Intelligent maritime security system with sensor networks for coastal environmental and homeland security applications

Abstract

This paper proposes an innovative command and control system design and the use of low, cost distributed sensor networks for an intelligent maritime security system. This concept utilizes a network of small passive and active multi-phenomenological unattended sensors and shore based optical sensors to detect, classify, and track submerged threat objects approaching high value coastal assets, such as ports, harbors, residential, commercial, and military facilities and areas. The network of unattended, in-water sensors perform the initial detection, classification, and coarse tracking and then queues shore based optical laser radar sensors. These shore-based sensors perform a high resolution sector search to develop a precision track on the submerged threat objects. Potential threat objects include submarines, submerged barges, UUV's, swimmers carrying threat objects such as explosives, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials. Reliable systems with low false alarm rates (FAR) are proposed. Tens to hundreds of low cost passive sensors are proposed to be deployed conjunctively with several active acoustic and optical sensors in threat and facility dependant patterns to maximize the detection, tracking and classification of submerged threat objects.