# Free/Open Source Capability Matrix

Generated: `2026-05-19T18:51:15+00:00`

This audit records free or account-free/research-access sources that can materially improve the UAP case files. It separates source availability from actual causal identification.

## ADSB.lol OpenAPI Snapshot

- OpenAPI URL: `https://api.adsb.lol/api/openapi.json`
- Title: `adsb.lol API`

| Method | Path | Summary | Parameters |
|---|---|---|---|
| GET | `/0/me` | Information about your receiver and global stats |  |
| GET | `/0/my` | My Map redirect based on IP |  |
| GET | `/api/0/airport/{icao}` | Airports by ICAO | icao |
| POST | `/api/0/routeset` | Api Routeset |  |
| GET | `/v2/callsign/{callsign}` | Aircrafts with specific callsign (JBU1942) | callsign |
| GET | `/v2/closest/{lat}/{lon}/{radius}` | Single aircraft closest to a point (lat, lon) | lat, lon, radius |
| GET | `/v2/hex/{icao_hex}` | Aircrafts with specific transponder hex code (4CA87C) | icao_hex |
| GET | `/v2/icao/{icao_hex}` | Aircrafts with specific transponder hex code (4CA87C) | icao_hex |
| GET | `/v2/ladd` | Aircrafts on LADD (Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed) |  |
| GET | `/v2/lat/{lat}/lon/{lon}/dist/{radius}` | Aircrafts surrounding a point (lat, lon) up to 250nm | lat, lon, radius |
| GET | `/v2/mil` | Military registered aircrafts |  |
| GET | `/v2/pia` | Aircrafts with PIA addresses (Privacy ICAO Address) |  |
| GET | `/v2/point/{lat}/{lon}/{radius}` | Aircrafts surrounding a point (lat, lon) up to 250nm | lat, lon, radius |
| GET | `/v2/reg/{registration}` | Aircrafts with specific registration (G-KELS) | registration |
| GET | `/v2/registration/{registration}` | Aircrafts with specific registration (G-KELS) | registration |
| GET | `/v2/sqk/{squawk}` | Aircrafts with specific squawk (1200, 7700, etc.) | squawk |
| GET | `/v2/squawk/{squawk}` | Aircrafts with specific squawk (1200, 7700, etc.) | squawk |
| GET | `/v2/type/{aircraft_type}` | Aircrafts of specific type (A320, B738) | aircraft_type |

## Source Matrix

| Source | Cost | Endpoints / Data | Research Use | Elevates | Current Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [ADSB.lol live API](https://api.adsb.lol/docs) | free; ODbL public data | `/v2/lat/{lat}/lon/{lon}/dist/{radius}`, `/v2/point/{lat}/{lon}/{radius}`, `/v2/closest/{lat}/{lon}/{radius}`, `/v2/icao/{icao_hex}`, `/v2/callsign/{callsign}`, `/v2/mil`, `/v2/ladd`, `/v2/pia` | Current/live aircraft around a point; useful for methodology tests and current incidents, not enough by itself for historical UAP files. | Adds aircraft candidates with position, altitude, track, speed, squawk/callsign where available. | Historical cases need ADSB.lol GitHub history releases rather than the live endpoint. |
| [ADSB.lol historical releases](https://www.adsb.lol/docs/open-data/historical/) | free; ODbL public data; very large downloads | `GitHub releases per day and readsb instance`, `one gzip JSON trace file per aircraft inside daily tar archives` | Historical ADS-B/MLAT trace reconstruction around report date and location. | Can produce aircraft trajectory maps and reject/identify aircraft explanations case-by-case. | Daily archives are gigabyte-scale; targeted extraction needs a staging/download strategy. |
| [OpenSky REST/Trino](https://openskynetwork.github.io/opensky-api/) | free/research tier with rate limits and account access | `/states/all`, `/flights/all`, `/flights/aircraft`, `/tracks/all`, `Trino historical tables` | Independent aircraft cross-check where historical access exists. | Second aviation source; useful when ADSB.lol coverage is thin. | REST history is limited; serious historical work needs Trino access. |
| [NASA POWER hourly](https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/hourly/) | free | `/api/temporal/hourly/point` | Hourly cloud amount, precipitation, wind, humidity, temperature, irradiance at the report coordinate. | Turns visibility/weather from a hand-wave into a table. | Previously only a few packet cases were processed. |
| [NASA/JPL Horizons](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/horizons.html) | free | `/api/horizons.api` | Observer azimuth/elevation/magnitude for Sun, Moon, planets, and selected small bodies. | Specific sky-geometry rejection layer. | Should be batched for all cases, but not used as the main object explanation unless the report fits. |
| [NASA/JPL CAD](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/cad.html) | free | `/cad.api` | Known near-Earth close-approach object screen. | Rules out bright known NEOs for the report minute/location. | Lower relevance than aircraft/satellite/balloon for most files. |
| [NASA DONKI](https://api.nasa.gov/) | free API key supported | `/DONKI/CME`, `/DONKI/GST`, `/DONKI/FLR`, `/DONKI/SEP`, `/DONKI/IPS`, `/DONKI/MPC`, `/DONKI/RBE`, `/DONKI/HSS`, `/DONKI/WSAEnlilSimulations` | Space-weather context, not object identification. | Electromagnetic/space-weather appendix for cases where sensors or ionospheric context matters. | Useful context, but should not distract from physical object matching. |
| [NASA GIBS / Worldview](https://nasa-gibs.github.io/gibs-api-docs/) | free | `WMTS`, `WMS`, `TWMS` | Historical imagery layers for clouds, smoke, fires, night imagery, aerosols. | Actual map imagery in the PDFs. | Not yet wired into report figures. |
| [NASA Earthdata CMR](https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/search/site/docs/search/api.html) | free metadata; some downloads require Earthdata login | `/search/collections`, `/search/granules` | Find exact Earth-observation granules by time/location. | Source-backed satellite imagery inventory per case. | Needs dataset selection by event geography/time. |
| [NOAA GOES on AWS](https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-goes/) | free public S3 | `s3://noaa-goes16`, `s3://noaa-goes18`, `ABI`, `GLM` | Cloud imagery, nighttime microphysics, lightning mapper around event time. | Weather/sky imagery and lightning context. | Requires product/band selection and map rendering. |
| [NOAA NEXRAD on AWS](https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-nexrad/) | free public S3 | `s3://noaa-nexrad-level2`, `s3://noaa-nexrad-level3` | Historical weather radar near the report location/time. | Weather radar plots; not ATC/primary radar. | Needs nearest radar station selection and plotting. |
| [NOAA IGRA radiosonde](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/weather-balloon/integrated-global-radiosonde-archive) | free | `station metadata`, `sounding profiles` | Nearest balloon sounding and wind-profile drift plausibility. | Real balloon-drift tests instead of vague balloon guesses. | Needs nearest station lookup and drift model. |
| [Iowa Environmental Mesonet ASOS/METAR](https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/request/download.phtml) | free | `ASOS download CSV service` | Nearest station surface weather, visibility, wind, precipitation, and METAR text around report time. | Replaces vague weather notes with actual station observations. | Surface airport observations do not prove high-altitude line-of-sight conditions. |
| [Space-Track](https://www.space-track.org/documentation#/api) | free account with terms/rate limits | `gp_history`, `gp`, `satcat`, `decay`, `launch_site` | Historical orbital reconstruction, object status, decay/reentry metadata. | Specific object causation rather than density-only satellite counts. | Need gp_history and decay/reentry wired into all packet cases. |
| [CelesTrak](https://celestrak.org/NORAD/documentation/sup-gp-queries.php) | free | `GP`, `SupGP`, `current element groups` | Open orbital element cross-check and launch-object supplemental GP. | Independent orbital source for public reproducibility. | Historical reconstruction still needs archived elements. |

## Packet Coverage Summary

- `naraPublicReport`: `100` / `100`
- `orbitalScreen`: `100` / `100`
- `spaceTrackSatcat`: `100` / `100`
- `nasaContext`: `54` / `100`
- `nasaNeoScreen`: `14` / `100`
- `adsbHistoricalReleasePattern`: `88` / `100`
- `adsbHistoricalReleaseListed`: `86` / `100`
- `adsbTracksDownloaded`: `0` / `100`
- `noaaGoesImagery`: `0` / `100`
- `goesManifest`: `100` / `100`
- `noaaNexradWeatherRadar`: `0` / `100`
- `igraRadiosonde`: `100` / `100`
- `environmentSourcePlan`: `100` / `100`
- `asosWeather`: `100` / `100`

## Per-Case Availability

| Rank | Case | Time | NASA ctx | NASA NEO | ADSB history pattern | ADSB tracks | GOES | NEXRAD | IGRA |
|---:|---|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| 1 | 237UAP00051 | 2021-05-20T19:49:00+00:00 | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 2 | 237UAP00279 | 2023-07-22T06:05:00+00:00 | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 3 | 237UAP00326 | 2023-12-03T03:15:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 4 | 237UAP00611 | 2024-02-18T10:20:00+00:00 | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 5 | 237UAP00618 | 2024-03-02T09:56:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 6 | 237UAP00361 | 2024-03-02T09:56:00+00:00 | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 7 | 237UAP00338 | 2024-01-16T03:55:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 8 | 237UAP00343 | 2024-01-21T13:18:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 9 | 237UAP00333 | 2023-12-27T10:30:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 10 | 237UAP00363 | 2024-03-16T01:57:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 11 | 237UAP00037 | 2019-02-10T07:55:00+00:00 | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 12 | 237UAP00347 | 2024-01-27T13:02:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 13 | 237UAP00350 | 2024-02-04T11:11:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 14 | 237UAP00356 | 2024-02-18T10:49:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 15 | 237UAP00364 | 2024-03-16T06:16:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 16 | 237UAP00371 | 2024-05-26T04:19:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 17 | 237UAP00377 | 2024-08-22T04:15:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 18 | 237UAP00584 | 2023-12-08T02:51:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 19 | 237UAP00614 | 2024-02-24T02:30:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 20 | 237UAP00615 | 2024-02-24T02:39:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 21 | 237UAP00086 | 2022-04-08T07:58:00+00:00 | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 22 | 237UAP00319 | 2023-11-22T00:42:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 23 | 237UAP00612 | 2024-02-19T10:50:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 24 | 237UAP00330 | 2023-12-23T03:46:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 25 | 237UAP00336 | 2024-01-02T01:43:00+00:00 | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 26 | 237UAP00358 | 2024-02-20T10:04:00+00:00 | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 27 | 237UAP00381 | 2024-10-03T01:40:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 28 | 237UAP00591 | 2023-12-27T10:35:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 29 | 237UAP00613 | 2024-02-20T09:27:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 30 | 237UAP00533 | 2023-08-04T07:04:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 31 | 237UAP00539 | 2023-08-16T06:46:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 32 | 237UAP00372 | 2024-06-03T18:52:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 33 | 237UAP00049 | 2021-04-26T05:45:00+00:00 | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 34 | 237UAP00129 | 2022-11-11T11:04:00+00:00 | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 35 | 237UAP00380 | 2024-10-01T05:21:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 36 | 237UAP00410 | 2022-08-14T07:22:00+00:00 | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 37 | 237UAP00318 | 2023-11-19T22:50:00+00:00 | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 38 | 237UAP00017 | 2012-08-19T04:08:00+00:00 | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 39 | 237UAP00074 | 2021-11-28T20:10:00+00:00 | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 40 | 237UAP00227 | 2023-02-24T16:10:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 41 | 237UAP00321 | 2023-11-24T00:12:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 42 | 237UAP00322 | 2023-11-24T16:15:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 43 | 237UAP00327 | 2023-12-03T03:15:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 44 | 237UAP00331 | 2023-12-23T04:36:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 45 | 237UAP00332 | 2023-12-23T11:35:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 46 | 237UAP00337 | 2024-01-13T20:26:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 47 | 237UAP00340 | 2024-01-20T02:35:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 48 | 237UAP00341 | 2024-01-20T02:50:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 49 | 237UAP00344 | 2024-01-25T04:47:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 50 | 237UAP00346 | 2024-01-27T03:20:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 51 | 237UAP00351 | 2024-02-04T20:53:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 52 | 237UAP00352 | 2024-02-05T00:02:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 53 | 237UAP00362 | 2024-03-03T10:00:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 54 | 237UAP00367 | 2024-04-08T03:47:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 55 | 237UAP00369 | 2024-05-16T20:31:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 56 | 237UAP00370 | 2024-05-18T06:50:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 57 | 237UAP00375 | 2024-07-14T22:46:00+00:00 | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 58 | 237UAP00382 | 2024-10-19T00:10:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 59 | 237UAP00590 | 2023-12-23T11:35:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 60 | 237UAP00628 | 2024-05-18T06:50:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 61 | 237UAP00316 | 2023-11-18T11:08:00+00:00 | yes | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 62 | 237UAP00328 | 2023-12-08T02:38:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 63 | 237UAP00329 | 2023-12-15T00:05:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 64 | 237UAP00359 | 2024-02-24T02:39:00+00:00 | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 65 | 237UAP00360 | 2024-02-24T02:43:00+00:00 | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 66 | 237UAP00378 | 2024-09-15T07:15:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 67 | 237UAP00384 | 2024-10-21T01:36:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 68 | 237UAP00385 | 2024-10-22T01:54:00+00:00 | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 69 | 237UAP00604 | 2024-01-27T13:02:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 70 | 237UAP00607 | 2024-02-04T11:11:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 71 | 237UAP00287 | 2023-08-12T05:55:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 72 | 237UAP00320 | 2023-11-22T03:43:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 73 | 237UAP00334 | 2023-12-28T02:34:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 74 | 237UAP00353 | 2024-02-14T09:30:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 75 | 237UAP00386 | 2024-10-26T02:05:00+00:00 | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 76 | 237UAP00483 | 2023-02-22T10:40:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 77 | 237UAP00609 | 2024-02-14T09:30:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 78 | 237UAP00012 | 2010-11-17T05:04:00+00:00 | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 79 | 237UAP00033 | 2018-06-05T11:32:00+00:00 | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 80 | 237UAP00293 | 2023-08-27T02:40:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 81 | 237UAP00314 | 2023-11-09T02:55:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 82 | 237UAP00485 | 2023-02-28T00:55:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 83 | 237UAP00629 | 2024-05-26T12:26:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 84 | 237UAP00276 | 2023-07-21T04:53:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 85 | 237UAP00277 | 2023-07-21T04:52:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 86 | 237UAP00288 | 2023-08-16T06:00:00+00:00 | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 87 | 237UAP00562 | 2023-10-14T01:47:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 88 | 237UAP00286 | 2023-08-11T06:39:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 89 | 237UAP00556 | 2023-09-26T03:13:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 90 | 237UAP00282 | 2023-08-04T07:04:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 91 | 237UAP00517 | 2023-06-10T06:26:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 92 | 237UAP00621 | 2024-03-16T01:57:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 93 | 237UAP00202 | 2023-02-07T10:15:00+00:00 | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 94 | 237UAP00203 | 2023-02-07T10:00:00+00:00 | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 95 | 237UAP00087 | 2022-04-09T08:15:00+00:00 | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 96 | 237UAP00119 | 2022-10-09T10:25:00+00:00 | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| 97 | 237UAP00238 | 2023-03-10T09:00:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 98 | 237UAP00523 | 2023-07-21T04:25:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 99 | 237UAP00524 | 2023-07-21T04:40:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |
| 100 | 237UAP00525 | 2023-07-21T04:53:00+00:00 | no | no | yes | no | no | no | yes |