Application of Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar on Vessel Traffic Monitoring

Abstract

From the 1978 Seasat synthetic aperture radar(SAR) to present systems, spaceborne SAR has demonstrated the capability to image the Earth’s ocean and land features over broad areas, day and night, and under most weather conditions. The application of SAR for surveillance of commercial fishing grounds can aid in the detection of illegal fishing activities and provides more efficient use of limited aircraft or patrol craft resources. In the area of vessel traffic monitoring for commercial vessels, Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) which uses the ground-based radar system has some difficulties in detecting moving ships due to the limited detection range of about 10 miles. This paper introduces the field testing results of ship detection by RADARSAT SAR imagery, and proposes a new approach for a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), including VTS, and SAR combination service.