Visualisation Tools for Design of Maritime Surveillance System

The aim of this paper is to describe the application of Matlab for the design of the sensor network within a real-world Maritime Surveillance System. In the phase of planning and solution preparation of new Maritime Surveillance System project, it is necessary to analyse the zones of monitoring, sensors ar- rangement, and spatial distribution in order to make the best decision. With a goal to define the observation zone of interest, a software solution is made in Matlab using built-in functions for location computing in World Geodetic System, a graphical representation in Google Earth and a library that supports working with Google Earth formats for export. The sensors supported in this Maritime Surveillance System are Electro-Optical systems – multi-sensor cameras, X-band and Ku-band microwave radars and High Frequency Over The Horizon Radars. With this software solution, a particular sensor’s ob- servation zones, along with global coverage zone are determined at the real location. Coverage diagrams are plotted as Google Earth objects, generating a KML export file. In this way, easy manipulation over potential solutions is provided, with high flexibility and portability, leading to a more detailed assessment and decision making in Maritime Surveillance System design.