Detecting fog over sea, especially in early stages of its development, is extremely important due to the threats it imposes on sea navigation. Measurement and observation network in the areas is very thin and limited to single drifting buoys and information provided irregularly by the crews of ships. For these reasons, fog detection by means of remote sensing methods becomes especially significant. The paper presents possibilities to detect fog developing in the most difficult to detect cases – in the air cooling at night time – when it is not possible to sense in the visible light and when the thermal contrast between the fog and the underlying surface is lower than the thermal resolution of the IR images. Analysis of differential and RGB composite images produced from results of observation of the same meteorological objects obtained in various spectral bands reveals features unobservable in each of the bands separately. Using the EUMETSAT recommendations, algorithms of creating RGB composite images were developed in the Department of Geographic Information Systems and applied to images for analysis

Satellite Navigation Systems (SNSs), the GPS system in particular, were available to civilian users from the beginning. The first community interested was the maritime one, for both professional and recreational purposes. Marine navigation distinguishes between five major phases, among those the port approach and operation in restricted waters and the marine navigation in the port. SNSs, today the GPS system and its differential mode DGPS, and Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) as EGNOS and WAAS, provide a wide range of applications in both these phases, e.g. coupling SNS receivers with dedicated sensors installed on the ship’s bridge, e.g. AIS, aid in the berthing and docking of large vessels, by means of the position and the heading reference systems. In maritime restricted area, the SNS position accuracy can be decreased when the masking elevation angle causing by the obstacles is for the user on the ship greater than masking angle of observer’s receiver. This diminution depends on among other things the ship course, observer’s latitude, the height of the obstacle, the distance between the observer and the obstacle, here coast side. Additionally, the problem of availability of the integrity information to users and performances, and future use of the GLONASS system after modernization, Galileo and Compass systems actually under construction, new SBASs, the next DGPS and DGLONASS reference stations, and Eurofix with differential corrections to GPS including integrity messages in coastal navigation are described in the paper

The popularity of wireless technologies during the last decade has created a considerable expansion of wireless networks. Many researchers work now on the area of wireless resource planning and optimization. Optimization is considered as the main approach to designing and improving the performance of Wireless Local Area Networks Infrastructure of Seaports Security Systems. The presented models and algorithms enable flexible coverage planning and optimization of Wireless Network Infrastructure

The article addresses an issue of expansion of maritime rescue systems with new components which are Wing-In-Ground-Effect Crafts (WIG craft). Due to operational characteristic, use of phenomenon of ground effect, WIG crafts are extremely economical and achieve relatively high speeds. In addition, they possess also amphibious features. This represents a huge potential for participation in search and rescue actions. The article discusses the phenomenon of a ground effect and its operation performance benefits and limitations. The applications of the WIG craft for specific actions such as conducting search, medical transport, supply of equipment and crews, patrolling are specified. The article analyzes the Search Effort of the WIG craft and marine search unit SAR-1500, actually used on Polish coast. The study consists in determining the relationship between the altitude of the observer, his speed and search width. Next the calculation of available search effort is conducted. The results enable to compare the ability of different types of the patrol units

In this paper, two different shortest path routing algorithms in respect of basic navigation problems are discussed. First of them is a “state of art” in computer science – well known Dijkstra algorithm. The second one is a method based on artificial intelligence – simplified ant colony optimization proposed originally by Marco Dorigo. Author used both ways to find an optimal / suboptimal route for a ship in a restricted area. Results showed the advantages and disadvantages of both algorithms in simple static navigation situations

The article describes a method of ship seakeeping characteristics modeling that are represented by descriptive variables. The research aimed at checking the possibility of using artificial neural networks for building models based on descriptive values of seakeeping properties and finally, developing design guidelines. The article reports an experiment of modeling a situation of shipping green water by a container vessel. The experiment verifies the theoretically adopted metho

The article concerns the improvement of engineering calculation and refinement of durability margins of ship hull plane elements. Main results had been collected through vast experiments on tin construction-like models and half natural size structures. Results allow the refinement of areas’ allocation of “flexible” and “rigid” links of plane elements under local span loading and function estimation of failure deflexion of plane of longitudinal rigidity, which is provided by the structure in the area of local deformation. Work results can be used to revise engineering calculations and refine the norms of defect survey. Wide usage of such survey norms can lead to ship repair time reduction and improve operational efficiency

Growing costs of ship operation and actions taken to reduce the emission of harmful components in exhaust gases make designers seek more effective methods of utilizing substantial amounts of waste energy in marine power plants. One such method leads to the steam turbogenerator. This machine to run, however, requires substantially greater amount of steam generated in the waste heat boiler (compared to steam demand for heat-ing purposes). It is possible to supply a sufficient amount of steam if the waste heat contained in exhausts and charge air of the main engine is fully utilized. This article analyzes the influence of some methods of using waste heat from exhaust gases and charge air on the amount of steam produced in the waste heat boiler. The analysis takes account of boundary conditions, such as steam pressure in the boiler and the minimum value of outlet gas after the boiler. The analysis is illustrated with examples of basic calculations for the waste heat boiler co-operating with a specific slow speed engine. Two variants of waste heat recovery installation solutions are considere

In the general case measurements performed in navigation are those of position coordinates − points on the trajectory, and trajectory derivatives − speed vector and acceleration vector. Due to the occurrence of systematic and random errors, there is no full conformity of results obtained from measurements by various navigational instruments and systems in the mathematical model of the process of navigation, as well as in specific measurement models. This study attempts to compare trajectories, speeds and accelerations determined by different measurement tools (navigational equipment and systems). The results may be used in an analysis of measurement reliability and of the correct performance of navigational systems and equipment. A comparison of various sources of information also allows to detect and identify systematic errors, so that, consequently, mathematical models of specific phenomena and processes can be verifie

New two-stage method for observation and processing of radar signals and images is suggested, which uses two-polarization X-band radar and significantly improve accuracy of sea surface current velocity measurement

Generating initial population of evolutionary algorithms used in the process of weather ship route optimization requires the determination of the area where it may find the points of designated routes. The problem may be a need to sail around the continent, circumnavigate the islands, and the restrictions from the ice fields and other closed areas. Comparing routes to the rhumb line or great circle may be also impossible. It is proposed to determinate the preliminary route using Dijkstra's algorithm using land / ocean data of the GFS model. It will be used during generation an initial population on the ocean area in these cases

The article presents the general description of the waste energy recovery systems in the marine Diesel power plants. Both, the simple as well as the complex recovery systems have been discussed. The substantial part of the article concerns the overview of the evaluation methods of the recovery systems arrangements. There have been presented the rudiments of the thermodynamic evaluation which in the effect provides the material for the determination of the energetic and exergetic efficiency of the recovery systems. The significant issue is also the description of the method of the arrangements economic evaluation, including the method of the determination of the annual profit ensuing from the operation of the waste energy recovery system and the dynamic methods of the economic analysis with the particular emphasis on the investment outlay payback period index. There have been presented the examples of the dependence of the waste heat turbo-generators on the main engine power output, the estimated payback times of the investment outlays incurred in connection with the discussed systems and the payback time of the outlays with reference to the main engine power output in the function of its power output

This paper presents a new way to increase efficiency and reliability of air cooling machine (BMX) in terms of detander application and basic compressor of fundamentally new heat exchanger – Krajniuk’s cascaderecuperative pressure exchanger (KOD). The rules of KOD working circuit, during which BMX KOD working circuit is carried out and the primary thermal energy source can be the thermal energy of any origin, are described. The impact of adjustment on the cooling depth and efficiency of the device and the possibility to change the heat and mechanical work expenditure on the BMX KOD working circuit organization is given

The article outlines the characteristics of the WCM system, which is more and more frequently used to support enterprise management. Currently in Poland the WCM system is most often applied in automotive plants due to special quality requirements in this branch. By signalling the effects achieved by an organisation owing to WCM implementation, the author of the article wishes to make automotive plants managers interested in it, as this system might be a subsequent stage of quality improvement in a company, following the standards of ISO 9000 series

The paper describes the main directions of gas turbines improvement in terms of application of the cascade pressure exchange rules for air compression in the machine’s working cycle. The final calculation results of the four variants of the working process organization on the base of the two-stage gas turbine compression unit with inter-cooling and heating of the gas medium are presented. Opportunities and provision of energy efficiency increase of cascade pressure exchange gas turbine by increasing the maximum temperature of the circulation and recirculation of waste heat gas compression are shown