Surveillance vs.

Communications Tracking
Systems
By Eric Meger, eric.meger@maerospace.com
October 15, 2014

Some people have recently asked me what is so special about Satellite-AIS and
TimeCaster if they only track ships to an accuracy measured in miles. GPS, they say, is
installed on all ships and that tracks ships to within 10 meters!

The answer lies in the question, Who wants to know? Despite what you see on TV, A
GPS on a ship (or anywhere for that matter) only tells the ship where it is - accurate to 10
meters or so. But for someone far from the ship, that GPS position has to be
communicated to that person from the ship GPS by itself does not do that. If the ship is
far from land, then only satellite phones and satellite data modem can make the
connection those are communication systems.

However, the GPS position of the ship can also be broadcasted out over a radio channel
to anyone who might be listening. This is what AIS does it broadcasts the ships ID and
the GPS position, course and speed (along with other data about the ship) over a VHF
radio channel for anyone within range to hear. AIS was designed to send those signals
reliably out to about 20 or 30 miles (although signals can occasionally be received as far
is 70-100 miles away). Anyone further away than that cannot receive the signal and
therefore cannot track the ship that way.

Satellite-AIS uses sophisticated space-based equipment to receive the AIS signals from
very great distances (the curvature of the Earth does not shield the signals from the
satellite as it would between two ships). They call it rocket science for a reason
Satellite AIS is hard and expensive. But when it works, it allows all ships to be detected
anywhere in the world without the cooperation of the ships communication system.

Table 1 summarizes some of the key differences between communication systems and
surveillance systems in ship tracking. Next we will look at how each system is used to
track ships.

Communications System Surveillance Systems

Examples Satellite phones AIS

Satellite internet modems Satellite AIS
VHF radios (voice) Radar
Satellite Cameras
TimeCaster (uses AIS)
Key function Connects two or more Monitors many vessels without
COOPERATING devices (like a their knowing that they are being
phone call connects two people) monitored
Accuracy GPS- based.
Accurate to about 10 meters and can
report this position whenever, and
as often as desired, to any specific
destination (typically the ship
operator or the local port)
Tracking Challenge Only works with cooperating ships
Communication charges can be
high.
TimeCaster role Does NOT use the communication
system. Provides independent
validation that the ship is where it
says it is.
Table 1
AIS: GPS-based.
Accurate to about 10 meters at
the time of transmission over the
AIS.
Radar and optical imagery use
completely different (and
expensive) technologies to
achieve great accuracy (1-5
meter) but for small fields of
view.
Satellite AIS long latency, low
update rates and limited
probability of detection of the
signal by the satellite.
Fixes the problem of position
displays being inaccurate due to
reports being spread out in time.
Provides complete picture of all
tracked vessels

How each system is used to track ships globally

Communications Systems:

1) Install satellite phone/modem on ship

2) Connect to the ships GPS system (all ships have them)
3) Program system to send a position report to a specific computer (IP) address
every X minutes. Each message will incur a fee or use a portion of pre-paid
bandwidth.
4) Repeat Step 3 for everyone in the world who needs to see where the ship is.
5) Alternatively, program the system to let anyone on a list (or anyone) poll the ship
at any time to get the position. Each such poll will cost the ship operator money
so they never do this.
6) Every X minutes each programmed recipient will know within about 10 meters
where the ship is. No one not programmed as a recipient will have any
information about the ship from this system.

To track a ship, you must:

a) Have access and ability to program the system on the ship to send you position
reports; and
b) Pay all the communication bills for every position report (at 10 minute updates
thats 52,560 messages per year.

Repeat the above for each and every ship you want to track.

Surveillance systems:

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 1) Sign up for one or more satellite AIS services (exactEarth, Orbcomm or
SpaceQuest) directly or through one of their resellers.
2) Buy (or integrate software into your existing system) software that can display
satellite AIS.

To track one or ALL ships:

a) Watch the screens and you will receive messages from various ships constantly
dots are placed on your map each time a message is received from a ship and left
on the screen until either the next message is received from that ship (when it is
replaced with the new position). If no message is received for (typically) 24
hours, the dot is deleted from your display.
b) Because of the inherent limitations of satellite systems (and at long ranges from
coastal base stations), ships are detected infrequently and with wide gaps and
wide delays. So the dots on your map are old and vary in age from seconds to 24
hours. About 10 to 15% of all ships are not detected for more than 24 hours and
dont appear on your display at all!
c) At any given time the dots on a global display average more than 140 miles from
where this ship really is because of the age of the most recent report. Thats a
search area of more than 67,000 square miles!

Next:
a) Sign up for TimeCaster and we process those old messages into the most
complete and accurate current position of all ships worldwide.
b) Our Timecasted position reports are nearly always within 13 miles of the true
position of the vessel - a search area of only 530 square miles 10X better in
radius and 100X better in search area

A few of the groups that need surveillance systems instead of or in addition to

communication systems include:

Coast guards
Navies,
Environment ministries,
Ports
Search and rescue agencies
Ship owners who lease their ships to third parties
Shipping companies that need to track competitors ships
Many others

In summary, you can see that BOTH communication systems and surveillance systems
have their place.

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 To track MY ships, I have a communication system. To track
YOUR ships, I need a surveillance system.

Please dont hesitate to contact me directly for more information, to argue with me or just
to chat about this exciting industry that combines the adventures of both Sea and Space. I
can be reached at eric.meger@maerospace.com .

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