A Return Link for Satellite AIS
Satellite AIS Applications for Zone Breaches
What does 2012 hold for Satellite AIS?
Vessel Collision off Bay of Biscay
New Satellite AIS Channels
Satellite AIS in the Arctic
The Role of AIS in Environmental Protection
exactAIS and Ballast Water Exchange
New AIS Testing Requirements
Combatting Piracy with AIS
Satellite AIS and LRIT
Geoint from the Inside
 

With Peggy Browning, Senior Director of Maritime Products for exactEarth

"I have been involved with AIS from the beginning-helping to guide this technology from Class A into Class B devices, Base Stations, AIS for Aids to Navigation and now even Airborne AIS. Although I had known about Satellite AIS in its basic form before, when I heard about exactEarrth and the technology behind exactAIS, my interest was piqued. When I finally met the people at exactEarth, I knew I wanted to be a part of this team...Satellite AIS-done right, absolutely has a place in the AIS community and I wanted to be a part of it! I want to share my thoughts on my experiences here at exactEarth and on our technology and hope you find it as interesting as I do."

CONTACT: E-mail Peggy at peggy.browning@exactearth.com

Click to follow Peggy on Twitter @SatAISPeg

DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the author are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of exactEarth

February 1, 2012
A little bit of background:

The goal of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is to provide the communication support needed to implement search and rescue plans. The GMDSS is based upon a combination of satellite and terrestrial radio services, changing international distress communications from being primarily ship-to-ship based to ship-to-shore (Rescue Coordination Center) based.  The GMDSS provides automatic distress alerting and locating in cases where a radio operator doesn't have time to send an SOS or MAYDAY call and requires ships to receive broadcasts of maritime safety information which could prevent a distress from happening in the first place.

Introducing a return link for Satellite-AIS would allow the satellite to communicate with the ship and also acknowledge a distress signal.  As Satellite AIS constellations are low earth orbiting and not geostationary, there will always be a question of revisit but I believe that AIS, particularly Satellite AIS, will play a major role in the modernization of GMDSS.  AIS is on every ship and once AIS is recognized as part of the GMDSS system, essentially every vessel will be a Search and Rescue vessel.  Satellite AIS could then be used to increase the reporting rate on the new channels when a ship is in distress and, in the event that there are no other ships around, the satellite will be sure to receive the distress signal.

January 17, 2012
In light of the recent horrible events off the coast of Italy, I began to think about what Satellite AIS could do to possibly prevent such a tragedy in the future.  The development of an application that would allow ship owners to be alerted if any one of their ships entered a cautionary zone (safety or environmental) would be extremely beneficial. Also, as satellite AIS offers global coverage, these alerts would be available for any restricted zone world-wide. The app would be based on the flag/owner providing a list of MMSI numbers and verification that they are entitled to that data. The app would then be able to provide notification when any of the listed ships entered a cautionary area, allowing ship owners to be pro-active.

Allowing ship owners to monitor any given ship’s behaviour and if there were trends in the violations, would ensure that appropriate action could then be taken.  Certainly this type of data would enrich training programs and it might also lead to changes in the definition of the cautionary area itself.  As the vessel trends may be seasonal, this would again lead to refinements in training and to the cautionary area.

exactAIS® Tracking of the Costa Concordia January 7-13, 2012

January 4, 2012
As we enter into 2012, I wanted to share some of my predictions for what I believe the year ahead has in store for Satellite AIS.

1)      Satellite AIS, and the exactEarth algorithms, will crack the garbled slot problem for terrestrial base stations.   

The technical limitations that have previously hindered detection of AIS-equipped ships in high-traffic areas are:

• the length of the AIS message – multi slot messages are much more likely to be garbled;
• the large number of messages in the antenna footprint (excess reuse of the time slots in the VDL )

2)     Satellite AIS will become a pillar of the future GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress Safety System). 

The system was designed to increase safety and make it easier to rescue distressed ships, boats and aircraft.  By utilizing Satellite AIS, authorities will have a much clearer and global picture for maritime activity.  The biggest bonus of including AIS into GMDSS is that every ship becomes a search-and-rescue craft as no special equipment will be required to receive distress messages and locations. 

3)     The new satellite channels, allocated specifically for satellite detection of AIS, will begin to be used and monitored. Also, Class B vessels will be required to report on these channels.

There is currently a decision pending on proposed frequencies (AIS channels 75 and 76) to initially exclusively broadcast Long Range AIS position reports.  The current requirement is for only Class A vessels to report on these channels.  However, including all AIS traffic will eventually be required to support GMDSS and other tracking requirements for security and environmental protection.  The new satellite AIS channels will becomes known as the AIS Tracking Channels.

4)   Satellite AIS and radar fusion will be key to solving small vessel tracking.

Combining Satellite AIS with radar fusion will allow for greater visibility into tracking small vessels across the globe.

Satellite AIS provides the advantage of validating vessels picked up by radar and confirming what type of vessel it is, or that there is a radar target that is not identifying itself as required.

December 15, 2011
Recently, two merchant vessels collided in the Bay of Biscay about 250 miles from Land’s End.  One of the vessels began taking on water and its crew of seven took to two life rafts before the vessel sank.

When we investigated, exactAIS had picked up the track for the one of the vessels without any problem, however, the other vessel was strangely lacking in data.  In fact, the last time we had picked it up was on November 30th and then again on December 9th, after the incident had already taken place.  Is it possible the AIS transmitter was turned off and then turned back on after the collision?

I believe the condition of the AIS unit should be checked, in particular the output power.  It is also of note that a Tanker is required to go to 1W while in port, it could be that this unit was put in low power operation and never reset back to high power.

Sometimes the lack of data can be just as interesting and puzzling as having a wealth of data.

December 14, 2011
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will be deciding whether to allocate specific channels for satellite detection of AIS.  The decision is scheduled during the next world radio conference (WRC) in January/February of 2012.  Early speculation leads me to believe that the ITU will approve these channels so I’ve started pondering the implications.  Once approved, Satellite AIS will enter a new phase in the political arena where it will be recognized as a technology that is positioned to support future developments such as inclusion in the next generation GMDSS (global maritime distress and safety system), small vessel tracking, and possibly even inclusion into the IMO LRIT system for vessel tracking.

Here at exactEarth, we will be well positioned to support these new channels as our satellites are tunable across the maritime band and will be well equipped to monitor these new channels.  In addition, our superior detection capability on the existing AIS channels can be used to cross check and validate compliance on the new channels.

UPDATE: As of February 14, ITU has approved the new satellite channels announcing Class A will be on them and a decision pending on Class B reception as well.

December 8, 2011
One great advantage of the exactAIS service is its truly global coverage, including the remote Arctic region that had previously proved difficult to monitor.  The Arctic sea ice is melting at an alarming rate, allowing for near year round shipping along the Northwest Passage.  The alternatives to this Northern sea route are transport arteries half a world away that pass through the Suez and Panama Canals adding significant days to any journey.  It is important to also realize though the environmental impact daily shipping will have on this fragile ecological system.  The ability to monitor shipping activity throughout the vast Arctic region can help ensure that proper routes are being taken so as not to disrupt the environment.

The exactEarth service is capable of capturing binary messages from weather buoys, containing data monitoring the weather, sea state, ice state, wave direction, salinity and other relevant environmental parameters.  Over time, this data can, and will, be used to create weather modeling and trending analysis studies that can be used to protect sensitive environmental areas.

In future, ships will transmit binary messages providing weather and ice conditions over the course of their voyage.  Ships would need to be equipped with meteorological/hydrological sensors that are capable of measuring weather and ice data.  The data could then be packaged into AIS messages for broadcast, helping other ships about to enter the area they just transited.  Satellite AIS could receive these messages and provide this information to competent maritime authorities who could use the data to extend the range of weather prediction and modeling.  Having accurate, real-time weather and ice information easily available will be critical as drifting ice will continue to be an issue in the Northwest Passage for years to come.

November 29, 2011
I recently presented on the basics of AIS (both terrestrial and satellite) to a group at the 19th Biennial Conference Society for Marine Mammalogy.  The workshop was on using AIS for the protection of the environment and in particular whale species.

Example of a mapped off zone set aside seasonally for Right Whale breeding off the US coastline

Although AIS has limitations in this field (i.e. not being able to force a whale population to migrate in a certain pattern), it does allow for traffic analysis to define areas of protection.  Once those areas are defined, AIS can establish automatic alerts of vessels entering those zones, allowing for even more in depth reporting.  Seasonal notices are put in place to ensure that vessels avoid certain sensitive and protected areas.  Now with AIS, the effectiveness of those notices can now be measured.

AIS helps international organisations protect the environment and manage sustainable development activities through the use of AIS data to geo-fence environmentally sensitive or marine protected areas (MPAs) and record historical vessel tracks for reporting and investigative purposes.  Analysts can research marine life movement patterns compared to ship traffic patterns to define protected areas that will ensure the least disturbance to the maritime community.

exactAIS data used to show vessels entering an MPA off the coast of Hawaii

November 23, 2011
The inadvertent transfer of harmful aquatic organisms in a vessel’s ballast water has been determined to have caused a significant adverse impact to many of the world’s coastal regions. The international maritime community, with the support of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has developed several new regulations to help prevent the introduction of unwanted organisms. These new regulations state that vessels are required to exchange their ballast in the open ocean (1000m deep). However this rule may result in vessels burning extra fuel and time if the transit area does not normally require open ocean passage such as from the US East Coast into the Great lakes. Competent maritime authorities currently have a very limited capability to monitor vessel’s compliance to this rule.

This is where Satellite AIS can play an important role in determining whether a ship made the required deviation in course to exchange ballast water in the proper zone.  Without satellite AIS, authorities must rely on aircraft routine patrols etc. for periodic checks, while satellite AIS provides a track with time, position, heading and speed.  Providing the vessel’s track and not just its current position on the map allows for the level of analysis required in this investigation.

exactAIS offers a new capability to monitor and catch vessels that illegally report false locations for ballast water exchange. exactAIS tracking provides historic data so authorities can view a vessel’s track over a set length of time. The exactAIS track can then be overlaid on a vessel’s recorded track to verify its position and movements. Plotting each point with a date and timestamp, exactAIS tracking guarantees accuracy to pinpoint vessels at the time of any discrepancy.

exactAIS track of a vessel compared to its reported track shows the vessel did not make the required course change to exchange its ballast water

November 18, 2011
New amendments have been added to SOLAS regulation regarding the annual testing of AIS systems.  Now all systems will have to be subjected to annual testing conducted by an approved surveyor or servicing facility.  The tests will be looking to verify the correct programming of the ship static information and data exchange as well as verifying the radio performance. This new regulation will result in surveyors being equipped with special AIS test equipment and very detailed technical knowledge.  The firm conducting the testing must be certified to work on AIS equipment and the surveyors must hold a formal DNV or national AIS service supplier approval.   For the full article, click here.

Unfortunately the AIS system still must depend on certain parameters to be entered by the mariner. These parameters, called AIS static data, are unique to the ship i.e. IMO number, Call Sign, MMSI, etc., but are so very important because they are the keys to identifying a ship.  With the new annual inspection, any discrepancies will be easily corrected.   The voyage related data will still rely on the mariner to update accurately to reflect the current voyage. However, a simple check to verify that the data was entered will also allow an opportunity to ensure that the mariners on the ship are aware of how to update the unit to reflect voyage related data.

The antenna installation and placement are extremely important for the reception of AIS signals by other ships, shore authorities, and satellites.  With the annual inspection, there will now be an opportunity to look for and repair corrosion or other "wear and tear" factors that affect the antenna at sea.   This situation is especially difficult to identify because any given AIS system may have a degraded signal caused by incorrect antenna installation but the master would have no way of knowing as a faulty system will still function, just not as optimally as required.

November 9, 2011
Recently the UK announced that ships sailing under Britain's flag will be permitted to carry armed guards on some perilous routes to combat the threat from pirates.  Click here for more on that story.  David Cameron, PM of Britain, stated, “The evidence is that ships with armed guards don't get attacked, don't get taken for hostage or for ransom, and so we think this is a very important step forward”

This announcement made me start to wonder about what role AIS can play in combatting piracy.  The International Maritime Organization (IMO) recommends that the AIS remain active during a piracy event but also states that the master can disable the AIS at their discretion if the voyage is under threat, or in other words, before a piracy event takes place.  EUNAVFOR and NATO have since amended this advice. They now recommend that AIS should be left on throughout the piracy High Risk Area as a safety precaution as this will allow the counter piracy naval forces in the area to track the positions of vessels in real time. AIS transmissions should be restricted to ship’s identity, position, course, speed, navigational status and safety-related information only.

I wonder if adding a component to the position report in an AIS message, like Message 1, that was modified to indicate if “armed forces” are aboard, would deter pirates from attempting the attack in the first place.  Considering the best outcome is to avoid piracy altogether, it would make sense to add more deterrents.  Reports have indicated that pirates are now able to monitor vessel position reports but now they would also be cautioned that the vessel had armed guards aboard, possibly causing them to re-evaluate their attack.

November 2, 2011
exactEarth is often asked about the relationship between LRIT and Satellite AIS (S-AIS).   I believe that the two technologies are complimentary not competitive. 

AIS was developed for collision avoidance and LRIT was designed for the purpose of long range tracking.  With LRIT the ship is required to broadcast a position report every six hours for a total of 4 reports every 24.  Satellite AIS on the other hand will only report what is present, and detectable,  in the satellite footprint.  S-AIS does provide many position reports with every satellite pass, but it cannot guarantee that the ship will be detected with every pass.

What I find particularly useful for S-AIS are the various data applications well outside simple tracking of ships.  By having multiple position reports for a given ship, and the possibility that the ship will be detected many times during a day, it is now possible to develop behavioral models for ships and ship traffic.  This essentially extends maritime domain awareness well outside terrestrial AIS reception, allowing for applications ranging from protection of environmentally sensitive areas to understanding and alarming on abnormal behavior of a ship.

S-AIS does not guarantee a report from a ship at a definite interval and so therefore cannot replace LRIT.  However the two technologies are complimentary, for example S-AIS can be used to identify non-complying ships under LRIT reporting obligations.  In general, data quantity and quality provided by S-AIS is enabling dozens of use cases and applications all based on ship behavioral modeling that will benefit the maritime community for years to come.

October 26, 2011
I had never attended GEOINT before but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of vendors and the quality of software/systems present on the huge showroom floor.

I was very excited to learn that the assumption we have made about our data service held up. We had obviously always known about the incredible data integration possibilities of exactAIS but now we know there is a need to use open source, internationally accepted formats for our data stream to ensure that we are able to integrate into any platform.

I was absolutely amazed at the variety of applications that have integrated our satellite AIS data, from Esri to Google Earth, the possibilities were endless. I was also very interested in the approach of the application guys ... more and more of them are moving away from canned applications and toward building tool sets that other developers can use to build the application they need.  Once again, thank goodness our data is completely platform friendly... using our data is a no-brainer for these guys!

I met a lot of great people, doing great things to keep all of us safe in a scary world.  It was truly eye-opening.

On a personal note, our booth was right by one of the luncheon halls ... I stayed hungry the entire time :) We may need to move booth locations next time.

!