OSIRIS - Satellite SAR imagery processing for vessel kinematics estimation

Reggiannini M.

Image Analysis  Computer Vision  Earth Satellites 

Navigating vessels detection, identification and kinematics parameters estimation are relevant tasks concerning maritime surveillance and monitoring. One way to perform such operations is to process maps captured by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors installed on board of satellite constellations orbiting around earth-centered trajectories. Navigating vessels leave traces of their motion in the form of wake patterns on the water surface. Wakes are visible in high resolution SAR maps and bear information related to the kinematic variables of the vessel motion. A proper processing of the wake system allows to estimate the orientation of the vessel motion and the velocity module. This information can be exploited in the implementation of decision procedures dedicated to the control of maritime traffic. This document describes the design and implementation of software procedures with the purpose of estimating the motion parameters of a navigating vessel, through the processing of the wake pattern generated by the vessel itself.

Source: Project report, OSIRIS, 2017