Determination of Channel Boundary and Customary Anchorage Based on AIS Data

The rapid increase of treatment in seaports is continually posing higher challenges for channel management and construction. Due to the diversity of ship navigation habits, in real-world channels, there are traffic management problems caused by ambiguous channel boundaries and the existence of unofficial customary anchorages, which impend scientific planning and full utilization of water areas. In this research, we propose a method based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data to explicitly determine channel boundaries and customary anchorages, this is achieved by parallel processing of large-scale AIS data, vessel’s navigation characteristics analysis based on probability theory, rasterization processing of spatial data, etc. It aims to quantify and visualize the characteristics of the complex channel traffic network, thereby assisting the management and planning of the channel network as well as optimizing the management of the coastal channel traffic network. Extensive numerical studies utilizing AIS data from Hangzhou Bay are illustrated to evaluate the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective in determining the channel boundary and customary anchorage. Moreover, the method provides some ideas for the digitalization and intelligence of the coastal channel network analysis.