RECURSIVE FILTERING ALGORITHMS FOR SHIP TRACKING

Some recursive filtering algorithms were developed for tracking ships when observations are sporadic and imprecise. Tracking with position-only observations was emphasized, but a procedure was also developed for utilizing possible independent observations of ship velocity. Two basic algorithms are considered: a kalman filter with adaptive driving noise for generating estimates (and containment ellipses) for current and future ship positions, and a corresponding bayesian smoother for generating estimates of past positions. The driving noise was treated as a velocity term in a continuous-time model of ship's motion. The details of these two algorithms were developed for tracking on a plane, on a sphere in geographical coordinates, and on a sphere in three-dimensional rectilinear coordinates. A FORTRAN implementation and some corresponding numerical results were developed for the planar case.

• Corporate Authors:

  Naval Research Laboratory

  4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20375-5320
• Authors:
  • Willman, W W
• Publication Date: 1976-4-6

Media Info

• Pagination: 50 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer programs; Filters; Position fixing; Radar; Ships; Tracking systems
• Old TRIS Terms: Computer programs (Ship tracking); Filters (Radar); Position finding; Ship tracking
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00170775
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: NRL-7969 Intrm Rpt.
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 14 1978 12:00AM