Airport Analytics Platform - Deployment Guide

A Snowflake-native solution for batch aviation analytics using ADS-B flight tracking, flight schedules, and airport infrastructure data. Deploy per-airport analytics solutions with automated pipelines and interactive dashboards.

📖 What Does This Application Do?

The Airport Analytics Platform is a comprehensive aviation operations intelligence solution built entirely on Snowflake. It provides:

Core Capabilities

• Airport Infrastructure Visualization: Renders interactive maps showing runways, taxiways, gates, terminals, and real-time aircraft positions
• Historical Data Analysis: Downloads and processes historical flight tracking data for trend analysis and reporting
• Gate Operations Analytics:
  • Calculates aircraft proximity to gates
  • Tracks gate occupancy and dwell times
  • Identifies gate assignment patterns
• Runway Safety Monitoring: Detects aircraft crossing active runways during taxi operations
• Multi-Airport Deployments: Supports deploying separate analytics instances for different airports

How It Works

1. Data Ingestion: Automated daily tasks pull ADS-B data from external APIs and process flight schedules
2. Data Processing: Snowflake procedures and dynamic tables transform raw data into analytics-ready datasets
3. Analytics Engine: Calculates proximity, crossings, dwell times, and other operational metrics
4. Visualization: Interactive Streamlit dashboards provide real-time insights and historical reporting

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📋 Prerequisites

Snowflake Account Requirements

1. Role: ACCOUNTADMIN or equivalent with permissions to:

   • CREATE DATABASE, SCHEMA
   • CREATE EXTERNAL ACCESS INTEGRATION
   • CREATE SECRET
   • CREATE PROCEDURE (with Python handler)
   • CREATE TASK, DYNAMIC TABLE
   • CREATE STREAMLIT

2. Warehouse:

   • X-Small warehouse (recommended) or larger

3. Snowflake Marketplace Listings (free):

   • Overture Maps - Base

API Keys

1. Aviationstack API Key (Optional) (required for flight schedules)
   • Sign up at aviationstack.com
   • Paid tier recommended for production

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🚀 Deployment via GitHub Integration

Step 1: Create a Database for Installer

Execute these queries in a Snowflake worksheet (replace placeholders):

CREATE OR REPLACE DATABASE AVIA_INSTALLER;
USE ROLE ACCOUNTADMIN;
USE DATABASE AVIA_INSTALLER;
USE SCHEMA PUBLIC;

Step 2: Create API Integration for GitHub (if not exists)

CREATE OR REPLACE API INTEGRATION github_api_integration
  API_PROVIDER = git_https_api
  API_ALLOWED_PREFIXES = ('https://github.com/Snowflake-Labs/')
  ENABLED = TRUE;

Step 3: Create Git Repository Object (NO credentials needed for public repos)

CREATE OR REPLACE GIT REPOSITORY AVIA_INSTALLER.PUBLIC.AVIA_OPS_REPO
  API_INTEGRATION = github_api_integration
  ORIGIN = 'https://github.com/Snowflake-Labs/sfguide-aviation-ops-intelligence/';
-- Fetch latest files from repository
  ALTER GIT REPOSITORY avia_ops_repo FETCH;

Step 4: Create Installer Streamlit App from Git

CREATE OR REPLACE STREAMLIT AVIA_INSTALLER.PUBLIC.AIRPORT_ANALYTICS_INSTALLER
  ROOT_LOCATION = '@avia_ops_repo/branches/main/installer'
  MAIN_FILE = 'installer_daily.py'
  QUERY_WAREHOUSE = MY_WH  -- Replace with your warehouse
  TITLE = 'Airport Analytics Installer'
  COMMENT = 'Installer for Airport Analytics Platform - generates and deploys airport infrastructure';

-- Grant usage if needed (for non-ACCOUNTADMIN users)
GRANT USAGE ON STREAMLIT AVIA_INSTALLER.PUBLIC.AIRPORT_ANALYTICS_INSTALLER TO ROLE <your_role>;

Step 5: Create Dashboard Streamlit App

CREATE OR REPLACE STREAMLIT AVIA_INSTALLER.PUBLIC.AIRPORT_ANALYTICS_DASHBOARD
  ROOT_LOCATION = '@avia_ops_repo/branches/main/dashboard'
  MAIN_FILE = 'streamlit_app.py'
  QUERY_WAREHOUSE = MY_WH  -- Replace with your warehouse
  TITLE = 'Airport Analytics Dashboard'
  COMMENT = 'Dashboard for Airport Analytics Platform';

-- Grant usage if needed (for non-ACCOUNTADMIN users)
GRANT USAGE ON STREAMLIT AVIA_INSTALLER.PUBLIC.AIRPORT_ANALYTICS_DASHBOARD TO ROLE <your_role>;

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🎯 What to Do After Deployment

Once you've completed the GitHub Integration steps above, follow these steps to configure and launch your airport analytics:

Step 1: Access the Installer App

1. Navigate to Streamlit in your Snowflake UI (left sidebar)
2. Find and open Airport Analytics Installer
3. In the app:

• Select the airport for which you want to install the solution
• Optionally specify the Aviationstack API Key
• Specify how many days in the past you want to backfill (for demo we recommend 5-7days)
• Click "Execute in Snowflake"

Step 2: Monitor Deployment

The installer will show real-time progress:

• Infrastructure download and processing
• Database and schema creation
• External access integration setup
• Task and procedure creation
• Historical data backfill (if enabled)

Deployment typically takes 15-60 minutes depending on:

• Airport size and complexity
• Whether historical backfill is enabled
• Network speed for data downloads

Step 4: Launch the Dashboard

Once deployment is complete:

1. Navigate to Streamlit in Snowflake
2. Open Airport Analytics Dashboard in AVIA_INSTALLER.PUBLIC
3. Select your airport from the airport selector from the dropdown (e.g., San Diego International Airport (SAN))
4. Explore the dashboard pages:

• Flight Tracker: Historical flight positions on interactive map
• Ground Activity: Aircraft movements, taxi patterns, and ground operations
• Runway Crossings: Safety analysis of aircraft crossing active runways
• Traffic Analysis: Flight volume trends, peak times, and traffic patterns
• Gate Analysis: Gate utilization, occupancy rates, and dwell time analytics
• Monitoring: System health, data freshness, and pipeline status
• Performance: Query performance and optimization metrics

Initial Data

After deployment, data will begin populating:

• Infrastructure Data: Available immediately after deployment
• Historical Data: Available within 1 hours if backfill was enabled

Note: The dashboard will show limited data until the first task executions complete. Check the Monitoring page to track data pipeline status.

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📚 Additional Resources

• Streamlit in Snowflake Documentation: Official Streamlit in Snowflake docs
• Aviationstack API Docs: Flight schedule API reference
• ADSB.lol API: ADS-B data source
• Overture Maps: Open-source geospatial data

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