OSINT of aircraft, steamships and trains

28 April 2023 4 minutes Author: Cyber Witcher

Satellite monitoring of transport

The future, boldly described by the fiction writers of the 20th century, has arrived. The ability to track the location of an object anywhere on the globe is a reality today. Satellite monitoring is actively implemented in transport, logistics, security and many other fields of activity. What is this technology of the future – satellite monitoring? Let’s figure it all out. Therefore, satellite navigation makes it possible to track the coordinates, direction and speed of movement of various objects on land, in water and in the air. This is done using radio signals emitted by satellites. In addition to satellites in Earth’s orbit, the navigation system includes two more segments — terrestrial and user. Each of them is a complex set of equipment. The principle of operation of satellite monitoring systems is based on the measurement of the time during which the radio signal reaches the receiver. Each satellite has a high-precision clock on board.

Information about the time of radiation is contained in the signal. This implies that the speed of wave propagation is a known quantity. Different satellite navigation technologies use different coordinate and time systems. The accuracy of measurements is affected by equipment errors, changes in the propagation time of radio signals in the atmosphere and in space, and other factors. But despite this, modern satellite tracking systems are able to determine coordinates with an accuracy of up to 2 m. If you decide to hitchhike, hitchhike or want to catch a passing cargo ship, then these services are for you. If you urgently needed to track Elon Musk’s plane or just listen to the negotiations of the controllers, you will also find a lot of useful information.

Water transport

MarineTraffic

A community-based project providing (near) real-time information on vessel movements and locations in harbors and ports.

VesselFinder

Real-time vessel tracking and tracing. Current data for each vessel.

Shipspotting

A community of ship photography enthusiasts. Photos of ships and their parts are always posted here. A total of 2,923,863 photos.

Aircraft

ADS-B Exchange Radar View

Real-time flight tracking (including many military aircraft).

ADS-B Historical Flight Viewer

Flight history of a specific aircraft for the past two years. Search by ICAO number.

FlightAware

Flight tracking on our real-time map tells you which planes are in the sky near you, anywhere in the world.

Flightradar24

Tracking (civilian) flights. You can get a 12-month archive for a fee.

Live ATC

Audio from control towers in the USA. Planes have to identify themselves to air traffic control, so in cases where planes are trying to hide their information from other sites, this could be another way to get boarding numbers or just track flights.

OpenSky-Network

Community, an open source flight tracking network. Audio recordings of ATC talks are also kept.

Federal Aviation Administration

National Register of Aircraft. Search by N-number (aka call sign). Complete list of private jets in the US.

Aviation Safety Network

Aviation accident data base; you can search by country, registration, year, etc.

Trains

OpenRailwayMap

A detailed online map of the world’s railway infrastructure, built on OpenStreetMap data.

Transit Visualisation

Visualization of (public) transit routes in real time in 700+ cities.

WikiRoutes

Wikiroutes is a transportation database that can be edited by people just like you. Contribute to the project by adding a bus, tram or train line.

Auto

License Plate Map (Americas)

Map of North and South America with images of license plates.

License Plate Mania

A collection of car license plates from around the world.

License Plate Map (Europe)

Map of Europe with images of license plates.

License Plate Map (Asia & Middle East)

Map of Asia and the Middle East with images of license plates.

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