How To Track Aircraft with Confluent and Splunk

This demo showcases an IoT-based use case using real-time flight data collected from antennas across the UK. The data, transmitted via ADS-B, is ingested into Confluent Cloud using a Python-based Kafka producer. Within Confluent Cloud, ksqlDB processes and enriches the data before streaming it to Splunk Cloud via Kafka Connect. In Splunk, a live dashboard visualises flight activity, displaying aircraft positions, speeds, altitudes, and trends such as ascending and descending counts.

The demo also highlights key challenges in handling ADS-B data, such as incomplete fields, and demonstrates how ksqlDB maintains the largest values for each aircraft. Additionally, a lookup table enriches the data by mapping airline call signs to their respective names and countries. The process ensures structured, real-time insights, enhancing visibility into live air traffic. The video concludes by showcasing Splunk's dashboard capabilities and the seamless integration between Confluent Cloud and Splunk.