Phase Corrections of Small-Loop HF Radar System Receive Arrays With Ships of Opportunity

This paper is an extension of other work that addresses the use of radar echoes from ships of opportunity to determine the proper phase corrections for small-loop phased-array antennas used within high-frequency (HF) ground-wave radar systems. This technique also yields estimates for unknown ship bearings that (for cases where there is adequate signal-to-noise ratio of 20 dB or more) are consistent to within 2deg-3deg among measurements from independent radar frequencies. Within this paper, phase corrections gathered from actual ships of opportunity are compared to phase corrections gathered during a calibrated transponder run, in which the ship bearing is known. The phase corrections derived from the ship of opportunity presented in this paper were consistent with the known phase corrections to within 13.2deg (for the worst case). Furthermore, the estimates of the ship bearings collected from the two usable radar frequencies were consistent to within 1deg of each other     

基于弧段检测的高频地波雷达特定目标航迹跟踪方法研究

本文对现有的高频地波雷达目标跟踪方法进行了概述,提出了一种地波雷达目标长时连续跟踪的方法,基本思想是:充分挖掘航迹弧段特征,基于特征对船只运动建模,并结合杂波背景进行融合决策。进一步,为了达到长时间连续跟踪的需求,借鉴深度学习的思想,利用新获取的弧段数据对算法估计结果不断递归校正,使得随着获取数据的增加跟踪越准确。该方法适用于杂波环境且在航道附近存在众多干扰船只的情况下对机动目标航迹的实时稳定跟踪,为高频地波雷达在复杂干扰环境下特定目标持续跟踪提供理论基础和方法指导,为充分发挥地波雷达在海上监视监测中的作用提供技术支撑。     

Precise positioning for near-bottom equipment using a relay transponder

The Marine Physical Laboratory of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography has developed an acoustic relay transponder for precise relative positioning of near-bottom instruments and geologic sampling devices. Although specifically designed to position equipment lowered on standard wire ropes without a need to maintain direct electrical contact with the surface ship, the relay transponder may be used to track free vehicles, such as deep submersibles, from the surface. The relay transponder is positioned relative to an array of bottom-anchored acoustic transponders. It is interrogated acoustically from the surface ship; it then sequentially interrogates the bottom transponders which, in turn, reply to the ship. From the measurement of the total travel time (ship to relay transponder to bottom transponder to ship) and assuming, or knowing, the sound velocity of the water, we obtain a relayed range measurement. These relayed ranges, used in conjunction with ship to bottom-transponder ranges, allow us to calculate the position of the relay transponder. A recent application of this technique is described in which several gravity core samples from the crest of the Horizon Guyot were positioned with respect to the detailed bathymetry and the geology within the area. The estimated error in positioning the samples is less than 20 m inside a navigational net extending over 100 km².Contribution of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, new series.     

船只目标SAR、HFSWR和AIS多手段融合探测的点迹关联分析

A space-borne synthetic aperture radar （SAR）, a high frequency surface wave radar （HFSWR）, and a ship automatic identification system （AIS） are the main remote sensors for vessel monitoring in a wide range. These three sensors have their own advantages and weaknesses, and they can complement each other in some situations. So it would improve the capability of vessel target detection to use multiple sensors including SAR, HFSWR, and A/S to identify non-cooperative vessel targets from the fusion results. During the fusion process of multiple sensors＇ detection results, point association is one of the key steps, and it can affect the accuracy of the data fusion and the efficiency of a non-cooperative target＇s recognition. This study investigated the point association analyses of vessel target detection under different conditions： space- borne SAR paired with AIS, as well as HFSWR, paired with AIS, and the characteristics of the SAR and the HFSWR and their capability of vessel target detection. Then a point association method of multiple sensors was proposed. Finally, the thresholds selection of key parameters in the points association （including range threshold, radial velocity threshold, and azimuth threshold） were investigated, and their influences on final association results were analyzed.     

Target Classification and Remote Sensing of Ocean Current Shear Using a Dual-Use Multifrequency HF Radar

In this paper, we describe a high-frequency (HF) radar capable of multifrequency operation over the HF band for dual-use application to ship classification and mapping ocean current shear and vector winds. The radar is based on a digital transceiver peripheral component interconnect (PCI) card family that supports antenna arrays of four to 32 elements with a single computer, with larger arrays possible using multiple computers and receiver cards. The radar makes use of broadband loop antennas for receive elements, and a number of different possibilities for transmit antennas, depending on the operating bandwidth desired. An option exists in the choice of monostatic or multistatic operation, the latter providing the ability to use several transmit sites, with all radar echo signal reception and processing conducted at a single master receiver site. As applications for such a multifrequency radar capability, we show measurement and modeling examples of multiple frequency HF radar cross section (RCS) of ships as an approach to ship target classification. Results of using 32 radar frequencies to measure the fine structure in ocean current vertical shear are also shown, providing evidence of one edge of a 1-3-m deep uniform flow masked at the surface by wind-driven current shear in a different direction. Other applications of current-shear measurements, such as vector wind mapping and volumetric current estimation in coastal waters, are also discussed     

System-based investigation on 4-DOF ship maneuvering with hydrodynamic derivatives determined by RANS simulation of captive model tests

For the non-negligible roll-coupling effect on ship maneuvering motion, a system-based method is used to investigate 4-DOF ship maneuvering motion in calm water for the ONR tumblehome model. A 4-DOF MMG model is employed to describe ship maneuvering motion including surge, sway, roll, and yaw. Simulations of circular motion test, static drift and heel tests are performed by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, after a convergence study quantifying the necessary grid spacing and time step to resolve the flow field adequately. The local flow field is analyzed for the selected cases, and the global hydrodynamic forces acting on the ship model are compared with the available experiment data. Hydrodynamic derivatives relating to sway velocity, yaw rate, and heel angle are computed from the computed force/moment data using least square method, showing good agreement with those obtained from EFD data overall. In order to investigate further the validity of these derivatives, turning circle and zigzag tests are simulated by using the 4-DOF MMG model with these derivatives. The trajectories and the time histories of the kinematic variables show satisfactory agreement with the data of free-running model tests, indicating that the system-based method coupled with CFD simulation has promising capability to predict the 4-DOF ship maneuvering motion for the unconventional vessel.     

Numerical analysis on ship maneuvering coupled with ship motion in waves

This paper considers a numerical analysis of ship maneuvering performance in the presence of incident waves and resultant ship motion responses. To this end, a time-domain ship motion program is developed to solve the wave–body interaction problem with the ship slip speed and rotation, and it is coupled with a modular-type 4-DOF maneuvering problem. In this coupled problem, the second-order mean drift force, which can play an important role in the ship maneuvering trajectory, is estimated by using a direct pressure integration method. The developed method is validated by observing the second-order mean drift force, and planar trajectories in maneuvering tests with and without the presence of incident waves. The comparisons are made for two ship models, Series 60 with block coefficient 0.7 and the S-175 containership, with existing experimental data. The maneuvering tests observed in this study include a zig-zag test in calm water, and turning tests in calm water and in regular waves. The present results show a fair agreement of overall tendency in maneuvering trajectories.     

The use of artificial neural networks for the intelligent optimalcontrol of surface ships

Many conventional ship autopilots use proportional integral and derivative (PID) control algorithms to guide a ship on a fixed heading (course-keeping) or a new heading (course-changing). Such systems usually have a gyrocompass as a single sensory input. Modern sea going vessels have a range of navigation aids most of which may be interconnected to form integrated systems. It is possible to employ the navigational data to provide best estimates of state vectors (Kalman filter) and optimal guidance strategies. Such techniques require powerful computing facilities, particularly if the dynamic characteristics of the vessel are changing, as may be the case in a maneuvering situation or changes in forward speed. This paper investigates the possibility of training a neural network to behave in the same manner as an optimal ship guidance system, the objective being to provide a system that can adapt its parameters so that it provides optimal performance over a range of conditions, without incurring a large computational penalty. A series of simulation studies have been undertaken to compare the performance of a trained neural network with that of the original optimal guidance system over a range of forward speeds. It is demonstrated that a single network has comparable performance to a set of optimal guidance control laws, each computed for different forward speeds     

Optimized support vector regression algorithm-based modeling of ship dynamics

This study contributes to solving the problem of how to derive a simplistic model feasible for describing dynamics of different types of ships for maneuvering simulation employed to study maritime traffic and furthermore to provide ship models for simulation-based engineering test-beds. The problem is first addressed with the modification and simplification of a complicated and nonlinearly coupling vectorial representation in 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) to a 3 DOF model in a simple form for simultaneously capturing surge motions and steering motions based on several pieces of reasonable assumptions. The created simple dynamic model is aiming to be useful for different types of ships only with minor modifications on the experiment setup. Another issue concerning the proposed problem is the estimation of parameters in the model through a suitable technique, which is investigated by using the system identification in combination with full-scale ship trail tests, e.g., standard zigzag maneuvers. To improve the global optimization ability of support vector regression algorithm (SVR) based identification method, the artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) presenting superior optimization performance with the advantage of few control parameters is used to optimize and assign the particular settings for structural parameters of SVR. Afterward, the simulation study on identifying a simplified dynamic model for a large container ship verifies the effectiveness of the optimized identification method at the same time inspires special considerations on further simplification of the initially simplified dynamic model. Finally, the further simplified dynamic model is validated through not only the simulation study on a container ship but also the experimental study on an unmanned surface vessel so-called I-Nav-II vessel. Either simulation study results or experimental study results demonstrate a valid model in a simple form for describing the dynamics of different types’ ships and also validate the performance of the proposed parameter estimation method.     

Parametric estimation of ship maneuvering motion with integral sample structure for identification

This documentation presents the parametric identification modeling of ship maneuvering motion with integral sample structure for identification (ISSI) and Euler sample structure for identification (ESSI) based on least square support vector machines (LS-SVM), where ISSI is used for the construction of in–out sample pairs. By using Mariner Class Vessel, the sample dataset are obtained from 15°/15° zigzag maneuvering simulation based on Abkowitz model. By analyzing the simulation data including rudder angle, surge velocity, sway velocity, yaw rate and so forth, the hydrodynamic derivatives in Abkowitz model are all identified. The validation of the proposed identification algorithm is verified by the high precisions of the identified hydrodynamic derivatives and maneuvering prediction results. The comparison is also conducted between the proposed ISSI and the conventional Euler sample structure for identification (ESSI), and the experimental results shows that ISSI is much more appropriate for parametric identification modeling of ship maneuvering motion.     

Estimation of the Roll Hydrodynamic Moment Model of a Ship by Using the System Identification Method and the Free Running Model Test

When a fast container ship or a naval vessel turns, accompanying roll motions occur. This roll effect must be considered in the horizontal equations of the motion of the ship to predict the maneuverability of the ship properly. In this paper, a new method for determining a model structure of the hydrodynamic roll moment acting on a ship and for estimating the hydrodynamic coefficients is proposed. The method utilizes a system identification technique with the data from sea trial tests or from free running model (FRM) tests. To obtain motion data that is applied to the proposed algorithm, an FRM of a large container ship was developed. Using this model ship, standard maneuvering tests were carried out on a small body of water out of doors. A hydrodynamic roll moment model was constructed utilizing the data from turning circle tests and a 20-20 zig-zag test. This was then confirmed through a 10-10 zig-zag test. It was concluded that a model structure of the hydrodynamic roll moment model could be established without difficulty through a system identification method and FRM tests.     

Installing single-propeller twin-rudder system with less asymmetric maneuvering motions

The inflow characteristics to each one of the rudders of single-propeller twin-rudder system are investigated. It is shown that this inflow is not parallel to ship's centerline. This may result in asymmetric maneuvering characteristic of the ship thereby reducing ship's maneuvering performance. For this purpose, a method of installing single-propeller twin-rudder system is proposed. This method is called “virtual zero rudder angle” arrangement. Here, each one of the twin-rudder is set at an angle corresponding to the inflow to the rudder. The improvement in ship's maneuvering characteristics with “virtual zero rudder angle” arrangement is investigated using experiments and numerical simulations for different ship types. It is shown that this arrangement may also improve ship's propulsion performance.     

Ship detection with high-resolution HF skywave radar

This paper presents an overview of ship detection by high-frequency (HF) skywave backscatter over-the-horizon radar (OTHR). Ships have been detected at ranges of 2000 km or more by OTHR that uses sufficient resolution in the radar spatial and Doppler frequency domains. The HF sea-echo Doppler spectrum limits the target signal-to-clutter ratio (SCR), as a function of the ocean wave-height distribution, wind direction, radio frequency, and ship target radial velocity. Maximum sea-clutter spectrum purity, and hence larger SCR, is achieved with the use of stable single-mode ionospheric propagation. Real-time measurement and interpretation of ionospheric propagation features therefore must guide the choice of OTHR operating frequency. Experimental data recorded at the ONR/SR1 Wide Aperture Research Facility (WARF) bistatic OTHR in central California demonstrate reliable ship detection in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. WARF transmits 1-MW average effective radiated power, using a linear frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) waveform, and receives with a 2.55-km broadside array of vertical monopole element pairs. Swept bandwidths as high as 200 kHz have been used. Sufficient spectral resolution is achieved with a coherent integration time (CIT) of 12.8 s. Longer CIT, and autoregressive (AR) spectral analysis techniques such as Marple's algorithm, have been used to improve Doppler resolution.     

Alternative approach for dynamic-positioning thrust allocation using linear pseudo-inverse model

Application of ship Dynamic-Positioning systems strongly depends on physical ability of actuators (Thrusters) in providing commanded loads. This will consequently introduce some constraints and limitations to Thrust Allocation problem in design and control of such systems. However, there is a special case in which a simple explicit solution could be found by fixing orientation of azimuth thruster relative to vessel regarded as linear model. In this paper, three new alternative approaches based on linear model are introduced. Case study is a time domain simulation of Station-Keeping (instant Point-Tracking) operation for a supply vessel called Northern Clipper in North Sea with Beaufort number 6. As is evident by results, these approaches improve maneuvering performance and power consumption efficiency compared to the conventional linear model. Results show improved robustness of yaw control in Point-Tracking operation and decreased overall consumption of power compared to linear model. Furthermore, it is apparent from the results that these approaches are particularly efficient in tunnel thrusters compared to linear counterpart.     

Precise Positioning of Ocean Bottom Seismometer by Using Acoustic Transponder and CTD

We have obtained precise estimates of the position of Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) on the sea bottom. Such estimates are usually uncertain due to their free falling deployment. This uncertainty is small enough, or is correctable, with OBS spacing of more than 10 km usually employed in crustal studies. But, for example, if the spacing is only 200 m for OBS reflection studies, estimates of the position with an accuracy of the order of 10 m or more is required.The determination was carried out with the slant range data, ship position data and a 1D acoustic velocity structure calculated from Conductivity–Temperature–Depth (CTD) data, if they are available. The slant range data were obtained by an acoustic transponder system designed for the sinker releasing of the OBS or travel time data of direct water wave arrivals by airgun shooting. The ship position data was obtained by a single GPS or DGPS. The method of calculation was similar to those used for earthquake hypocenter determination.The results indicate that the accuracy of determined OBS positions is enough for present OBS experiments, which becomes order of 1 m by using the DGPS and of less than 10 m by using the single GPS, if we measure the distance from several positions at the sea surface by using a transponder system which is not designed for the precise ranging. The geometry of calling positions is most important to determine the OBS position, even if we use the data with larger error, such as the direct water wave arrival data. The 1D acoustic velocity structure should be required for the correct depth of the OBS. Although it is rare that we use a CTD, even an empirical velocity structure works well.     

Multi-Innovation Gradient Iterative Locally Weighted Learning Identification for A Nonlinear Ship Maneuvering System

This paper explores a highly accurate identification modeling approach for the ship maneuvering motion with fullscale trial. A multi-innovation gradient iterative (MIGI) approach is proposed to optimize the distance metric of locally weighted learning (LWL), and a novel non-parametric modeling technique is developed for a nonlinear ship maneuvering system. This proposed method's advantages are as follows: first, it can avoid the unmodeled dynamics and multicollinearity inherent to the conventional parametric model; second, it eliminates the over-learning or underlearning and obtains the optimal distance metric; and third, the MIGI is not sensitive to the initial parameter value and requires less time during the training phase. These advantages result in a highly accurate mathematical modeling technique that can be conveniently implemented in applications. To verify the characteristics of this mathematical model, two examples are used as the model platforms to study the ship maneuvering.     

高频地波雷达海杂波背景下的船只目标检测研究进展

针对海杂波对高频地波雷达目标检测的干扰问题,分目标处于海杂波谱区之内和之外两种情况综述了海杂波背景下的目标检测方法。对于海杂波内目标检测的难题,介绍了一种基于现场海态同步观测信息的检测新思路以及初步验证结果。对国内外相关研究进展的归纳总结和新思路的提出,为提出更加有效的海杂波干扰下的目标检测方法提供了重要的参考。     

Parallel trajectory planning for shipborne Autonomous collision avoidance system

Collision at sea is always a significant issue affecting the safety of ship navigation. The shipborne autonomous collision avoidance system (SACAS) has the great advantage to minimize collision accidents in ship navigation. A parallel trajectory planning architecture is proposed in this paper for SACAS system. The fully-coupled deliberative planner based on the modified RRT algorithm is developed to search for optimal global trajectory in a low re-planning frequency. The fully-coupled reactive planner based on the modified DW algorithm is developed to generate the optimal local trajectory in a high re-planning frequency to counteract the unexpected behavior of dynamic obstacles in the vicinity of the vessel. The obstacle constraints, ship maneuvering constraints, COLREGs rules, trajectory optimality, and real-time requirements are satisfied simultaneously in both global and local planning to ensure the collision-free optimal navigation in compliance with COLREGs rules. The on-water tests of a trimaran model equipped with a model-scale SACAS system are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. The good balance between the computational efficiency and trajectory optimality is achieved in parallel trajectory planning.     

高频地波雷达海杂波背景下的船只目标检测研究进展

针对高频地波雷达目标检测的海杂波干扰问题,分为目标处于海杂波谱区之内和之外两种情况综述了海杂波背景下的目标检测方法。对于海杂波谱区内目标检测的难题,介绍了一种基于现场海态同步观测信息的检测新思路以及初步验证结果。对国内外相关研究进展的归纳总结和新思路的提出,为深入研究相关方法,解决海杂波干扰下的目标检测问题提供了重要的参考。     

The status of geological dredging techniques

Scientific sea-floor dredging is currently used in marine geology primarily by the hard-rock community interested in the recovery of basement rock samples from the unsedimented deep ocean floor. The technique has generally been eclipsed by ocean drilling for recovery of sedimentary rocks, because of perceived uncertainties in the location of sampling and in the representativeness of recovered material. This contribution reviews dredging equipment currently in use by marine geological institutions and refers to pinger attachments that allow precise information on the behaviour of the dredge to be telemetered back to the ship. We argue that improvements in ship navigation and transponder navigation at the seafloor, when used in conjunction with surface and/or deeply towed sidescan and swathemapping surveys, now allow for considerably less uncertainty on the location of dredge sampling. Refined sorting criteria for dredge hauls are now also available. Recent comparisons of regional sample recovery by ocean drilling and by dredge sampling indicate that the dredge hauls can usefully supplement the drilling data in the construction of sedimentary and tectonic histories of seafloor areas.