From Finding to Explaining: Information Retrieval to Support Maritime Anomaly Analysis

Supporting anomaly analysis in the maritime field is a challenging problem because of the dynamic nature of the task: the definition of abnormal or suspicious behaviour is subject to change and depends on user interests. This paper provides a novel approach to support anomaly analysis in the maritime domain through the exploration of large collections of interpretation reports. Based on observables or more sophisticated patterns, the approach provides information retrieval strategies going from basic facts retrieval that guide short-term corrective actions to more complex networks of related concepts that help domain experts to understand or to explain abnormal vessel behaviours. Semantic integration is used to link various information sources, by using a commonly adopted standard. The paper seeks to explore different aspects of using information retrieval to support the analysis and interpretation of abnormal vessel behaviours for maritime surveillance.