Get NOTAM Data
NOTAM messages are distributed through the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN). One typically needs a special terminal to connect to AFTN to receive messages. The United States are providing access to an internet bridge for NOTAMS through their Defense Internet NOTAM Service (DINS).
iSTARS connects to DINS, retrieves NOTAMs, decodes them and furter distributes them through its ICAO API Data Service.
Available APIs
The following APIs were developed in relation to NOTAMS
| API | Description |
|---|---|
| Stored NOTAMS | NOTAMS by State and location searchable Q-code and keywords. NOTAMS are not realtime but are drawn from the FAA Defense Internet NOTAM Service every 3 hours only |
| Realtime NOTAMS | NOTAMS by location. NOTAMS are drawn in realtime from the FAA Defense Internet NOTAM Service. A list of locations must be provided. |
| NOTAM Criticality | Provide a NOTAM text and get the criticality as defined by NORM, the ICAO artifical intelligence for NOTAMS |
| NOTAM Decoder | Provide a NOTAM text and get the decoding as per ICAO Doc-8400. The decoding uses a Q-code determined by NORM, the ICAO artifical intelligence for NOTAMS |
NOTAM Data format
The NOTAM is received from DINS as a single text string and is decoded into the following fields:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| StateCode | string | ISO 3-Letter code of the State |
| StateName | string | Name of the State |
| id | string | ID of the NOTAM |
| entity | string | First 2 letters of the Q-code, if available |
| status | string | Last 2 letters of the Q-code, if available |
| Qcode | string | Q-code of the NOTAM, if available |
| Area | string | Decoded category first 2 letters of the Q-code |
| SubArea | string | Decoded area of first 2 letters of the Q-code |
| Condition | string | Decoded sub-area of first 2 letters of the Q-code |
| Subject | string | Decoded area of last 2 letters of the Q-code |
| Modifier | string | Decoded sub-area of last 2 letters of the Q-code |
| message | string | Message part of the NOTAM, if available |
| startdate | string | Start datatime of the NOTAM |
| enddate | string | End datatime of the NOTAM, 100 years after startdate for permanent (PERM) notams |
| all | string | Full NOTAM |
| location | string | ICAO code of the location the NOTAM applies to |
| isICAO | string | If the NOTAM is compliant with Doc ABC. If false, no Q-code decoding is available |
| Created | string | Dattime the NOTAM was created |
| key | string | Concatenation of ID and Location to form unique id for all NOTAMS |
| type | string | Location type, either airspace or airport |
| criticality | number | Criticality of the NOTAM as assessed by our artificial intelligence NORM (scale 0:garbage to 4:critical) |
Here a JSON and CSV sample of such a message once decoded.
Calling the APIs
The APIs are simple URLs, e.g. web addresses which can be opened with any Internet browser.
To access our APIs, you need to request an API key. Up to 100 free calls can be made, after which booster packs must be installed to perform additional calls.
Additional information is provided through the ICAO API Data Service.