20 research outputs found
Deep Learning Methods for Vessel Trajectory Prediction based on Recurrent Neural Networks
Data-driven methods open up unprecedented possibilities for maritime
surveillance using Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. In this work, we
explore deep learning strategies using historical AIS observations to address
the problem of predicting future vessel trajectories with a prediction horizon
of several hours. We propose novel sequence-to-sequence vessel trajectory
prediction models based on encoder-decoder recurrent neural networks (RNNs)
that are trained on historical trajectory data to predict future trajectory
samples given previous observations. The proposed architecture combines Long
Short-Term Memory (LSTM) RNNs for sequence modeling to encode the observed data
and generate future predictions with different intermediate aggregation layers
to capture space-time dependencies in sequential data. Experimental results on
vessel trajectories from an AIS dataset made freely available by the Danish
Maritime Authority show the effectiveness of deep-learning methods for
trajectory prediction based on sequence-to-sequence neural networks, which
achieve better performance than baseline approaches based on linear regression
or on the Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) architecture. The comparative evaluation
of results shows: i) the superiority of attention pooling over static pooling
for the specific application, and ii) the remarkable performance improvement
that can be obtained with labeled trajectories, i.e., when predictions are
conditioned on a low-level context representation encoded from the sequence of
past observations, as well as on additional inputs (e.g., port of departure or
arrival) about the vessel's high-level intention, which may be available from
AIS.Comment: Accepted for publications in IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and
Electronic Systems, 17 pages, 9 figure
Statistical Hypothesis Testing Based on Machine Learning: Large Deviations Analysis
We study the performance -- and specifically the rate at which the error
probability converges to zero -- of Machine Learning (ML) classification
techniques. Leveraging the theory of large deviations, we provide the
mathematical conditions for a ML classifier to exhibit error probabilities that
vanish exponentially, say , where is
the number of informative observations available for testing (or another
relevant parameter, such as the size of the target in an image) and is the
error rate. Such conditions depend on the Fenchel-Legendre transform of the
cumulant-generating function of the Data-Driven Decision Function (D3F, i.e.,
what is thresholded before the final binary decision is made) learned in the
training phase. As such, the D3F and, consequently, the related error rate ,
depend on the given training set, which is assumed of finite size.
Interestingly, these conditions can be verified and tested numerically
exploiting the available dataset, or a synthetic dataset, generated according
to the available information on the underlying statistical model. In other
words, the classification error probability convergence to zero and its rate
can be computed on a portion of the dataset available for training. Coherently
with the large deviations theory, we can also establish the convergence, for
large enough, of the normalized D3F statistic to a Gaussian distribution.
This property is exploited to set a desired asymptotic false alarm probability,
which empirically turns out to be accurate even for quite realistic values of
. Furthermore, approximate error probability curves are provided, thanks to the refined asymptotic
derivation (often referred to as exact asymptotics), where represents
the most representative sub-exponential terms of the error probabilities
COVID-19 Impact on Global Maritime Mobility
To prevent the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), many countries
around the world went into lockdown and imposed unprecedented containment
measures. These restrictions progressively produced changes to social behavior
and global mobility patterns, evidently disrupting social and economic
activities. Here, using maritime traffic data collected via a global network of
AIS receivers, we analyze the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic and
containment measures had on the shipping industry, which accounts alone for
more than 80% of the world trade. We rely on multiple data-driven maritime
mobility indexes to quantitatively assess ship mobility in a given unit of
time. The mobility analysis here presented has a worldwide extent and is based
on the computation of: CNM of all ships reporting their position and
navigational status via AIS, number of active and idle ships, and fleet average
speed. To highlight significant changes in shipping routes and operational
patterns, we also compute and compare global and local density maps. We compare
2020 mobility levels to those of previous years assuming that an unchanged
growth rate would have been achieved, if not for COVID-19. Following the
outbreak, we find an unprecedented drop in maritime mobility, across all
categories of commercial shipping. With few exceptions, a generally reduced
activity is observable from March to June, when the most severe restrictions
were in force. We quantify a variation of mobility between -5.62% and -13.77%
for container ships, between +2.28% and -3.32% for dry bulk, between -0.22% and
-9.27% for wet bulk, and between -19.57% and -42.77% for passenger traffic.
This study is unprecedented for the uniqueness and completeness of the employed
dataset, which comprises a trillion AIS messages broadcast worldwide by 50000
ships, a figure that closely parallels the documented size of the world
merchant fleet
Quickest Detection and Forecast of Pandemic Outbreaks: Analysis of COVID-19 Waves
The COVID-19 pandemic has, worldwide and up to December 2020, caused over 1.7
million deaths, and put the world's most advanced healthcare systems under
heavy stress. In many countries, drastic restriction measures adopted by
political authorities, such as national lockdowns, have not prevented the
outbreak of new pandemic's waves. In this article, we propose an integrated
detection-estimation-forecasting framework that, using publicly available data
published by the national authorities, is designed to: (i) learn relevant
features of the epidemic (e.g., the infection rate); (ii) detect as quickly as
possible the onset (or the termination) of an exponential growth of the
contagion; and (iii) reliably forecast the epidemic evolution. The proposed
solution is validated by analyzing the COVID-19 second and third waves in the
USA.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Communications Magazine, feature topic "Networking
Technologies to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic
Application of Hidden Markov Models to Analyze, Group and Visualize Spatio-Temporal COVID-19 Data
The coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) is a public health challenge due to its rapid global spread. Its unprecedented speed and pervasiveness have led many governments to implement a series of countermeasures, such as lock-downs, stopping/restricting travels, and mandating social distancing. To control and prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is essential to understand the latent dynamics of the disease's evolution and the effectiveness of the intervention policies. Hidden Markov models (HMMs) capture both randomnesses in spatio-temporal dynamics and uncertainty in observations. In this paper, we apply an overall HMM that, based on multiple nations' COVID-19 data including the USA, several European countries, and countries that have strict control policies, explore different types of observations, and we use it to infer the severity state on small geographical states or regions in the USA and Italy as test cases. Further, we aggregate the severity level of each region over a fixed time period to visualize the time evolution and propagation across regions. Such an analysis and visualization provide suggestions for interventions and responses in a calibrated manner. Results from HMM modeling are consistent with what is observed in Italy and the USA and these models can serve as visualization and proactive decision support tools to policymakers
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
Simulation-Based Feasibility Analysis of Ship Detection Using GNSS-R Delay-Doppler Maps
In this article, we carry out a simulation analysis of ship detection via Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) delay-Doppler map (DDM). The GNSS-R DDM simulator used here is a modified version of an algorithm conceived for the generation of GNSS-R DDMs of the sea surface. The new algorithm is based on an analytical model for the radar cross section of ships and is able to properly account for the presence of ship targets within the scene. The proposed GNSS-R DDM simulator is, then, exploited for assessing the viability of GNSS-R in ship detection applications at low incidence angles, where the adopted scattering models provide accurate results. The aim of the implemented simulation setup is to analyze what are the preferable conditions for ship detection using standard GNSS-R signal processing chain receiver and compare typical forward left-hand circularly polarized GNSS-R systems with nonstandard backward right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP) GNSS-R. The simulation study is two fold: First, detection performance is evaluated at spaceborne and airborne altitudes for both polarization channels under favorable detection conditions. Then, visibility of ship targets is assessed in terms of their location within the DDM. Simulation results show that ship detection is problematic when using satellite data, whereas interesting results are achieved at airborne altitudes, provided that the aircraft is approximately between the GNSS satellite and the target, and that appropriate RHCP polarization is probed. In such configurations, signal-to-noise-ratios larger than 10 dB are obtained with airborne receivers collecting the RHCP signal