Skylight’s advanced VIIRS (visible-infrared imaging radiometer suite) vessel detection model is now available on the Global Fishing Watch platform, bringing unprecedented transparency to the world’s oceans after dark.
This integration allows users to track global nighttime vessel activity in near-real-time, leveraging sophisticated satellite sensors to pinpoint vessel lights from space.
Alongside existing datasets and analysis tools, users can now:
Filter detections by radiance
Users can apply a radiance filter to focus on the brightest and most reliable detections.
This can help identify vessels using powerful lights, explore patterns of light-based fishing activity and examine the potential scale of “dark” fleets — those that do not appear in public monitoring systems.
Identify detections with or without AIS matches
An automatic identification system, or AIS, match filter allows users to distinguish between detections associated with vessels broadcasting AIS signals and detections without AIS matches.
This makes it easier to explore potential non-AIS vessel activity and compare satellite detections with vessel tracking data.
Monitor nighttime vessel activity globally
The integration provides daily global satellite coverage at 750-meter resolution, enabling users to observe patterns of nighttime vessel activity across regions and over time.
Skylight processes VIIRS satellite data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA missions, including Suomi NPP, NOAA-20 and NOAA-21.
Its detection model filters out lightning, gas flares, moonlit clouds and other non-vessel light sources, helping produce cleaner and more reliable vessel detections.
These new detections strengthen the ability to analyze nighttime fishing activity, fleet behavior and potential dark vessel activity within the Global Fishing Watch platform.
Explore our user guide, supporting information and tutorials to learn how to use these detections in fisheries monitoring and ocean management.
Share feedback through the built-in form in the left sidebar of the Global Fishing Watch map or submit feature requests through the public Canny board.
For questions, contact [email protected].
