US Sectorfiles Repository

Overview

FAQ

Q: How often are sectorfiles updated?
A: All sectorfiles are updated at least every AIRAC cycle, typically more frequently.

Q: Can anyone contribute?
A: Yes! Our data comes from the wonderful OpenStreetMap project. Follow our tutorials to get started.

Q: What do I do if I find a problem?
A: File an issue!

Getting Started

All ground-based data comes from OpenStreetMap. You can edit the data here. For a more in-depth explnation, watch our YouTube tutorial.

Structure

Each ARTCC has a single "sectorfile" which is stored in the repository. These sectorfiles are named after the ARTCC with the extension .isc (e.g. KZLA.isc for ZLA). The majority of data is stored in the US folder (inside Include) and is split into a number of folders, detailed below.

GEOs

GEOs are the taxiway and gate centerlines for each airport, as well as the coastline information which is shared between all sectors. Each airport has a file ending in .geo (e.g. KLAX.geo) containing the centerlines, and a shared file named coast.geo contains all the coastlines.

Labels

Labels are the little bits of text that are shown over the taxiways, gates, terminals, and aprons. These are split into two files for each airport: a .txi file containing the taxiway labels, and a .gts file containing all other labels.

MVAs

MVAs or MRVAs are a set of altitudes which the FAA has determined are safe for IFR aircraft to be vectored at. In many cases, they represent the lowest altitude you can instruct an aircraft to fly.

Navaids

Navaids are aids to navigation. In Aurora, we use the term to refer specifically to VORs and NDBs.

Polygons

Polygons are the shapes that make up the airport layouts. They are the taxiways, runways, aprons, terminals, and anything else that appears "filled-in" in Aurora.

Procedures

Procedures are SIDs, STARs, and approaches. SIDs are stored in files ending .sid (e.g. KLAX.sid), while STARs and approaches are stored in files ending .str (e.g. KLAX.str).

ARTCCs

Each ARTCC has its own folder containing information specific to it.

Airports

The airports.ap file contains the ICAO code, elevation, location, and name of each airport displayed in the sectorfile.

Airways

The airways.high and airways.low contain the high and low (respectively) airways which pass through the ARTCC.

ARTCC

The artcc.artcc file contains the ARTCC boundaries displayed in Aurora. low.artcc contains the boundaries of the class B airports within the sector. Originally class C and D airports were included, but they were removed for performance reasons.

ATC

The atc.atc file contains the list of positions which you can connect to in the sector as well as their frequencies.

Fixes

The fixes.fix file contains the fixes used by the procedures, airways, and airspaces within the sector. vfr.fix contains the visual reporting points (points starting with VP, e.g. VPLQM) in the sector.

Runways

The runways.rw file contains the identifiers, elevations, courses, and endpoint positions of all runways in the sector.

More information

Learn more about reading sectorfiles: https://wiki.ivao.aero/en/home/devops/manuals/SectorFile_Definition