How can Automatic Identification System (AIS) data be used for maritime spatial planning?

Abstract

Although the importance of Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) as a concept is now acknowledged and the legal framework is in place, the task of applying it remains a delicate one. One of the keys to success is having pertinent data. Knowing how maritime uses unfold in a spatio-temporal context, and what conflicting or synergistic interactions exist between activities, is crucial. However, this information is especially hard to obtain in a marine environment. As a result this information has often been identified as the missing layer in information systems developed by maritime stakeholders. Since 2002, the Automatic Identification System (AIS) has been undergoing a major development. Allowing for real time geo-tracking and identification for equipped vessels, the data that issues from AIS data promises to map and describe certain marine human activities. After recapitulating the main characteristics of AIS and the data it provides, this article proposes to evaluate how AIS is currently used in MSP at a European level, and to concisely present a series of methods and results obtained within the framework of several operational research projects. The objective is to illustrate how the AIS data processing and analysis can produce adequate information for MSP: maritime traffic density, shipping lanes and navigation flows, hierarchical network of maritime routes, alleged fishing zones, spatio-temporal interactions between activities (potential conflicting uses or synergies). The conclusion looks in particular at the legal questions concerning the use of AIS.

Exploring uses of maritime surveillance data for marine spatial planning: A review of scientific literature

“…State services and port authorities surveillance systems, often operated by shore-side Vessel Traffic Services (VTS [34]), produce tremendously large amounts of data, and its uses in delayed time open new perspectives to inform the spatial and temporal footprint of activities (e.g. [18]) particularly because of their continuous and systematic nature.…”

“…Contributions from these data to Marine Spatial Planning have started to be scientifically documented in a few cases [18,35], and could a priori be diverse: for environmental purposes, to apprehend, avoid, reduce or compensate impacts of activities, as well as for economical ones, to anticipate and mitigate conflicts of use, to find space for new activities or for activities to assert their interest, for instance.…”

“…If Le Tixerant et al (2018) [18] have already studied some contributions of AIS data for MSP, the contributions of maritime surveillance data as a whole for planning purposes has yet to be assessed on a global scale.…”

“…Of the 63 papers from Set 2', only 2 described actual use of maritime surveillance data in MSP initiatives: as a way to manage fisheries in the Ascension Island [41] and to take into account shipping activities in European MSP initiatives [18]. Others either promoted its use (43 papers) or identified a potential for usage (18 papers).…”

“…on activity areas, individual and cumulative environmental impacts, economic production as well as social aspects [15][16][17]. While comprehension of marine ecosystems is building up, knowledge of maritime activities was still recently considered an almost blind spot [18], shaped by the "freedom of the seas" [19]. In particular, apprehension of the spatial and temporal distribution of activities at sea remains fragmentary, and sometimes subjective [20].…”