Estimation of Ship Velocity from Multispectral Satellite Image

Abstract

In this study, we present the estimation results of ship velocity using a multispectral satellite image. In the case of moving ship, its position in a satellite image varies at each band due to the time offsets of multiple bands. We have proposed an algorithm for estimating the ship velocity using these characteristics. The red and blue band data of the Sentinel-2 satellites used, and the reference point for distance calculation was set using the template matching method with the highest cross-correlation. As a result of estimating the velocity of the same ship, the satellite-based method showed a velocity of 15.91 m/s, and the AIS was 19.86 m/s. In this paper, we compared the estimated speeds for only one ship. In satellite imagery, the reflection from ships may be affected by ship size, speed, direction, and maritime conditions. Therefore, verification of the speed estimation result under various states should be performed. The results of thisstudy are expected to be able to determine the information of multiple ships using a single satellite.