Mobile MDA
Smartphone apps enable vessel identification and tracking
In the digital age, maritime domain awareness (MDA) can be gained not only with satellites, but also with smartphones. Whether you’re a commercial enterprise or seafaring tourist, mobile apps can deliver improved situational awareness at sea via valuable maritime capabilities, including:
Vessel tracking: Using real-time AIS signals, apps such as MarineTraffic, Ship Finder, Boat Watch, and VesselFinder allow users to track ships on a map from their mobile device. Several, including “pro” versions of Boat Watch and Ship Finder, offer augmented reality features, allowing users to identify vessels—learning their name, type, and destination—by viewing them through their phone’s camera.
Citizen reporting: Apps such as ShipWatch are designed to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by allowing fishermen to report questionable activity to authorities. All a user has to do is take a picture, tag it, and upload it to a central map. A similar tool, called Fish DB, allows fishermen to report illegal fishing activity via SMS text message, in case they lack an Internet connection.
Photo Credit: MarineTraffic
Return to feature story: Watching the Water
Posted in: Features Tagged in: 2014 Issue 4, Applications, Data, Homeland Security, Intelligence, Positioning / Navigation / Timing
Features
‘Geoinfluencers’ Rising
Meet two social media influencers whose viral content is taking GEOINT to the masses.
Features
Honoring The Fallen
A new NGA memorial honors the service members who died while supporting U.S. mapping missions as part of the Inter American Geodetic Survey.
Contributed, Features
No Matter Their Scale, NGA Maps Have Huge Impact
Despite the proliferation of GPS on smartphones and other digital devices, NGA’s partners continue to have a constant demand for digital and printed maps.