Researchers in Hamburg, Germany, have published a paper outlining a method of remote monitoring fishing vessel movements in order to gauge the type of activity the ships are undertaking.
Using fractal dimension as a measure of activity complexity, and velocity as a measure of activity type, it is possible to develop signatures for particular vessel activities or behaviours. These signatures can then be used within a geovisualization system to highlight areas or data points of interest to the user.
This can be useful within fisheries enforcement agencies, as they could use such a system with real-time data to identify vessels that are likely to be engaging in illegal fishing activities, in turn increasing the chances of catching the vessel when it returns to port.
The paper is available online at http://www.geomatik-hamburg.de/geoviz/abstracts/09_GeoVizHamburg.pdf
