Project Description
Automatic Identification System
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology and communication protocol has been adopted by the International Maritime Organization as an international standard for ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore and shore-to ship communication of navigation information. AIS users operating in proximity to each other automatically create a virtual network. Shore stations can join these virtual networks and receive shipboard AIS signals, perform network and frequency management, and send additional broadcast or individual informational messages to AIS equipped vessels.
As an alternative to traditional maritime voice communications, command center personnel will be able to transmit AIS messages (e.g., text messages) to individual vessels or multiple vessels in defined geographic areas and perform other functions designed into the international AIS standard.
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NAIS
The NAIS Project was initiated in response to the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 and officially chartered in December 2004.
The goal of NAIS is to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), with particular focus on improving maritime security, marine and navigational safety, search and rescue, and environmental protection services. NAIS will allow the USCG to collect vessel safety and security data from AIS-equipped vessels in the nation’s territorial waters and adjacent sea areas out to approximately 2,000 nautical miles and share the data with USCG operators and other government partners. AIS data collected by NAIS will improve the safety of vessels and ports through collision avoidance and the safety of the Nation through detection, identification, and classification of vessels when they are still hundreds of miles offshore.
Integrated System
NAIS will consist of an integrated system of AIS, data storage, processing, and networking infrastructure. NAIS will also be integrated with other systems for the purpose of sharing infrastructure, more quickly implementing the capability, and improving performance. The diagram below illustrates the potential NAIS infrastructure, systems that NAIS will likely be integrated with, and the flow of AIS information.
NAIS will send and receive AIS messages, via a very high frequency (VHF) data link, to and from AIS equipped vessels, Aids to Navigation, and search and rescue (SAR) aircraft. NAIS will leverage several types of platforms to support AIS receive and transmit infrastructure. While some support receive-only capabilities (e.g., satellites, buoys, and aircraft), others will support receive and transmit capabilities (e.g., towers and platforms). AIS message data will be transported between system components over a wide-area network (WAN) and diverse, remote site connectivity (e.g., leased analog circuits, microwave). NAIS will validate, filter, and store the data.
Some NAIS functions may be implemented by enhancing existing systems. While not part of NAIS, these systems are included in the context of the systems' operations because they will provide data processing functions (e.g., vessel tracking correlation, intelligence processing, anomaly detection) and necessary user interfaces. Some users of NAIS capabilities (e.g., Deepwater assets, foreign governments, and port partners) may indirectly access AIS data via other systems.
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