Surveying coastal ship traffic with LANDSAT

A semi-automated algorithm was developed to detect ships in LANDSAT 7 images. The algorithm combines multispectral and pattern recognition methods to discriminate ships from ocean clutter. Automated processing enables us to process a large number of images and gather a statistical picture of ship traffic patterns. As a test case we applied the algorithm on 54 LANDSAT images in the area of Jacksonville, FL, from the period 1999-2003. The area and time period are the same as an earlier ship traffic study by Ward-Geiger et al. using ship reports in the Mandatory Ship Reporting System (MSRS). The similarities between the two studies suggest that LANDSAT is a good alternative for surveying nearshore ship traffic.