Methodology and Data Sources

What "live" means on PocketWorld

PocketWorld uses "live" for the newest observation or catalog record currently available from a named public source. It does not mean that every layer updates every second. Aircraft reports can arrive within seconds, maritime positions can be minutes or hours old, weather fields follow model cycles, and reference datasets may update monthly or less often. The interface therefore treats a timestamp as part of the data, not as decoration.

When a provider is unavailable, PocketWorld may serve a recent bounded cache so the product remains usable. A cached response keeps its original observation time and freshness label. The system does not advance the timestamp to make old data look new. If no defensible record exists, the field stays unknown or the list stays empty.

Collection and normalization

Sources use different names, coordinate conventions, units and identifiers. PocketWorld validates latitude and longitude, converts common measurement units, removes malformed records, and maps source-specific fields into a shared display model. Records remain associated with their provider so a visitor can distinguish an observation from PocketWorld's presentation of it.

Deduplication is conservative. Earthquake reports, for example, can describe the same physical event with slightly different origin times, coordinates and magnitudes. The system compares time and distance windows and keeps source attribution rather than assuming identical titles. For aircraft and vessels, stable identifiers are preferred; callsigns and vessel names alone are not reliable unique keys.

Flights and routes

Aircraft positions come from public ADS-B and related aviation feeds, including OpenSky Network and ADSB.lol when available. A current record can contain a callsign, coordinates, barometric or geometric altitude, ground speed, vertical rate, track and freshness. Coverage depends on receiver networks, provider limits, blocked aircraft and transponder behavior, so the visible set is never described as every aircraft in the sky.

Route metadata is a separate signal from the position report. PocketWorld can show a confirmed origin and destination when reliable metadata is available, or a clearly marked inference when the evidence meets the route policy. It does not draw a route merely because two airport codes appear plausible. Callsigns can be reused, schedules can change, and a ticketed flight number may differ from the operational identifier.

Ships and AIS freshness

Maritime views use available AIS provider data. AIS messages can include MMSI, coordinates, speed over ground, course, heading, navigation status and a crew-entered destination. Coastal coverage is usually denser than open-ocean coverage; satellite relays and provider plans create additional variation. Position history joins received reports and does not invent a track through a coverage gap.

Some fields are manually entered aboard the vessel and may be stale, abbreviated or misspelled. A marker with zero speed is not proof of anchorage, and a destination string is not an official arrival commitment. Sanctions and dark-vessel overlays are contextual research layers, not legal determinations.

Satellites and orbital propagation

The space catalog is based primarily on current two-line element sets from CelesTrak and related public catalogs. PocketWorld propagates those elements to estimate an object's current position. That result is a mathematical estimate from the epoch of the elements, not a direct live measurement from the satellite. Accuracy degrades as elements age and varies by orbit and object.

Launch, spaceport and observatory records use separate reference sources and update schedules. Catalog entries can be renamed, renumbered or removed. The interface exposes catalog age and source status so users can tell the difference between a recently propagated orbit and a static facility record.

Disasters, weather and related news

Earthquake data uses agency feeds such as USGS and EMSC. Storm, tsunami, fire, volcano, flood and other hazard layers draw from relevant NASA, NOAA, GDACS, ReliefWeb and public-agency records where available. Preliminary events can be revised or withdrawn. PocketWorld keeps the source and issue time visible and does not turn a global visualization into local safety advice.

Related news is matched by event type, geography and time window. A generic flood article from another continent is not considered relevant merely because it contains the word "flood". When no sufficiently close result exists, the detail view says that no matching coverage was found. Headlines remain linked to the original publisher; PocketWorld does not republish full articles.

Weather and air-quality fields can come from different observations and forecast models. Values near mountains, coasts and sparse sensor networks can diverge from local conditions. National warning services and responsible emergency authorities take precedence over this site.

Radio and television directories

Radio and TV pages organize public metadata and stream endpoints from open directories such as Radio Browser and iptv-org. PocketWorld fetches playback on demand from the listed endpoint through a bounded same-origin proxy and does not originate or archive station programs. The endpoint can be unavailable, geo-restricted, tokenized or incompatible with a browser. A health check is evidence from a particular time, not a permanent guarantee.

Station names, logos, channel descriptions and program rights belong to their respective owners. Filters describe directory metadata. Reports of broken or wrongly categorized entries are reviewed against the source record before the local catalog is changed.

Geography and imagery

Country boundaries and geographic reference layers use public datasets such as Natural Earth. Satellite imagery views can use NASA GIBS and contextual basemaps. Administrative boundaries are cartographic references and may not represent every political position. Imagery dates and resolution vary by layer; a visually sharp reference mosaic is not necessarily the newest observation.

Primary source directory

• OpenSky Network and ADSB.lol for public aircraft observations.
• Available AIS providers for maritime positions, with provider and freshness retained on vessel records.
• CelesTrak for orbital element catalogs.
• USGS and EMSC for earthquake information.
• NASA EONET, NASA GIBS, NOAA and GDACS for environmental and hazard layers.
• Open-Meteo and other disclosed providers for weather and air-quality fields.
• Radio Browser and iptv-org for public media-directory metadata.
• Natural Earth and disclosed reference datasets for boundaries and geographic context.

Corrections, review and safe use

Automated validation catches malformed coordinates, impossible units, stale caches and duplicate identifiers, but it cannot resolve every source error. Send corrections with the Feedback button in the application footer. Include the exact URL, source label, observed timestamp and a description of the expected result.

PocketWorld is an exploratory and educational service. Do not use it as the sole source for navigation, emergency response, air-traffic control, maritime collision avoidance, security screening, medical guidance or financial trading. The responsible authority and original provider remain the definitive sources for operational decisions.