Weather Overlays

Weather Overlay Options

The following weather overlays are available for all users within our web and mobile applications.

As aircraft owners and operators it's essential that you have access to up to date information in order to keep your people safe and your aircraft operating efficiently. We've partnered with Baron, the leaders in aviation weather intelligence) to give you can access to real-time weather information and visuals within the Spidertracks platform.

This feature allows you to overlay live weather conditions while tracking your aircraft (to quickly and easily interpret weather conditions) and is included as a standard Spidertracks feature at no additional cost to you.

High Resolution North America Radar

The North America radar presents a mosaic image of radars covering the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the southern portion of Canada. The high 1km resolution combined with 2-minute updates offers an advantageous mix of weather radar detail and timeliness. 

Australia Radar

The Australian Radar weather overlay displays a composite of precipitation throughout Australia.

Canada Radar

The Canada Radar displays a composite image of precipitation across the majority of Canada. A precipitation mask is applied to the display, allowing you to distinguish between areas of rain, freezing mix, and snow, and gauge the intensity of each

Global Radar (Satellite Derived)

The Global Radar weather overlay utilises global satellite data and processing that simulates radar reflectivity from the satellite data. The Global Radar provides imagery for areas not covered by traditional land-based radar, making it particularly useful in identifying storms developing offshore, such as cyclones and hurricanes.

Global Infrared Satellite

The Global Infrared Satellite covers the entire globe and is updated hourly. It shows clouds by their temperature, warmer temperatures appear in darker shades and colder temperatures appear in lighter shades.

Global Lightning Heat Map

The lightning heat map provides the density of lightning in an area, with cooler colours (blue, cyan, green) indicating less lightning, and warmer colours (yellow, orange, red) indicating areas with more lightning. This map provides a quick visual for severe weather tracking and determining the potential risk to flying.

Global Winds Aloft (1'000ft, 5'000ft & 10'000ft)

The Global Winds Aloft weather overlay displays a forecast of wind direction and speed at various altitudes above the surface.

AIRMETs and SIGMETs

The AIRMETs and SIGMETs weather overlay describes actual or forecasted areas of inclement weather along an air route that may affect aircraft safety, with SIGMETs focusing on the most severe conditions. AIRMETs are provided for the domestic US, while SIGMETs are global. They are issued by various meteorology agencies around the globe.

Hazard Types

• CONVECTIVE: Convective
• DS: Dust Storm
• ICE: Ice
• IFR: Instrument Flight Rules
• MTN OBSCN: Mountain Obscuration
• MTW: Mountain Wave
• RDOACT CLD: Radioactive Cloud
• SS: Sand Storm
• TC: Tropical Cyclone
• TS: Thunderstorm
• TSGR: Thunderstorm with hail
• TURB: Turbulence
• UNKNOWN: Unknown
• VA: Volcanic Ash

METARs

Generated at airports globally, METAR data provides current conditions, including temperature, dew point, wind direction and speed, precipitation, cloud cover and heights, visibility, and barometric pressure. METAR reports are highly standardised and predominately used by meteorologists to generate forecasts and aviation officials for pilot weather briefings. 

METARs are shown on the map as orange dots and you can view the report for that location by clicking on a dot.

NOTAMs

A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) alerts aircraft pilots and aviation officials to abnormal weather conditions and potential hazards along a flight route. NOTAMS are filed with aviation authorities worldwide. 

NOTAMs are shown on the map as red dots when you apply this layer and you can view the report for that location by clicking on a dot.

TAFs

Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs) show a 24-hour forecast containing aviation-specific information such as wind, visibility and cloud cover for specific airports. 

TAFs are shown on the map as purple dots when you apply this layer and you can view the report for an airport by clicking on the associated dot.