TerraSAR-X Applications Guide Extract: Maritime Monitoring: Ship Detection April 2015 Airbus Defence and Space Geo-Intelligence Programme Line
Maritime Monitoring: Ship Detection Issue Maritime security is of utmost importance today with more than 90% of the world s trade goods and more than 70% of global crude oil transported by sea. As shipping traffic grows, the pressure on the security of the world s oceans is increasing. Along with more likelihood of accidents and associated environmental damage, shipping traffic is also increasingly the target of piracy, organised crime and terrorism. Moreover, illegal maritime activities such as illegal fishing, drug trafficking, weapon movement/proliferation and illegal immigration are constantly on the rise. Maritime activities are also expanding into the Arctic regions with growing traffic in the iceinfested waters of the Northeast and Northwest Passage, and oil and gas platforms set up to exploit the huge reservoirs of resources in the Arctic. These activities rely on detailed and timely ice information to support safe and effective operations. All these activities increase the pressure on the marine environment and the demand for reactive imagery, early-warning capabilities and reliable monitoring services to: Better knowledge about activities in a specific area (EEZ & more) Detect patterns of illegal behaviours at sea like illegal fishing, narcotraffic, immigration, maritime pollution or piracy Trap catching in act traffickers Support Defence missions, e.g. intelligence, operations at sea Markets Defence, Commercial Institutions Achievements Due to TerraSAR-X active radar sensor and semi-automatic processing workflows information about detected ships in a certain area can be achieved very quickly after acquisition. A relevant sample of the commercially available Ship Detection Product including operator interaction from TerraSAR-X is shown in Figure 1. The deliverables consist of GeoTIFF images and corresponding Ship Detection reports. The latter product package is provided in KML or KMZ format also known as Google Earth format.
Figure 1: Example of the final ship detection product after operator quality assurance. The image chip shows a sample detection added by the operator. Ship detection results can be used to further utilise also optical satellite sensors in order to classify and even identify ships detected using SAR. The concept even utilising cross-cueing capabilities of Airbus Defence and Space (incorporating TerraSAR-X, SPOT6/7 and Pleiades 1a /b) is illustrated in Figure 2.
Benefits of using TerraSAR-X Figure 2: Maritime monitoring concept TerraSAR-X delivers input data for ship detection cloud and day-light independent. This is especially important for new upcoming areas seeking solutions regarding ship detection like arctic regions with frequent polar night scenarios. TerraSAR-X offers the new Wide ScanSAR mode with a large coverage (up to 270 x 200 km 2 ) and a spatial resolution of 40 m. This results in a commercially unique ratio between coverage and resolution, offering a unique potential to monitor larger areas also for smaller ships. TerraSAR-X data can be delivered in Near-Real Time (NRT) to the client. After delivery, data can serve as an input to automatic pre-processing regarding ships using suitable software. The delivery time of non-quality controlled ship detection report can be as short as 20 minutes after acquisition (see Airbus Defence and Space Geo-Intelligence Ship Detection Product below). Due to its very high radiometric quality TerraSAR-X is highly sensitive to medium and large objects on the sea surface. All ship detection results can be achieved with high geolocation accuracy. Furthermore, the high acquisition frequency provides a good temporal sampling for ship detection. With the availability of TerraSAR-X / PAZ constellation a daily revisit will be available.
Relevant Data Specifications Recommended image specification depends on the maritime conditions. Table 1: Recommended Image Specification for Ship Detection in open water Image Modes: Number of datasets: Wide ScanSAR, ScanSAR, StripMap One Assumed Analysis Approach: Visual Ship Detection Semi-Automatic Ship Detection Polarization: HH, HV a System Settings: Incidence [Degree]: Angle > 35 Orbit Ascending or Descending Basic Image MGD b Product TerraSAR- Image Product Resolution Mode: File Format: Radiometrically Enhanced (RE) GEOTIFF Table 2: Recommended Image Specification for Ship Detection in wind protected area Image Modes: Number of datasets: SpotLight, High Resolution SpotLight, Staring SpotLight One Assumed Analysis Approach: Visual Ship Detection System Settings: Polarization: Incidence Angle [Degree]: Orbit HH, HV e Mid-Range Ascending or Descending a HV only for incidence angles smaller than 20 b Depending on software used
TerraSAR- Image Product Basic Image Product Resolution Mode: File Format: MGD f Radiometrically Enhanced (RE) GEOTIFF Note: Recommended image specification is an indication only. It may vary depending on the software used. Airbus Defence and Space, Geo-Intelligence does not guarantee relevant capability. Relevant Products and Services available from Airbus Defence and Space, Geo- Intelligence Ship Detection Product Related Publications Information available on Request Related Sample Datasets o 1 x StripMap Singapore (MGD, RE, HH) Suitable Software Application BAE Systems Exelis GAMMA Remote Sensing AG Company Name Hexagon Geospatial/ GEOSYSTEMS GmbH Joanneum Research PCI Geomatics Provided Software Racurs Textron Geospatial Solutions Trimble SOCET GXP ENVI SARscape GAMMA MSP,ISP,DIFF &GEO,LAT, IPTA ERDAS IMAGINE RSG - Remote Sensing Software Package Graz Geomatica and GXL Photomod Radar RemoteView, ELT5500, and Global ImageViewer ecognition Maritime Applications (Semi- or Full Automatic Analysis) Ship Detection X X X X X Note: Information provided by Software Providers, Airbus Defence and Space, Geo-Intelligence does not guarantee relevant capability.
Contact For feedback or further inquiry please contact the Airbus Defence and Space Customer Service Centre via telephone at +49 7545 8 4344 / email: terrasar@astrium-geo.com or visit http://www.geo-airbusds.com/terrasar-x/
List of Abbreviations ACD CCD DEM DInSAR DSM DTM EEC EGR EMSA EOR EU EEZ GCP GEC GEO HS IMINT InSAR IWS MGD NRT PSI RE REED+ SAR SBAS SC SE SL SM SSC Amplitude Change Detection Coherence Change Detection Digital Elevation Model Differential Interferometry Digital Surface Model Digital Terrain Model Enhanced Ellipsoid Corrected (Basic Image Product) Enhanced Gas Recovery European Maritime Safety Agency Enhanced Oil Recovery European Union Exclusive Economic Zone Ground Control Points Geocoded Ellipsoid Corrected (Basic Image Product) Airbus Defence & Space, Geo-Intelligence High Resolution SpotLight (imaging mode) Image Intelligence Interferometric SAR Interferometric Wide Swath (Sentinel-1 imaging mode) Multi Look Ground Range Detected (Basic Image Product) Near-Real-Time Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) Radiometrically Enhanced Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries Synthetic Aperture Radar Small Baseline Subset Interferometry ScanSAR (imaging mode, 4-beam ScanSAR) Spatially Enhanced SpotLight (imaging mode) StripMap (imaging mode) Single Look Slant Range Complex (Basic Image Product)
SRTM ST WS Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Staring SpotLight (imaging mode) Wide ScanSAR (imaging mode, 6-beam Scan SAR)