Analysis of Vessel Traffic in Tokyo Bay Observed by New Remote Radar Network System

Since 2000, the authors have been developing remote radar network system to observe the vessel traffic in Tokyo Bay. In December 2002, the first operational remote radar station was set at the National Defense Academy in Yokosuka, and vessel traffic observation was started. However, it was impossible to perform accurate observation in the northern part of Tokyo Bay by this Yokosuka radar station only. In September 2003, the second remote radar station and AIS receiving station were installed at Higashi Ogishima in Kawasaki. This second radar enabled us to carry out accurate observation in that area. Both radars can be remotely controlled from the monitoring station in Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. On September 30 and October 1,2003, the vessel traffic observation was carried out using both radars. Combining radar images observed by both radars, the ships' tracks were taken and the dangerous ships were extracted by using SJ value and Bumper Model. The time changes of dangerous ship density in some areas in Tokyo Bay and utilization ratio of the traffic routes were also investigated. In addition, analyzing the AIS date received at Kawasaki station, the positions and speed vectors of the ships equipped with AIS were shown.