ParaglidingWX — NOTAM overlays (Canada)

NOTAM overlays (Canada)

When the map refreshes wildfire data, it also requests Canadian domestic NOTAMs from NAV CANADA’s CFPS JSON (the same family of feed as plan.navcanada.ca). Several FIRs are merged and records deduplicated server-side. Only NOTAMs with a parseable horizontal outline (closed polygon from coordinate lists or a circle from radius/centre text) are candidates, and only shapes that intersect the current query area are returned (the request uses a broad Canada envelope so nearby restricted airspace is not lost when you pan). Colours distinguish broad types—wildfire-related CAR 601.15 restricted airspace, military restrictions, skydiving, glider activity, published UAV/RPAS operation areas, CYR-related areas, training/advisory polygons, and a catch-all general category.

Purple is one of several NOTAM colours: it does not mean “fire NOTAM” by itself. The regulatory red CAR 601.15 disk (above) is separate and may be larger or smaller than a fire-related NOTAM circle, depending on how the NOTAM was written.

What we draw (when text + geometry rules match and the area cuts your view):

• Wildfire / suppression restricted airspace — CAR 601.15-style restricted airspace tied to forest fire, wildfire, prescribed burn, aerial attack, or suppression wording, including common fire Q-line markers (e.g. QWFLW, QWMLW, QWELW), as a BOUNDED BY polygon or RADIUS … NM CENTRE … / Q) circle.
• Military / temporary restricted areas — e.g. QRTCA, Aeronautics Act s. 5.1 military restrictions, MIL EXER, or DND controlling-agency wording, with the same geometry sources.
• Glider activity — including QWGLW and narrative glider-activity phrases, with a usable circle or polygon.
• Skydiving / parachutes — drop zones, QWPLW, and similar phrases (circle or polygon).
• Published small-UAV / RPAS operations — circular areas with an explicit RADIUS … NM and wording about remotely piloted operations; broad QWULW matches only when that radius+centre is present. Prohibition cages tied to military/restricted areas or “no drones” bans without a published ops circle are not drawn as RPAS ops.
• CYR (restricted area) geometry — BOUNDED BY polygons classified as CYR; QRRCD deactivations (disk from chart/Q) text for awareness). QRRCA activations are drawn when the text yields a polygon or circle; activation-only notices without parseable limits may appear in supplementary fields in the API JSON but are not shown as map shapes.
• Training / airspace-safety advisory areas — e.g. QRMXX, AIRSPACE SAFETY ADVISORY, specialty air combat, or air-combat-training “recommended” wording, with parseable coordinates.
• General — other NOTAMs with a BOUNDED BY vertex list or an explicit RADIUS … NM CENTRE … in the English E) section that don’t match the specialist rules above. To avoid bogus disks, we do not emit a circle inferred only from a Q) line unless a specialist classifier also matches.

What we skip (dropped in the server pipeline or not emitted at all):

• Blasting and explosives hazards — quarry, mining, underwater/surface blasting, detonation, and similar (high noise, low value for paragliding site selection).
• ATC radar / SSR / ADS-B outages and IFR routing advisories — facility-outage patterns such as QCEAS, QCBAS, and terminal/SSR Q…TAS / Q…SAS codes, plus narrative combinations of radar, SSR, or ADS-B unserviceable with routing or altitude-denial language aimed at IFR operators.
• DAH / handbook amendments for CYRs — QRRCH permanent or routine updates to the Designated Airspace Handbook (contact info, user agency, etc.) without a day-of activation; the Q) filing disk is not chart geometry.
• Everything without a usable horizontal limit — plain-language NOTAMs with no coordinates we can turn into a polygon or circle, or geometry that doesn’t intersect the query bounds.

Optional site configuration can also hide specific NOTAM categories in the browser (e.g. an extra filter on top of the server rules).

CFPS JSON is unofficial for third-party use; parsing mistakes are possible. For any pre-flight briefing you must verify with NAV CANADA and official NOTAM/FIR sources—never rely on these overlays alone for airspace or compliance.

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