Nationwide Automatic Identification System (NAIS),

The Nationwide Automatic Identification System (NAIS) is one of the strategic C4ISR assets of the US Coast Guard. It increases maritime domain awareness by providing information on vessels sailing within US ports and waterways. NAIS also complements search and rescue (SAR) efforts and environmental protection.

The NAIS is integrated with the Automatic Identification System (AIS). The AIS is a maritime navigation safety communications system approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a global standard.

The current daily message reception rate of the NAIS is 64 million AIS messages from about 7,900 vessels.

Maritime Transportation Security Act

The NAIS project was started as a part of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) implementations. The system merges the AIS information, including vessel location, source and speed with other government data and sensor data, to deliver a comprehensive view of marine traffic within or near US and territorial waters.

The USCG collects safety and security data from AIS-equipped vessels in the US territorial waters and neighbouring sea routes through the NAIS.

The data is accessed by USCG operators and other government agencies. The AIS data is used to improve the safety of vessels and ports by avoiding collisions. Unauthorised entry into the nation is restricted through detection, identification and classification of vessels.

Nationwide Automatic Identification System details

The NAIS project is executed in increments. The incremental approach was opted for instead of a single step approach to effectively deal with technical, logistical and budgetary risks. The first increment included the implementation of NAIS within the 58 major ports and 11 vital coastal areas.

The existing government infrastructure was used to meet the cost and performance requirements. The Initial Operational Capability (IOC) was achieved in December 2006. The Acquisition Directorate completed the induction of NAIS Increment 1 capability in September 2007.

The transceiver capabilities of the NAIS were upgraded under Increment 2. In December 2008, the Coast Guard placed a $11.5m contract with Northrop Grumman to expand the core capabilities of NAIS. The contract also includes six 12-month options, bringing the total value to $68m. Northrop Grumman handed over the enhanced NAIS to the USCG in July 2012.

The transmitting data coverage was extended up to 24nmi and receiving data coverage was elongated out to 50nmi. The USCG sectors including Delaware Bay, Hampton Roads and Mobile were provided with increased AIS transmit and receive coverage.

Increment 3 is aimed at extending the receive coverage out to 2000nmi. The expanded capabilities will enhance the maritime domain awareness and safety for the maritime users.

NAIS project features

The NAIS includes information storage, processing and networking infrastructure. It uses land, sea and space-based AIS radio frequency infrastructure. The system can receive and transmit information from and to AIS-fitted vessels operating in the US coast, inland waterways and ports.

The NAIS system utilises the existing infrastructure and communication towers of the USCG Rescue 21 system. The non-voice data is transmitted and received through digital VHF wave forms. The NAIS comprises of about 200 VHF receiver sites situated across the coastal continental US, internal waters, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam.

The three Coast Guard Sectors of Delaware Bay, Hampton Roads and Mobile, making up a total of eight ports, are the first to obtain the permanent NAIS system.

NAIS data formats

The Navigation Centre (NAVCEN) provides historical NAIS data to requesters. The data can be provided in various formats. The standard graphic formats include PNG, JPG, TIF and PDF. The NAVCEN also provides Raw AIS NMEA Data Format, Comma Separated Values (CSV) Data Format, Heat Maps (Density Plots) and KML Animation.

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