Integrated maritime surveillance: protecting national sovereignty

Protection of national sovereignty requires the ongoing, systematic collection of data from a range of sensors and other sources and the assembly and maintenance of a picture of the position, classification, identification and movement of cooperative and non-cooperative ships, aircraft and hazards in the exclusive economic zone. Integrated maritime surveillance maintains a continuous and affordable real-time picture of ship and aircraft tracks to beyond the 200 nautical mile limit of the EEZ using land based HF and microwave radar systems. The system associates ancillary data from other sources to provide a knowledge-based "recognized maritime picture" and the most effective surveillance of all significant targets within the EEZ. Overlays of GIS referenced data such as sea-state, currents, ice, water temperature, phytoplankton, etc., can be included to support the deployment of air and surface assets and maximize their effectiveness in dealing with fisheries protection, drug interdiction, illegal immigration, terrorist threats, search and rescue and other aspects of national sovereignty.