Finnish AIP

Library for downloading and parsing Finnish Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP). Machine readable AIXM format exists but access is only given to authorized companies in aviation industry. This library parses freely available PDF files into JSON.

AIP is a publication containing information essential to air navigation. The structure and contents of AIPs are standardized by international agreement through ICAO. AIPs normally have three parts – GEN (general), ENR (en route) and AD (aerodromes). Finnish AIP follows EUROCONTROL electronic AIP specification.

This library can periodically poll for latest AIP images released according to AIRAC (Aeronautical Information Regulation And Control) cycles every 28 or 56 days.

Currently supported data sets include

• Aerodrome ATS airspace (AD 2.17)
• Runway physical characteristics (AD 2.12)
• Prohibited areas (ENR 5.1)
• TMA (ENR 2.1.4)

Installation

Node 6.x is required.

You must have the 7z executable available in your PATH or in the same directory of your package.json file. Check node-7z for more detailed instructions.

npm install finnish-aip

Usage

const eaip = require('finnish-aip')

// sync now if needed and print results
eaip.init()
    .then(json => console.log(json))
    .catch(err => console.error(err))

Start node with debugging to see the output.

DEBUG=finnish-aip node -e "require('.').init().then(json => console.log(json)).catch(err => console.error(err))"

API Documentation

init([dir='./data'], [poll=0], [force=false]) => promise

Initializes the library and starts a sync if needed. Sync results are cached for later use.

• dir: output directory for extracted AIP images, will be created if missing
• poll: sync every n-days for updates (0 is off)
• force: if true starts from scratch

Returns a promise for the results similar to current().

current() => promise

Gets the parsed AIP image in JSON presentation. All geographical features are in GeoJSON format.

eaip.current()
    .then(data => console.log(JSON.stringify(data, null, 2)))
    .catch(console.error)

Example output:

{
  "aerodromes": [
    {
      "identifier": "EFHF",
      "airspaces": [
        {
          "type": "Feature",
          "properties": {
            "designation": "EFHF CTR",
            "upperVerticalLimit": "700 FT MSL",
            "lowerVerticalLimit": "SFC",
            "airspaceClass": "D",
            "callSigns": [ "MALMIN TORNI", "MALMI TOWER" ],
            "languages": [ "FI", "EN" ],
            "hoursOfApplicability": "HO",
            "rmk": [ "RMZ H24", "TMZ H24" ]
          },
          "geometry": { "type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [...] }
        }
      ],
      "runways": [
        {
          "rwy": "09",
          "bearingDegrees": "096.21",
          "dimensionsInMeters": "1024 x 30",
          "surface": [ "18/F/C/X/T", "ASPH" ],
          "threshold": {
            "type": "Feature",
            "properties": {
              "elevation": "47.6",
              "displaced": false
            },
            "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [...] }
          },
          "runwayEnd": {
            "type": "Feature",
            "properties": {
              "elevation": "47.6"
            },
            "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [...] }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "tma": {
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "features": [
      {
        "type": "Feature",
        "properties": {
          "designation": "EFHK TMA LOWER",
          "upperVerticalLimit": "2500 FT MSL",
          "lowerVerticalLimit": "1300 FT MSL",
          "airspaceClass": "C",
          "callSigns": [ "HELSINGIN TUTKA", "HELSINKI RADAR" ],
          "languages": [ "EN", "FI" ],
          "frequency": [ "119.100", "129.850" ],
          "hoursOfApplicability": "H24",
          "rmk": [ "TMZ H24" ]
        },
        "geometry": { "type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [...]}
      }
    ]
  },
  "prohibitedAreas": {
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "features": [
      {
        "type": "Feature",
        "properties": {
          "designation": "EFP20 LOVIISA",
          "upperVerticalLimit": "FL 65",
          "lowerVerticalLimit": "SFC",
          "activityType": "NUCLEAR",
          "hoursOfApplicability": "H24",
          "rmk": []
        },
        "geometry": { "type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [...] }
      }
    ]
  },
  "validFrom": "2016-06-23T00:00:00.000Z",
  "validUntil": "2016-09-15T00:00:00.000Z",
  "cycle": "2016-06-23"
}

status() => promise

Gets the status of the current AIP cycle with references to original files for further processing.

eaip.status()
    .then(status => {
        console.log(status)
        return status.files('aero*/*EFH*')
    })
    .then(console.log)
    .catch(console.error)

Example output:

{ 
    cycle: '2016-06-23',
    validFrom: '2016-06-23T00:00:00.000Z',
    validUntil: '2016-09-15T00:00:00.000Z',
    files: [Function]
}

[ './data/2016-06-23/aerodromes/EF_AD_2_EFHA_EN.pdf',
  './data/2016-06-23/aerodromes/EF_AD_2_EFHF_EN.pdf',
  './data/2016-06-23/aerodromes/EF_AD_2_EFHK_EN.pdf'
  ...
 ]

Files can be parsed using helpers available at lib/parser.js.

Debugging

Run your app with DEBUG=finnish-aip environment variable.