Airport runway orientation reveals wind patterns

Airport runways orient certain directions that correlate with wind direction in the area. It helps planes land and take off more easily. So, when you map runways around the world, you also get wind patterns, which is what Figures did:

Winds circulate around the globe, forming patterns of gigantic proportions. These patterns become part of human culture and are reflected in our architecture. They are hidden designs, mapping the complexion of the earth, which we can uncover. By orienting on the direction of general winds, airports recreate wind patterns, forming a representation of a global wind map with steel and stone, thus making the invisible visible.

Tags: , ,

Air transportation network

Transportation clusters

Flight pattern maps are fun to look at and reveal the complexity of air transportation on a daily basis. But, there are other angles to look at this data from. Martin Grandjean used a force-directed graph to focus less on geography and more on volume and connections. Color represents continent, circles represent airports, and circle size represents number of routes.

Major observations: India is more connected to the Middle East than to South and East Asia. The Russian cluster is very visible, connecting airports in Russia but also in many former Soviet republics. Latin america is clearly divided between a South cluster and a Central American cluster very connected with the U.S.

Be sure to catch the animation version.

Tags: ,

Where the checked luggage goes

Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam put a camera on a piece of checked luggage and recorded the winding path of conveyer belts and luggage lifts. It's like a scene straight out of a cartoon.

Be sure to check out the 360 version too. It's the same route as above but you can click and drag to see all around as the luggage moves through. [via Laughing Squid]

Tags: , ,