Asset network planning: Integration of environmental data and sensor performance for counter piracy

An operation planning system, integrating dynamic environmental forecasts and satellite Automatic Identification System sensor performance surfaces, to improve maritime traffic situation awareness is proposed and tested. Multi-objective evolutionary algorithms are used to optimize a network of monitoring assets with respect to a combined surveillance and piracy activity risk metric, the network area coverage and the mission cost, under given spatial and kinematic constraints. Pareto efficient solutions are provided, each representing a tradeoff among mission objectives. Tests in a counter piracy operational scenario with real-world hindcast data and sensor performance surfaces show the effectiveness of the methodology in improving surveillance efficiency.