The automatic identification system (AIS) is a tracking system for ships, originally developed for collision avoidance. I n the recent years, it is also used for analyses from various fields. The data is automatically transmitted every few seconds over very high frequency (VHF) radios from  approximately 100,000 vessels worldwide. 

If you have any questions regarding the AIS courses, please do not hesitate to contact us at support@officialstatistics.org.

Acquiring AIS Data via the UN Global Platform

This course aims to build the skills for acquiring AIS data via the UN Global Platform and performing simple data analysis. It includes an introduction to the AIS data, procedures to request access to the UN Global Platform, methods of acquiring AIS data, an introduction to their data structures, and samples of reading and filtering AIS data using PySpark.


What is AIS Data?

This introductory course aims to raise awareness of what AIS data is and shows how it can be applied at a National Statistical Organisation (NSO). Information will be shared on how to obtain AIS data, plus the opportunities and challenges it presents for incorporating its use at the NSO.