Data fusion: remote sensing for target detection and tracking

As part of an ongoing research program in data fusion applied to the multisensor environment for iceberg detection on the east coast of Canada, this paper describes the efforts to use modeling of iceberg movement to perform iceberg detection data fusion. Data fusion and sensor combination are integral parts of a cost effective ice management regime for safe offshore oil and gas recovery programs. This paper addresses data fusion in the form of associations of detections to create tracks from multiple sensor sweeps of an area. The Coupled Ice Ocean (CIO) Model of Iceberg Kinematics from the Canadian Ice Services (CIS) is used as a maneuvering model to the tracking process. The fusion system was tested using iceberg detections from the 2003 ice season. All data were collected in the Grand Banks area of Newfoundland, Canada.