Research Article

The Flying Laboratory for the Observation of ADS-B Signals

Table 1

Summary of the FLOAT-2 mission data. Several long-range detections were made early in the flight (299 km to 528 km) with the transmitting aircraft between 0.25 and 0.63° above the horizon. Given the potential for signals passing this close to the horizon to be obstructed or refracted, it is possible that these signals did not propagate by line of sight.

ParameterTotal missionAbove 60,000 feet

Duration145 Minutes48 Minutes
Balloon drift distance90.4 km7.1 km
ADS-B messages2,076954
Distinct aircraft detected4118
Aircraft types119
Source power75 W to 500 W75 W to 500 W
Maximum vertical range85,000 ft85,000 ft
Maximum horizontal range528 km240 km
Reliable detection range200 km200 km