Ship Detection for KOMPSAT and RADARSAT/SAR Images: Field Experiments

Abstract

Two different sensors (here, KOMPSAT and RADARSAT) are considered for ship detection, and are used to delineate the detection performance for their data. The experiments are set for coastal regions of Mokpo Port and Ulsan Port and field experiments on board pilot boat are conducted to collect in situ ship validation information such as ship type and length. This paper introduce mainly the experiment result of ship detection by both RADARSAT SAR imagery and landbased RADAR data, operated by the local Authority of South Korea, so called vessel traffic system (VTS) radar. Fine imagery of Ulsan Port was acquired on June 19, 2004 and in-situ data such as wind speed and direction, taking pictures of ships and natural features were obtained aboard a pilot ship. North winds, with a maximum speed of 3.1 m/s were recorded. Ship's position, size and shape and natural features of breakwaters, oil pipeline and alongside ship were compared using SAR and VTS. It is shown that KOMPSAT/EOC has a good performance in the detection of a moving ship at a speed of 7 kts or more an hour that ship and its wake can be imaged. The detection capability of RADARSAT doesn’t matter how fast ship is running and depends on a ship itself, e.g. its material, length and type. Our results indicate that SAR can be applicable to automated ship detection for a VTS and SAR combination service.