)
Weatherspark.com provides interesting near-real-time data: temp., dew point, wind, pressure, humidity (U.S. radar only). Maps with color topography, rotating zoom.
15)
Includes all NAS radar systems capable of transmitting MOSAIC data. Since Dec. 2012, systems without a slave configuration can record only audio data (no video).
16)
International airport codes provide information on runway lengths, abbreviations, codes, etc. for more than 9,000 airports.
17)
Google-Earth (Version 7.1.2.2041) allows flexible user controls for 3D observation, zoom, overlays, annotations, 360-degree ground-level views, etc.
18)
All data are free but must be requested. Links to the requested data are then provided.
19)
Planet: JSR space report (rocket launch data): 2 updates per month, crewed and uncrewed launches (by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics).
20)
Uses ADS-B transponder signals. Only about sixty percent of commercial aircraft are currently equipped with ADS-B transponders.
21)
The Flightstats website contains a wealth of real-time flight information: schedules, delays, current status, etc.
22)
ICAO report on aircraft makes and models: 157 pp (ECCAIRS 4.2.8). Assigns a unique number to every aircraft in the world.
23)
Skyvector.com navigation charts are free.