The possibility of vessel motion data use for high resolution satellite SAR image focusing

Maritime surveillance from space is useful for many applications, such as fisheries control, maritime border control and maritime security. A new generation of satellite-borne Synthetic Aperture Radars is able to provide resolutions of down to 1 meter. In the case of maritime targets, however, their motions lead to blurring in the SAR images, so these high resolutions cannot be attained. Scientific research into how to surmount the existing limits on the use of high-resolution images for maritime surveillance would be of great utility. In this context, high resolution SAR data were collected from ships that have been fitted with motion sensors in order to understand vessel motion impact on detection and recognition capability.