Vessel detection and classification: An integrated maritime surveillance system in the Tyrrhenian Sea

In recent years a number of organizations, both national and international, have put significant efforts in developing knowledge-based integrated maritime surveillance (IMS) systems. The final aim is to have a clear picture of the position, classification, identification and movement of cooperative and non-cooperative targets entering and leaving the 200 nautical miles limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Each sensor (i.e. satellite-based, ground-based, shipborne or airborne) has its own task and, in such a context, high frequency (HF) surface wave (SW) radars are inexpensive tools for long range early warning applications in open waters. They allow maximizing the effectiveness in dealing with fisheries protection, drug interdiction, illegal immigration, terrorist threats, search and rescue tasks. This paper focuses on the possibility of combining automatic identification system (AIS) data with HFSWR data for vessel detection and classification purposes. Three algorithms for target detection in compound Gaussian HF sea clutter are presented and their performance evaluated. The combined use of AIS plots provided by cooperative targets can allow the operator to discriminate non-cooperative targets and possible threats. The concurrent exploitation of AIS and HFSWR data is presented and discussed by means of real data recorded during the NURC experiment in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea in May 2009.