A fishing expedition… among the stars?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Beware of maritime crime: smuggling, illegal fishing, tax evasion. Crooks turn off their ships’ tracking beacons to stay invisible. But perhaps we can still see them… from space?!
Enter Andrea Mazzeo and team from the University of Naples. They used satellites to monitor ships’ v-shaped wakes in the water.
AI models learned that ripple signature and even spotted hidden ships through clouds AND storms! Thousands of images are processed in seconds.
This could help block trafficking and piracy… shield endangered fish from nets… and speed up rescue operations. In short, cleaner oceans for healthier futures!
So beware, Captain Hook. Don’t get caught… in 4K!
Reference: Mazzeo, A., Renga, A., & Graziano, M. D. (2024). A Systematic Review of Ship Wake Detection Methods in Satellite Imagery. Remote Sensing, 16(20), 3775. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16203775