Ship Kinematics Estimation (SKE) module - Vessel kinematics estimation through SAR/Optical Imagery Processing

Reggiannini M., Bedini L.

Remote sensing  Optical sensing  SAR  Wake processing  Radon transform  Speckle noise filtering 

The main goal of the work described in this report concerns the estimation of the kinematics variables related to the motion of a navigating vessel. One way to perform such operations is to process maps captured by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and optical sensors installed on board of satellite constellations orbiting around earth-centred trajectories. The primary goal of this processing is to identify and analyze the wake traces left by navigating vessels on the water surface. Wakes can be typically observed in high resolution SAR and optical maps. A proper processing of these surface patterns allows to estimate the orientation of the vessel motion ({\it route}) and the corresponding velocity module. The resulting estimates can be exploited in the implementation of maritime surveillance and vessel traffic monitoring purposes. This document describes the design and the implementation of the software procedures dedicated to the aforementioned purposes, together combined in the software tool named Ship Kinematics Estimation module.

Source: ISTI Technical Reports, 2018