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CZML Streams

CZML streams display live-updating entities on the map — ships, aircraft, vehicles, or any moving objects broadcasting their position in real time.

Connecting a stream

  1. Open the Layers panel.
  2. Click the radio icon in the header.
  3. Enter the stream URL and connection details.
  4. The stream appears as a new layer with live-updating entities.

Styling

Expand the CZML stream layer to access style options. All style settings can be driven by real-time observed attributes from the stream data.

Colour

ModeDescription
ManualSingle colour for all entities
From datasetMap a real-time attribute to colours
GradientMap a numeric attribute to a colour ramp

Icons

  • Enable/disable toggle
  • Preset — choose from the built-in icon grid
  • From dataset — map an attribute to different icons

Scale

  • Fixed / From dataset / Random (same options as point markers)
  • Camera-relative scaling toggle

Labels

  • Enable/disable toggle
  • Field — which real-time attribute to display
  • Font size
  • Show background toggle — adds a background behind label text for readability

Interpolation

Controls how entity positions are smoothed between data updates.

SettingDescription
Enable/disableToggle position interpolation
AlgorithmLinear / Hermite / Lagrange
Max samplesNumber of position samples to keep (50–500)
ExtrapolationContinue predicting position after data stops, with configurable duration
Show headingDisplay entity heading direction, with a heading source field selector

Trails

Show the historical path of moving entities.

ModeDescription
NoneNo trail shown
FadingTrail fades out over a configurable duration (5–600 seconds)
FullComplete path history since the stream started

AIS Reset

For AIS ship tracking layers, a Reset to AIS defaults button restores the default ship-appropriate styling.