Waterway Engineering Applications of Automatic Identification System Data along the Mississippi River and at Lock Structures
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 5
Abstract
The USACE, St. Louis District, is responsible for maintaining navigation channels along with multiple lock and dam structures on the Mississippi River, a vital inland waterway that carries millions of tons of commodities every year. Understanding commercial vessel traffic patterns is fundamental to informing decisions about construction projects and to efforts to improve communication to mariners. Automatic Identification System (AIS) data provides time-stamped and geo-referenced vessel position reports for most commercial vessels operating in the District’s area of interest. This paper describes how AIS data has been successfully used by St. Louis District waterway managers to (1) prevent conflicts with the navigation industry by revealing active fleeting areas that were under consideration for the construction of river training structures; and (2) identify changes in vessel approaches to a lock structure under different river flow conditions, providing operational information that could be used in future navigation alerts to mariners. This paper concludes with a list of suggested best practices for waterways managers who want to start, or expand, their use of AIS data.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of the St. Louis District Applied River Engineering Center Team working on waterways management and project managers who have supported the expansion of the AIS network. A valuable review of this manuscript was provided by Jessica Wiegand. The AIS Analysis Package (AISAP) software by K.N. Mitchell, the AIS expertise of B. Tetreault, and the historic vessel position data from the US Coast Guard Nationwide Automatic Identification System archive was essential to this project. Funding for this project was provided by the USACE St. Louis District and the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, and Navigation Systems Research Program.
Disclaimer
Citation of trade names does not constitute an official endorsement. The views, opinions, and findings contained in this article are those of the authors and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy, or decision.
References
Bryant, D. B., C. Callegan, L. Coe, J. Smith, R. Styles, and C. Moore. 2018. Laboratory study to reduce the transport of Asian carp by barges. ERDC/CHL-TR-18-14. Vicksburg, MS: Engineer Research and Development Center.
Bryant, D., S. Smith, R. Styles, B. Burnham, C. Callegan, J. Marshall, and M. Allison. 2019. Prototype test of a water jet system to mitigate the transport of Asian carp by barges. ERDC/CHL TR-19-20. Vicksburg, MS: Engineer Research and Development Center.
Clarke, D., K. J. Reine, C. Dickerson, C. Alcoba, J. Gallo, B. Wisemiller, and S. Zappala. 2015. Sediment resuspension by ship traffic in Newark Bay, New Jersey. ERDC/EL-TR-15-1. Vicksburg, MS: Engineer Research and Development Center.
DiJoseph, P., K. N. Mitchell, B. Tetreault, and J. Marshall. 2019. Inland marine transportation system travel time atlas via automatic identification system (AIS) data: Ohio River, Upper Mississippi River, and Illinois River. Vicksburg, MS: Engineer Research and Development Center.
Duró, G., A. Crosato, M. G. Kleinhans, T. G. Winkels, H. A. G. Woolderink, and W. S. J. Uijttewaal. 2020. “Distinct patterns of bank erosion in a navigable regulated river.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms 45 (2): 361–374. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4736.
El Safty, H., and R. Marsooli. 2020. “Ship wakes and their potential impacts on salt marshes in Jamaica Bay, New York.” J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 8 (5): 325. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8050325.
ESRI. 2019. Arcmap 10.4.1. Redlands, CA: ESRI.
Farhadi, N., S. A. Parr, K. N. Mitchell, and B. Wolshon. 2016. “Use of nationwide automatic identification system data to quantify resiliency of marine transportation systems.” Trans. Res. Rec. 2549 (1): 9–18. https://doi.org/10.3141/2549-02.
Gabel, F., S. Lorenz, and S. Stoll. 2017. “Effects of ship-induced waves on aquatic ecosystems.” Sci. Total Environ. 601–602: 926–939. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.206.
Hartman, M. A., and R. Styles. 2020. Vessel wake prediction tool. Vicksburg, MS: Engineer Research and Development Center.
Houser, C. 2011. “Sediment resuspension by vessel-generated waves along the Savannah River, Georgia.” J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng. 137 (5): 246–257. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WW.1943-5460.0000088.
IALA (International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities). 2008. Establishment of AIS as an aid to navigation. Rep. ID 1062. https://www.iala-aism.org/product/establishment-of-ais-as-an-aid-to-navigation-1062/.
IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission). 2001. Maritime navigation and radiocommunication equipment and systems—Automatic identification systems (AIS)—Part 2: Class A shipborne equipment of the universal automatic identification system (AIS)—Operational and performance requirements, methods of test and required test results. EC 61993-2: 2001-12. Geneva: IEC.
ITU-R (International Telecommunications Union-Radiocommunication Sector). 2014. Technical characteristics for an automatic identification system using time division multiple access in the VHF maritime mobile frequency band. Recommendation ITU-R M.1371. Geneva: ITU-R.
Kress, M., B. Tetreault, K. N. Mitchell, M. Balazik, and M. Booton. 2020. AIS data: Real-time operation support, incident investigations, and waterway use analysis. Vicksburg, MS: Engineer Research and Development Center.
Microsoft Corporation. 2016. Powershell. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
Mitchell, K. N., and B. Scully. 2014. “Waterway performance monitoring with automatic identification system data.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2426 (1): 20–26. https://doi.org/10.3141/2426-03.
PIANC (The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure). 2019. Guidelines and recommendations for river information services. InCom Working Group Rep. No. 125/I-2019. Brussels, Belgium: PIANC.
Robards, M. D., G. K. Silber, J. D. Adams, J. Arroyo, D. Lorenzini, K. Schwehr, and J. Amos. 2016. “Conservation science and policy applications of the marine vessel automatic identification system (AIS)—A review.” Bull. Mar. Sci. 92 (1): 75–103. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2015.1034.
Sardain, A., E. Sardain, and B. Leung. 2019. “Global forecasts of shipping traffic and biological invasions to 2050.” Nat. Sustainability 2 (4): 274–282. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0245-y.
Scully, B., and K. N. Mitchell. 2015. Archival automatic identification system (AIS) data for navigation project performance evaluation. ERDC/CHL CHETN-IX-40. Vicksburg, MS: Engineer Research and Development Center.
Scully, B. M., D. L. Young, and J. E. Ross. 2020. “Mining marine vessel AIS data to inform coastal structure management.” J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng. 146 (2): 04019042. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WW.1943-5460.0000550.
Tabbert, C., J. Vest, A. Rhoads, D. Myers, T. Lauth, E. Brauer, J. Wallace, D. Gordon, and M. Kress. 2020a. AIS data case study: River level and vessel approach variation at Mel Price Lock and Dam in St. Louis District. Vicksburg, MS: Engineer Research and Development Center.
Tabbert, C., J. Vest, A. Rhoads, D. Myers, T. Lauth, E. Brauer, J. Wallace, D. Gordon, and M. Kress. 2020b. AIS data case study: St. Louis area commercial vessel fleeting activity and potential river training structures. Vicksburg, MS: Engineer Research and Development Center.
Touzinsky, K. F., B. M. Scully, K. N. Mitchell, and M. M. Kress. 2018. “Using empirical data to quantify port resilience: Hurricane Matthew and the southeastern seaboard.” J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng. 144 (4): 05018003. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WW.1943-5460.0000446.
USACE. 1964. Locks and Dam 26, Mississippi River, Alton, Illinois, new 1200-foot lock (District Engineer’s Report). St. Louis: USACE.
USACE. 2020. St. Louis district navigation. St. Louis: USACE.
USACE. 2021. River operations: Mat sinking unit. Vicksburg, MS: USACE.
U.S. Coast Guard. 2018. Navigation center: Automatic identification system overview. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center.
U.S. Code of Regulations. 2019. “Title 33—Navigation and Navigable Waters. ‘Part 164—Navigation Safety Regulations’.” Accessed November 1, 2020. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2019-title33-vol2/xml/CFR-2019-title33-vol2-part164.xml.
USGS. 2020. USCE 385205090090501 Mississippi R at MEL price L & D (lower) (Corps). Reston, VA: USGS Water Resources: National Water Information System.
WCSC (Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center), USACE. 2019. Data for downloading. Washington, DC: WCSC, USACE.
Young, D. L., and B. M. Scully. 2018. “Assessing structure sheltering via statistical analysis of AIS data.” J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng. 144 (3): 04018002. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WW.1943-5460.0000445.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 5 • September 2021
Copyright
© 2021 Published by American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 16, 2020
Accepted: Apr 19, 2021
Published online: May 31, 2021
Published in print: Sep 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Oct 31, 2021
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.