Space-based Global Maritime Surveillance. Part I: Satellite Technologies

Maritime surveillance (MS) is crucial for search and rescue operations, fishery monitoring, pollution control, law enforcement, migration monitoring, and national security policies. Since the early days of seafaring, MS has been a critical task for providing security in human coexistence. Several generations of sensors providing detailed maritime information have become available for large offshore areas in real time: maritime radar sensors in the 1950s and the automatic identification system (AIS) in the 1990s among them. However, ground-based maritime radars and AIS data do not always provide a comprehensive and seamless coverage of the entire maritime space. Therefore, the exploitation of space-based sensor technologies installed on satellites orbiting around the Earth, such as satellite AIS data, synthetic aperture radar, optical sensors, and global navigation satellite systems reflectometry, becomes crucial for MS and to complement the existing terrestrial technologies. In the first part of this work, we provide an overview of the main available space-based sensors technologies and present the advantages and limitations of each technology in the scope of MS. The second part, related to artificial intelligence, signal processing and data fusion techniques, is provided in a companion paper, titled: "Space-based Global Maritime Surveillance. Part II: Artificial Intelligence and Data Fusion Techniques" [1].Comment: This paper has been submitted to IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazin

China Near Seas Combat Capabilities

The capstone U.S. Defense Department study on the future operational environment declares, China\u27s rise represents the most significant single event on the international horizon since the collapse of the Cold War. Understanding and assessing changes in China\u27s traditionally defensive naval strategy, doctrine, and force structure are of obvious importance to the U.S. Navy (USN) and other Pacific navies concerned with the possible security implications of that rise. This chapter examines the development of the Chinese navy\u27s Houbei (Type 022) fast-attack-craft force and its roles and missions in China\u27s near seas and discusses implications for the U.S. Navy and other navies in the region.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-red-books/1010/thumbnail.jp

Impact of Spoofing of Navigation Systems on Maritime Situational Awareness

The development of contemporary navigation and positioning systems have significantly improved reliability and speeds in maritime navigation. At the same time, the vulnerabilities of these systems to cyber threats represent a remarkable issue to the safety of navigation. Therefore, the maritime community has raised the question of cybersecurity of navigation systems in recent years. This paper aims to analyse the vulnerabilities of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Electronic Chart Display Information System (ECDIS) and Automatic Identification System (AIS). The concepts of these systems were developed at a time when cybersecurity issues have not been among the top priorities. Open broadcasts, the absence of or limited existence of data encryption and authentication can be considered as their primary security weaknesses. Therefore, these systems are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The GPS as the data source of a ship’s position can relatively easily be jammed and/or spoofed, increasing the vulnerabilities of ECDIS and AIS. A systematic literature review was conducted for this article, supplemented by a SWOT analysis of the AIS service and particular case studies of recent cyber-attacks on these systems. The analysis of selected case studies confirmed that these systems could easily be spoofed and become a subject of data manipulation with significant consequences for the safety of navigation. The paper provides conclusions and recommendations highlighting the necessity for the users to be aware of the vulnerabilities of modern navigation systems

Challenges in Arctic Navigation and Geospatial Data : User Perspective and Solutions Roadmap

Navigation and location-based applications, including business such as transport, tourism, and mining, in Arctic areas face a variety of specific challenges. In fact, these challenges concern not only the Arctic Circle but certain other areas as well, such as the Gulf of Bothnia. This report provides a review on these challengs which concern a variety of technologies ranging from satellite navigation to telecommunications and mapping. In order to find out end-users' views on the significance of Arctic challenges, an online survey was conducted. The 77 respondents representing all Arctic countries, the majority being from Finland, highlighted the challenges in telecommunications as well as accuracy concerns for emerging applications dealing with precise navigation. This report provides a review of possible technologies for addressing the Arctic challenges, based on which a road map for solving them is developed. The road map also uses the results of expert working groups from the Challenges in Arctic Navigation workshop arranged in April 2018 in Olos, Muonio, Finland. This report was produced within the ARKKI project. It was funded by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Baltic Sea, Barents and Arctic cooperation programme, and implemented by the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute in collaboration with the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications