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This Coastal and Hydraulics Engineering Technical Note (CHETN) presents examples of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data and capabilities used to support real-time operations, assist in incident investigations, and contribute to waterways usage analysis projects for a variety of infrastructure management needs across the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). These case study presentations serve as examples for those who are new to AIS technology or navigation infrastructure operations. INTRODUCTION: The development of AIS technology for ocean-going vessels was active in the 1990s, but implementation became more widespread after the year 2001. By 2016, carriage requirements had expanded to include most commercial self-propelled vessels on US navigable waters including any vessel over 65 ft 1 in length, towing vessels over 26 ft in length with a greater than 600 hp engine, vessels certified to carry 150 or more passengers, dredges in or near a commercial channel, and vessels moving certain dangerous cargo (USCG 2018; US Code of Regulations 2019). In addition, many private recreational vessels have also chosen to carry AIS transceivers to improve on-water awareness. Beyond the improved situational awareness for mariners that real-time AIS provides, historical AIS records have proven useful to a variety of maritime stakeholders, including infrastructure operators (Mitchell and Scully 2014; Scully and Mitchell 2015). AIS vessel position data can be purchased through commercial vendors or received from the US Coast Guard (USCG) Nationwide AIS (NAIS) archive. Two software programs developed by the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) have access to AIS data feeds and make AIS data available to USACE personnel. These programs are the Lock Operations Management Application (LOMA) (USACE-ERDC 2017) and the AIS Analysis Package (AISAP) (USACE-ERDC 2018), both described in the next section. Further information about AIS technical standards and history can be found online through international associations involved in setting technical standards (IALA 2008; IEC 2001; ITU-R 2014; PIANC 2019). This CHETN will describe how AIS data have been applied across the USACE in the areas of real-time waterway operations, incident investigations, and waterway use analysis. METHODS Lock Operations Management Application (LOMA). LOMA is a web-based tool designed primarily for real-time operational use by infrastructure operators, primarily at navigation locks. LOMA presents AIS data in a graphic user interface in conjunction with electronic charts, aerial imagery, and other information.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), St. Louis District (MVS), manages multiple lock and dam structures on the Mississippi River. One of these, Melvin Price Locks and Dam (MPLD), was the subject of at least 12 allision events from downbound (southbound) vessels between January and November 2018 according to US Coast Guard (USCG) records, an unusually high number for this location. In an effort to understand how vessel operations change under varying river conditions, historical river gauge data and historical vessel position data for both upbound (northbound) and downbound (southbound) traffic were examined together to describe general approach paths for vessels at different water levels. Historic tracks for vessels involved in allision events are not included in this work because of ongoing investigations at the time of publication.