Login or register:
Login:
Password:
Register!


Imageserver Favorite:


Portfolio Galleries:
Animals
Architecture
Flowers
Landscape
People
Wildlife

Recent Subjects:
Landout
5-inch sky robot
Vacuum printing
e-bike
Farnsworth Fusor


Search:


Resources:
ImageServer

Friends:
Jon Sullivan
Mark Blair


New Articles:

Southern California Glider Landout Database
Soaring
5-Inch Sky Robot
FDM in Vacuum
Gin
Books
Hacktastic e-bike
Farnsworth Fusor
Land Anchor
Turchickentato
Bowmaking
Custom Discovery Roof Rack
August, 2012 - Sierra Backpacking
July 22nd, 2012 - Hiking in Santa Barbara
July 15th, 2012 - Valley of Fire
May 5th, 2012 - Afton Canyon
April 28th, 2012 - Devils Playground
Alpine Tripod
Convict Creek Trail
January 2012 - Mustangs
January 3rd, 2012 - Heart Lake
August 7th, 2011 - Kelso Dunes
August 5th, 2011 - Lundy Canyon Hike
August 2011, Mammoth Archery
Birds in the garden
June 4th, 2011 - San Gorgonio
May 29th, 2011 - Sequoia National Forest
April 23rd, 2011 - Living Desert
April 2nd, 2011 - Death Valley
March 8th, 2011 - Mountain Palm Springs
February 13th, 2011 - Iron Smelt
Blacksmithing
November 13th, 2010 - Mojave
October, 2010 - Mammoth
Android
September, 2010 - Mammoth
September, 2010 - Duck Lake Trail Backpacking
Red
Iron bloom forging
August 28th, 2010 - Mt. San Jacinto
OSM Import: US Designated Wilderness
July 25th, 2010 - Mojave Mustangs
July 17th, 2010 - Mojave Exploration
Bloomery furnace iron smelting
Open Street Map: Mojave Project
June 13th, 2010 - Mojave
June 6th, 2010 - El Cajon Trails
Wolf Mountain Sanctuary
Carrizo Gorge
March 28th, 2010 - Salton Sea
March 21st, 2010 - South Main Divide
March 13th, 2010 - Anza Borrego Wildflowers
March 7th, 2010 - CSULB Japanese Garden
February 2010 - Mammoth
GeoRSS
AISlib
OpenStreetMap
Dakota and Asha Celebrate Christmas, 2009
November 21st, 2009 - Mojave Road
November 14th, 2009 - Anza Borrego
Exploring The East Mojave: The Afton Canyon Area
Broken flex plate
Remote Image Serving
Astro/night photography in Inyo National Forest
Wild Mustang Sightings
RSS
September 26th, 2009 - Night Photography In Frazier Park
Whiskey
Brandy
August 15th, 2009 - Catalina dive trip
Astrophotography
Sensornet
January 24th, 2009 - Mojave Exploration
July 2008 Mammoth Vacation
AIS
President Barack Obama!
Rachel Maddow
Big Geek
Barack Obama
April 12th, 2008 - Wildflowers and Landmarks
My Grandfather's Alfa Romeo Spider
March 8th, 2008 - Carrizo Plain
Bridge To Nowhere
High Availability
October 20th, 2007 - Big Bear Camping
October 22nd, 2007 - Fire
Scottish Highlands, Aug 7th, 2006
Scottish Highlands, Aug 6th, 2006
August 5th, 2007 - Duck Lake Trail
May 26th, 2007 - Kelso Dunes
Culloden Battlefield, Aug 5th, 2006
May 20th, 2006 - Irwindale Renaissance Faire
Edinburgh, Aug 4th, 2006
The Clifs of Moher, Aug 3rd, 2006
The Burren, Aug 2nd, 2006
Bunratty Castle, Aug 1st, 2006
May 5th, 2007 - Mojave
Truck Audio/Data Network
2007 - Master Bath Remodel
Centrum: Exit
The Ring of Kerry, Jul 31st, 2006
Nikon D200
Victory in 2006!
Blarney and Killarney, Jul 30th, 2006
Dublin and Cork, Jul 29th, 2006
Dublin, Jul 27th & 28th, 2006
Married!
What Can I Do?
April 30th, 2006 - Anza Borrego
New desktop: Intel 805 D
Macro Photography
Jan 7th and 14th, 2006 - Hiking
Whiting Ranch Hiking
Engaged!
Digital Photography with Linux
September 5th, 2005 - Living Desert
August 19th, 2005 - Mammoth
Hiking and Photography
July 30th, 2005 - Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary
Nikon D70
Death, Fright and Photography
Mmmmmm Eggs
MythTV
Inova T4
May 14th, 2005 - Red Rock
April 2nd, 2005 - Death Valley
Count Every Vote Act of 2005
Image Archiving
Linear Logic ScanGuage
Gentoo Linux
November 6, 2004 - Mojave
Super Tuesday, 2004
John Kerry
Kayaking
Irish Stew
ImageServer
Ireland, 2004
Canon A80 Camera
Jul 25, 2004 - Death Valley
Chronic Hiccups
May 4th, 2004
Landscaping - My Front Slope
Stump Pullin' Yeeee Haw!
Feb 22nd, 2004
Feb 16th, 2004
PostgreSQL Logfile Analysis
Spam
Mountains? Desert? Jan 30th, 2004
Jan 28th, 2004
Encryption
Ceiling Cargo Basket
Front Bumper Version 2
Asha
Exide Orbitals
Land Rover Valve Jobs
Spirits
The Matrix: Revolutions
Halloween 2003
Greg Davis CDL Linkage
Ouzo
Democracy
Mom's Turkey Gravy
Grandma's Guacamole
Top Nodes
Julian Pie Company
DeCSS
The KB1DIG 2-meter Halo Antenna
Incomming searches
Gardening is hard!
Aug 13th, 2003
SQL and Perl
Cancun 2003
Jul 9th, 2003
Aprs intelegence
Jun 17th, 2003
Some People's Comments
Dakota is a silly dog
The Matrix: Reloaded
Chris' Stage Bottle Harness
April 23rd, 2003
Cracked Radiator!
Black Wednesday
DVD Burning Under Linux
My Satellite Phone
Wind!
My Near-Death Experience
Laser Cannon Revival
Front Bumper, Version 2
SpamAssassin
The Critters
Dakota
Milton
KPC 3 Plus and HTX-252
My House
Moving, moving moving...
Mobile 1
Portola Hills
New new house
Suse Linux
Database images
In Truck Dr. Pepper
My Favorite Toilet
Kelso Dunes
Desert Trips
Ifulmuh
Late Thoughts: Dr. Pepper Cooler
265/75-R16 Tires on a DII
Linux
George W. Bush
Rants
Driving
Reservations
Horses Sep 14 2002
Obsession
August 17th Yukon Dives
Less notifications
My Custom Front Bumper
Bracketless, Renamable Links
Discreet Winch
Welding
Jul 28 2002 Day Trip
My Firewall
Jedi Group, my T1 and money
A Bumperless Discovery!
My Custom Rear Bumper
Vanessa's 24th Birthday
Jun 30th Dive to Long Beach Canyon
PHP/PostgreSQL String Quoting
Tonsillectomy, Uvulaectomy and Turbinite Reduction
Searching functionality
240 Watt CO2 Laser Cannon
My Workspace
Dr. Pepper
The Tulsa Rib Company
The quality of hard disks these days
Email notification of articles
Email notification of comments
erikburrows.com source code
User Bios
User Preferences
Login feature
Renisance Faire Jun 9, 2002
Computers hate me, and it is mutual.
Star Wars Sucks!
Horses, Jun 1, 2002
Land Rover Mileage
Insomnia, Robin goes evil.
100 Watt Diode Laser Test Firing 1
Amateur Radio
The Matrix
2001: A Space Odyssey
TDI Deco Class
Horses, Apr 30, 2002
APRS
Movies
Blackbird
My Truck Batteries
My Truck
Vasquez Rocks
The Zope Bible
PSK31
Mojave Apr-12-2002
100 Watt Diode Laser
The New www.erikburrows.com
Hunter the Kitty
Horses
Geeks
Yukon May-13-2001
Computers
Matts Desert Pics
Mojave Feb-10-2001
Mojave Apr-01-2001
Programming Languages
Ironage Jul-4-2001
Mojave Jan-27-2001
Ironage Feb-03-2001
Mojave Jun-09-2001
SCUBA
Jedi Group
AIS   -   2008/11/19Viewed 159 times this month, last update: 2009/08/24


aishub

Automatic Information System (AIS) is a digital packet radio system, similar to the ham-radio APRS system, but for (usually) large ocean-going vessels. AIS allows ships to transmit their position, speed, course, ship-type, and many, many other details, so that other ships in the area can have a better situational awareness, which is better for everybody!

AIS has many more functions than just positional data beaconing. AIS can be used for communication of almost any kind of information. AIS is used by draw-bridge operators, search-and-rescue teams, and the military. An AIS system is mandated for large ships, but even some smaller craft have AIS gear. my boat, even being just a 23 footer will have an AIS box, but it is likely to be one of the smallest craft transmitting!

Chris and I would like to use AIS on our boat to help in navigation and communication. So, we've got the radio hardware, and we're developing the software to make it work. To this end, I've written some data-handling applications, and I'm working on plug-in to the OpenMap program, to plot AIS data on a map. See the aislib and openmap-ais modules in my CVS repository!


Here's a screenshot of my OpenMAP AIS layer showing San Pedro harbor, with NOAA's harbor detail map overlayed on some Topo maps:


Here's a screenshot showing all the activity around Greece and Turkey:


And here's another screenshot showing San Pedro harbor, zoomed in with about 12 hours of trails:


Also check out MarineTraffic.com to see a great internet-connected AIS mapping system.

Update: 2009/03/22 Santiago Mountain AIS Coverage Maps
Yesterday Chris and I took the truck up Maple Springs Road out of Santiago Canyon up to Main Divide road on Santiago Mountain to see how well we could receive AIS messages from the mountaintop.
We took along one of Chris' SeaTex AIS transceivers, and my laptop with my OpenMap AIS layer running, so we could plot received position reports relative to our own position, and so get a rough outline of that position's AIS coverage.
We didn't get to go up to Modjeska or Santiago peaks because the roads were closed (probably from snow), but we did get to try it the more northern peaks, and got some VERY good results!

From Beat Flats, right at the top of Maple Springs Road, and with Modjeska Peak blocking much of the Southeast, we got this map. I know there is a transmitting AIS station right at San Diego harbor's northern point that we're not seeing here, but otherwise this shows a coverage of at least 150 miles to the South and about 100 miles to the Northwest. Not bad at all!
From Pleasant's Peak, which is about 1000 feet lower, but is less obstructed, we see a similar picture, but now two ships behind Catalina Island pop up. This shows we're actually seeing over the island, which makes the westerly reception as good as the southern reception: at least 150 miles!
From Sierra Peak the coverage extends more than 200 miles to the south, as far Northwest as Santa Cruz Island, but possibly doesn't see over Catalina Island.
I'm sure the coverage from Modjeska or Santiago Peak would be even better, but these show that even these lower peaks have extremely good coverage of not just AIS, but the entire Southern California region west of the mountain range!

Update: 2009/04/05 Santiago Peak AIS Coverage Maps
Last weekend we finally got up to the Santiago and Modjeska peaks to check for AIS coverage. As expected, the coverage was outstanding, perfect in places. From both peaks, we could see AIS stations INSIDE each of San Pedro, Newport, Dana Point, Oceanside and even San Diego harbors.

Absolutely perfect reception from Santiago Peak.
And perfect reception from Modjeska Peak.

Update: 2009/08/24 House Coverage Maps
This time the map is a similar area, but blue dots for position reports heard from my house, and red dots for position reports from Chris' house.


Comments:
Click Here to view the first 1 comments to this article!

Erik (2008-11-25): Gersh,
Sorry about that, I didn't realize my CVS viewer program didn't allow directory-download. I've compiled packages for the two modules, for download until I get something more clean figured out:

aislib-0.0.1.tar.gz
openmap-ais-0.0.1.tar.gz

ShipsMate (2009-02-22): Hi Erik,
AIS was brought in after 9/11 to give us MORE security. You should know that your sending of your AIS data to the web causes a security risk for us professional seafarers and it has been condemned by IMO. See under Maritime Security at the following link:
http://www.imo.org/Safety/mainframe.asp?topic_id=754


Erik (2009-02-22): ShipsMate,
Paragraph 2 of the article you linked to contains the following:

"In 2000, IMO adopted a new requirement (as part of a revised new chapter V) for all ships to carry automatic identification systems (AISs)..."

9/11 has nothing to do with AIS's introduction, and no changes to the AIS specification occurred as a result of 9/11.

AIS messages are a standardized, unencrypted broadcast format, able to be received by anyone who can tune a radio to channel 87/88. Rebroadcasting these messages in any form (including over the internet) is perfectly legal.

Clamping down on the dissemination of information is one of the least effective means of increasing security, and one of the most damaging to innovation.

Increasing use of technologies like AIS, through greater adoption is a great way to increase safety, and my software helps accomplish that.

ShipsMate (2009-02-23): Erik, the implementation Date for AIS was brought forward because of 9/11, so 9/11 has plenty to do with the introduction of AIS.
You are also conveniently ignoring the paragraph in the article which relates to Maritime Security and condemns people like yourself who publish AIS data onto the Internet, through the 'aishub.net' apparently in your case.
As professional mariners, we have worked hard to put in place the IMO ISPS code, only to find people like you trying to undermine it, for no good reason.
Your software is just reproducing ideas which are already several years old and by publishing our AIS data to the Web you are doing nothing but reducing our security.


Erik (2009-02-23): ShipsMate,
I'm not ignoring anything. I simply disagree with the IMO opinion, and I disagree with your assertion that I'm making anyone less safe. I think greater adoption of AIS makes people more safe. My software is free, published under the GPL, and so is much more accessible than $5000 hardware boxes.

Erik (2009-02-23): One more thing ShipsMate: I've been contacted by several people looking to use my software to track and map their own ship's location, which of course is what I do too. One person wanted to track their company's fleet of tug boats from their office base station. That they know better where their boats are is better for the company, and better for the crew, in case of an emergency. This use is a great example of how free software speeds technology adoption, which in this case, increases safety.

ShipsMate (2009-02-28): Erik, let us compare who has the most expertise in marine security then. On the one hand we have IMO, whose staff and advisers are specialists in the subject with a combined severl hundred years of experience and who administer the ISPS code around the World. On the other hand we have you, with absolutely no training in professional marine security. So a fair summary would be that you have no knowledge of the subject but that you are casually putting seafarer's lives at risks through making your data available to anyone on the 'aishub.net'.

You are indeed ignoring IMO and you are trying to use the example of your software being of interest to a tug operator to justify your totally insecure transmission of AIS data for ALL ships onward to 'aishub.net'. I am afraid that you do not have much knowledge of AIS in general either and that you are misleading people. No one needs a $5000 hardware box and the software for something as simple as a company wishing to manage their own fleet of tugs is already both widely and freely available and in a secure version too, much better than yours. I was ashore in a tug operator's office the other day and they have a brilliant system which is SECURE too!

Stop putting our lives at risk, there is no reason for you to do so. There have alredy been a number of deaths around the World this year due to marine terrorism and I ask you to consider how you will feel when the next crewman dies.


Erik (2009-03-01): ShipsMate,
I appreciate that you are concerned for the welfare of sailors around the world. I understand your point of view that open dissemination of ship positional data is a security risk.

However, as I have already stated, my point of view is different and in my mind fully justified, as I have already described. I fundamentally disagree with the concept of information restriction being the correct way to implement security. I see that view point as short-sighted:

Clamping down on information only hurts innovation and less-well-funded individuals. A terrorist organization will not be hampered by such tactics, as they could easily buy an AIS transceiver at any marine store, and from miles away see any ship's position they want. Showing people where ships are that are thousands of miles away makes no one less secure, but restricting the technology to do so does damage innovation, creativity, and open information exchange.

Clear sailing.

MindOpen (2009-03-08): Erik, i strongly agree with your points made. AIS stays in public domain, reception and viewing of signals hurts nobody. What we are talking here is Fear, which is restricting our lives anyway more and more. Producing knowledge is a good way to overcome pointless arguments.
Lars, digital-seas.com

Erik (2009-03-08): Thanks MindOpen, Fleetmon looks awesome! It's unbelievable to me what people like you are doing with the html and javascript these days!

Peter Stoyanov (AISHub) (2009-03-10): IMO admits that "...AIS is the broadcasting device and information will be made available for everyone without any discrimination..." and "...AIS itself is a tool used in an information collection system and we can not prevent people misusing that information..." (URL http://www.imo.org/Newsroom/mainframe.asp?topic_id=897#aisworry ).
Why we are talking about security when unencrypted information is available for everyone? Everybody can purchase AIS receiver and receive the information without leaving his "footprints" on public web sites and web server logs. AIS provides no security at all!

gersh (2009-03-13): more about AIS, I know that the American Navy pushes to open up AIS data... for security reasons. NATO has his own AIS network (using MSSIS) that is opened to (almost) everybody. Also several websites serves AIS (aislive or marinetraffic) some for free.
Moreover AIS had nothing to do with 9/11. It is a safety regulation (to prevent collision. It just happened that people with an atenna on the coast can gather a good picture of the surroundings.
Now there are even satellite to gather AIS (such as the one launched by luxspace) and only in Europe, 10 satellites will be offering services to get AIS by the end of the year.

The thing is that IMO did not expect this misuse of AIS.

As for terrorist, the main concern is not about AIS, it is more about ships not having AIS.

that is why IMO have released a new regulation (LRIT) to address 9/11 concern

Kindigulous (2009-03-24): "As we look at maritime security now, we can see that the ISPS code, and the fitting of AIS and reporting systems to alert on piracy attacks are in place. This demonstrates that the maritime industry has been proactive in making the maritime domain safer for vessels and seafarers." - Violence at Sea by Peter Lehr.

Conclusion: wider adoption = better security; public contribution contributes to wider adoption. ShipMate's concerns are fear-based and not forward thinking. Keep up the good work Erik!

Paolo (2009-03-30): Hey Erik!
I write from Italy, I'm using your layer to displays AIS data of my classB device.
One question: why does it not displays positions of AIS ground stations? I know there's one installed on a hill a couple of Km far from me, but I can't see it on the Openmap display.

Ciao

Erik (2009-03-30): Paolo,
Can you send me a file with the NMEA output of your device? An hour or so would be fine, and I can re-run it and see if messages are being rejected or mis-interpreted. Just email it to erik@erikburrows.com

Peter Stoyanov (2009-04-02): I am very glad that you guys support Erik's work. Our team began AISHub AIS data sharing project to help all people who develop AIS related software and I'm very happy that Erik was one of the first contributors to our server.

L.Azevedo (2009-04-15): Hi
I am broker and consultant working in shipping for over 30 years in Lisbon, and would like to comment only the following: AIS is very important for the seas and maritime activities being integrated in society where they belong. It is not by hidding info from the public and various stakeholders that ships are protected from terrorists, it is cheap and easy for any terrorist to buy an AIS receiver and a cheap PC, and track traffic if they so wish. Therefore, invoking security to restrict AIS info is ridiculous and may very well be an attempt to cover unlegitimate interests, of monopoly or abusive control of public data.

Capt.Tore (2009-07-25): Clamping down on the dissemination of information is one of the least effective means of increasing security, and one of the most damaging to innovation.

"Increasing use of technologies like AIS, through greater adoption is a great way to increase safety, and my software helps accomplish that." Here.. here.. couldn't agree more.
Next we'll be expected to douse our lanterns and abandon radio transmissions. Come on guys.. The advent of AIS is of more security to the good guy than the pirates. This kind of protectionistic attitude only benefits the extortional charges by the commercial network operators.
It's like banning knives or other utensils which can,in the wrongs hands cause damage. You can not stand in the way of progress,"Do not cover up your lamp"

Dennis (2010-01-02): ShipsMate,
Get over yourself.

Mike (2010-12-21): Guys,
I realize this discussion is a bit old, but I am making my 2cents. First off, I run my own tracking site at www.ve7prt.bc.ca/ais/aismain.htm. I have been razed by my co-workers on this as well (I am a Canadian Coast Guard Officer, so I know the value of AIS data). If anyone has read the regulations on AIS, then they should know full well that if the master of a vessel feels he/she is in an area where the vessel's security is in doubt, then he/she can switch off the AIS, or at least put it into receive-only mode, until the ship has sailed out of the doubtful security area. Also, and I have seen this many times, if a Coast Guard or Navy vessel doesn't wish to broadcast their location on AIS they simply switch it to receive-only mode. This is done when performing Silent Ops or law enforcement duties. When those duties are complete they simply allow the AIS to transmit again. ShipsMate does have a point about ship's security, but I think he has it backwards. I think the more people watching the shipping along their coasts the better the security for those ships and it is more likely someone will spot something unusual and report it to the nearest maritime authority.

See also: Sensornet, AISlib, OpenStreetMap

permalink

Email me!


Erik Griffin Burrows and ErikBurrows.com are not responsible for any damage or loss caused by viewing this site, or actions taken as a result of reading any part of this site. Articles and comments on this site should not be taken as legal, medical, scientific, engineering, botanical, dietary or any other kind of professional direction. This site is not affiliated with any business institution.

You get the idea. This site is just another big pile of misinformed, uneducated, unsolicited opinion, and should be judged as no more truthful or accurate as anything else on the internet.

Don't Panic!