Methodology to calculate the coverage of AIS station implementing base station traffic measurements

The AIS system is a navigation tool, used for the vessel´s traffic management. The AIS system allow the exchange information between vessels and base stations, regarding the navigational status of the ships. This paper focuses on use of this information, with the aim to develop a method for establish the coverage range of the AIS base station over the sea. Two method are presented. The first one: decoding the position of the vessel, using the NMEA messages; the second one: across a radioelectric analysis. Finally a comparation between the coverage limits is presented.