Multiple Ship Tracking Across Multiple LEO Satellites

Large constellations of small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) are expected to play a significant role in Earth observation services in the future. One important application area is wide-area maritime surveillance, which can provide continuous and dynamic information on ships contributing to enhanced maritime situational awareness. Unlike the information processing of only one satellite, ship tracking using multiple LEO satellites is a new research topic that requires an effective fusion of information from different sources. The paper introduces a modified DeepSORT tracking methodology that incorporates both motion and appearance features for multiple ship tracking across multiple LEO satellites. The effectiveness of the proposed techniques is verified through the case study area imaging by five commercial LEO satellites, which shows the application potential of the LEO satellite constellation in persistent maritime surveillance.