SeaSentry Insights

Coastal surveillance plays a vital role in ensuring maritime safety and environmental protection. But traditional systems often depend on active sensors and onboard transmitters – costly, power-intensive, and limited in range. The SeaSentry research project takes a different approach: developing a robust, land-based passive ship detection system that identifies vessels by sensing their own radar emissions. No additional onboard equipment. No interference. Just intelligent sensing powered by AI.

SeaSentry is a German research initiative focused on passive ship detection and real-time localization. Instead of active radar tracking, it uses a distributed network of passive sensors positioned along the coastline to detect and analyze radar signals emitted by ships. A central part of the project is the evaluation of this technology within the eMIR testbed in the German Bight, spanning scenarios from the Elbe estuary to the port of Emden. For extended-range applications, the test area is further expanded to include Helgoland.

This approach offers a scalable and non-intrusive way to extend existing maritime surveillance systems, improving coverage, redundancy, and situational awareness, and is designed for future integration into VTS (Vessel Traffic Services) systems.

Our Contribution

In this project we are responsible for developing the core signal processing algorithms that make passive detection possible in real time.
Our work focuses on:

• Peak Detection: Algorithms that reliably detect signal peaks from ship radar emissions, even under noisy conditions.
• Radar Signal Interleaving: Algorithms that separate and analyze overlapping radar signals from multiple vessels.
• Embedded Real-Time Processing: All algorithms are designed from scratch for direct deployment on sensor hardware and reliable performance under strict real-time constraints.
• Testing and Validation: Algorithms are rigorously tested both in simulation environments and in field trials under realistic operational conditions.

A key goal is enabling the detection of vessels even when AIS transponders are disabled, relying solely on the radar emissions actively used for navigation.

Validation & Testing

The system will be evaluated in test environments that mimic real maritime traffic conditions. These field tests are essential to validate detection performance, processing speed, and robustness in variable environments.
Our focus lies on ensuring that the developed algorithms maintain high detection accuracy, reliable signal separation, and real-time processing performance when deployed on embedded sensor platforms.

Real-World Applications

SeaSentry contributes to the broader goal of enhancing maritime situational awareness through sensor-driven innovation. By combining passive detection techniques with real-time onboard processing, the system offers a scalable and non-intrusive solution for monitoring vessel traffic under radar. Our contribution ensures reliable operation independent of cloud infrastructure or central computing.

Outlook

SeaSentry showcases how AI-driven signal processing and edge intelligence can transform maritime monitoring. The project lays the groundwork for future autonomous coastal surveillance networks, making our oceans safer and smarter through intelligent, low-impact technology.