Maximizing Situational Awareness: Improving Situational Awareness with Global Positioning System Data in the Maritime Environment

摘要

U.S. Coast Guard mission is to daily conduct law enforcement in the dynamic and challenging maritime environment. Rapid advances in technology have the potential to dramatically improve the organization's capacity to conduct this mission. The ability to track and monitor suspect vessels, as well as the law enforcement personnel that board them, is a critical next step in the evolution of Maritime Interdiction. With the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and downward trend of GPS receiver costs and their form size, it is now possible to integrate positioning technology with software collaborative tools and wireless networking. The power of collaboration tools and real time positioning data offers the potential to deliver an entirely new and unique level of situational awareness to the law enforcement teams on the water as well as the command and control structure shore side. No longer does VHF radio need to be the sole form of communication between operational personnel and their commands. This thesis discusses the specific methods available for tagging and tracking individuals and vessels and explore the challenger and feasibility of deploying these technologies in the maritime environment.