Map Overlays

Map Overlays

ArduDeck's telemetry and mission planning maps support several overlay layers that can be toggled independently. All overlay data is cached to minimize API calls and support offline use.

Weather Radar

Real-time weather radar from RainViewer. No API key required.

• Toggle with the Weather button in the map layer selector
• Automatically adapts color scheme to base map: blue tones on dark/satellite layers, NEXRAD green/yellow/red on light layers
• Updates every 5 minutes
• Tiles cached to disk through the tile-cache protocol

Airspace Zones

Colored polygons showing restricted airspace areas. Requires an OpenAIP API key (free).

• Toggle with the Zones button
• Color-coded by type:
  • Blue - CTR (Control Zone)
  • Red - Restricted / Prohibited
  • Orange - Danger
  • Purple - TMA (Terminal Maneuvering Area)
• Non-interactive (won't block waypoint clicks during mission planning)
• Legend shown in bottom-left corner when active
• Data fetched from OpenAIP GeoJSON API with 30s throttle and position-based refresh

Aviation Charts (OpenAIP Tiles)

Pre-rendered aviation chart tiles from OpenAIP. Shows airports, navaids, reporting points, and airspace boundaries with proper aviation symbology. Requires an OpenAIP API key (free).

• Toggle with the Aviation button
• Zoom-adaptive detail (labels and symbols appear at appropriate zoom levels)
• Tiles cached to disk

DIPUL UAS Geozones (Germany)

Official German UAS restriction layers from the Digitale Plattform Unbemannte Luftfahrt (DIPUL). No API key required.

• Toggle with the DIPUL button in the map layer selector
• The button only appears when your map viewport is inside Germany - it stays out of the way for flights anywhere else
• Auto-enables the first time you pan into Germany; your on/off choice is then remembered across sessions
• Layers rendered:
  • Control zones (CTR)
  • Flight restriction areas
  • Nature reserves and protected zones
  • Hospitals and emergency landing pads
  • Police and military properties
  • Federal roads
  • Industrial sites
• Source attribution to DFS (Deutsche Flugsicherung) and BKG (Bundesamt fuer Kartographie und Geodaesie) is built into the layer legend
• Works on both the telemetry map and mission planner map
• GeoJSON tiles cached locally for offline use after first load

Terrain Elevation (Height)

Color-coded terrain elevation overlay using Mapzen Terrarium DEM tiles.

• Toggle with the Height button
• Auto-range mode - Colors automatically scale to the visible elevation range
• Fixed range mode - Set custom min/max elevation for consistent coloring
• Relative mode - Show elevation relative to the vehicle's current altitude (useful during flight)
• AMSL / Relative toggle - Switch between absolute and relative elevation display
• Water areas rendered as transparent

Wind (Forecast)

An animated forecast wind overlay drawn as flowing particles, so you can read wind speed and direction across the whole map at a glance. Forecast data comes from Open-Meteo and needs no API key.

• Toggle with the Wind overlay button.
• Altitude pills - sample the wind at 10, 80, 120, or 180 m above ground.
• Forecast scrubber - step through the forecast hours, with a play button that auto-advances the timeline.
• Speed legend - a compact color legend; click the unit to cycle between m/s, knots, mph, and km/h.

Wind rose

Click any point on the map to drop a wind rose there. Each petal is a compass sector: petal length is how often the wind blows from that direction across the forecast window, and petal color is the mean speed in that sector. A white needle marks the currently scrubbed hour's direction, and a readout pill gives the exact speed and bearing. It is a quick way to judge prevailing wind and a crosswind before committing a survey line or a corridor.

The wind overlay and wind rose are available on the telemetry map, the mission planning map, and inside the Area Editor.

Live Air Traffic

Three traffic layers put other aircraft on the telemetry and mission maps, each with its own toggle:

• Traffic - ADS-B aircraft. Sources: a local receiver's aircraft.json (dump1090 / readsb / tar1090), a hosted ADS-B Exchange feed (API key), or the OpenSky network.
• Gliders - gliders and light aircraft from the OGN (Open Glider Network) APRS feed.
• Remote ID - Remote ID broadcasts from other drones (FAA RID / ASTM F3411 / EU Direct Remote ID) via a Remote ID receiver.

Contacts render with heading and altitude tags, and an altitude filter hides traffic far above you. Proximity rings draw around contacts closing on your position, and a zone alert banner warns when something enters your alert radius. Pick and configure the sources in Settings > Map Overlays.

The traffic layers are also available inside the Area Editor.

Setting Up API Keys

Airspace Zones and Aviation Charts require a free OpenAIP API key:

1. Go to openaip.net and create a free account
2. Navigate to your account settings to find your API key
3. In ArduDeck, go to Settings > Map Overlays and paste your key
4. Alternatively, the API key dialog appears automatically when you first enable an OpenAIP overlay