3rd International Transport ForumParis, 17-18 March 2016

Item 5.2
Big Data to monitor air and maritime
transport
DG EUROSTAT - Anna Białas-Motyl, Transport statistics & TF Big DataEurostat

Content• Big Data at Eurostat – introduction• Maritime - AIS data
• Eurostat initiative on AIS• ESS Big Data Pilot on AIS• Aviation• Flight Reservation Systems for True Origin/Destination• Aircraft Tracking System2Eurostat

Big data at Eurostat
ESS (European Statistical System)Scheveningen Memorandum Sep 2013
 Task Force Big Data Big Data Roadmap and Action Plan June 2014
 May 2015 Big Data Business Cases Nov 2015 Big Data ESSnet Jan 2016 Contract on supporting services
ESS Vision 2020Scheveningen

European Commission Communication

Data4Policy Networking GroupInternational cooperation (UNSD, UNECE, etc.)• UN/ECE project “Big data in official statistics” (Sandbox)• UNSD Global WG on Big DataEurostat3

ESS Big Data Pilots▫ List of pilot projects (Specific Grant Agreement)
Web scraping

Smart meters

vessel identification data

Mobile phone dataelectricity consumption ; temporary vacant dwellings

Automatic Identification System (Ships)
job vacancies ; enterprise characteristics

Preparing for Access to data

Scenario for using multiple inputs
4EurostatMaritime transport related initiatives
There are several initiatives in development under thee-Maritime and Blue Belt umbrellas which could potentially makethe production of maritime statistics more efficient on national
level and in Eurostat:•••

Implementation the e-Maritime initiative is Directive 2010/65/EU according towhich ship reporting formalities shall be transmitted and exchanged
electronically via national single windows (NSW).
SafeSeaNet (SSN) platform, which is a system hosted and technicallydeveloped by European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). It allows forcentralised collection and exchange of maritime data between the EU and EEA
countries. Currently it contains standardised data on vessel positions in
European waters (AIS data on vessel positions, vessel speed, vessel type etc.)
and port notifications for vessels calling in European ports (number ofpassengers, hazardous cargo information, last port of call, next port of calletc.)
Establishment an electronic 'eManifest' with harmonised information on goods
transported by vessels to be included in future versions of the NSW/SSNsystems.
5EurostatAutomatic Identification System AIS• Safety instrument required by the International Maritime
Organization’s (IMO) International Convention for the Safety of Life at
Sea (SOLAS) that became fully operational in 2008;• Provides a means for ships to electronically send data (about theirposition, destination, speed, etc.);• Messages are transmitted by ships using VHF signals. By transmitting
a signal, vessels can be tracked by AIS base stations located along
coastlines. When a vessel’s position is out of the range of theterrestrial networks, signals are received via satellites that are fittedwith special AIS receivers. Then, the satellite‐based AIS is capable ofglobally monitoring the ship’s movement in real time if the number ofthe satellite and the ground station is satisfied;• This progressively extends the geographical range of the AIS system.

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AIS data coverage
AIS is obligatory for vessels:• over 300 gross tonnage (GT) on international voyages,• all passenger ships and vessels over 500 GT on domestic voyages.
HOWEVER• a very large number of vessels is fitted with AIS and the number isgrowing as smaller and cheaper devices are fitted even in small
vessels on a voluntary basis.
The information and frequency of AIS data provided depend on theclass of the vessel and may contain up to 21 types of information(Class A). They are sent either every 2-10 seconds (depending on thevessel’s speed), or every 3 minutes (if at anchor) or every 6 minutes(static (ship related) info).
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AIS data – information available
1. Information on vessel: Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI),International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) ship identification number,Radio call sign, Vessel’s Name, Type of ship/cargo, Length, Current
draught of ship (0.1 meter to 25.5 meters), Type of positioning system(GPS, DGPS or LORAN-C), Location of positioning system's (e.g. GPS)antenna on board the vessel (in meters aft of bow and meters port ofstarboard).
2. Navigation and position aspects: Status ('at anchor', 'under way
using engine(s)', 'not under command'), Rate of turn (right or left - degrees per
minute); Speed over ground (knots); Course over ground (degrees, relativeto true north to 0.1 minute), Position (longitude/latitude to 0.0001 minutes),True bearing at own position (degrees) True heading (degrees),
Destination port; UTC Seconds (The second field of the UTC time when thesedata were generated - a complete timestamp is not present), Estimated time ofarrival (ETA) at destination (UTC month/date hour: minute).
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AIS data in SafeSeaNet system
European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) currently operates
three maritime monitoring systems: - SafeSeaNet, the EU Long
Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) Data Centre,CleanSeaNet.
SafeSeaNet (SSN) is the European Community maritime informationand exchange system. It provides information such as:a. estimated or actual arrival and departure times in ports;
b. details of dangerous or hazardous goods being carried;c. information on accidents and incidents; the number of people on board and;d. vessel positions acquired by the Automatic Identification System (AIS).

It acts as a platform for maritime data exchange. It works by tracking
Automatic Identification System (AIS) radio signals transmitted by ships.
These provide identity details, latest positions and other status
information in near-real-time for around 17,000 vessels operating in and9around EU waters.
Eurostat

Eurostat initiative
Investigate feasibility of computation of Eurostat’s maritime
transport statistics based on AIS data
a.Number of vessels - can be almost directly computed from AIS data by simple
aggregation of the detailed position data at the desired time and location. Thus, the numberof vessel arrivals at a port can be derived by aggregating the number of those vessels thatwere at port during a period of reference.
b.Gross tonnage of vessels that arrived at port is another variable that can be calculated(not as simple as number of vessels) on the basis of the available data. It is provided forexample by MarineTraffic’s API on vessel positions. This is the key variable required for thecomputation of Eurostat’s relevant variable on gross tonnage of vessels. For the derivation ofthe statistics broken down by size class and size of vessel categories, the additional following
information would be required:•Type of vessel - Current data cover a detailed classification of vessel that may be linked to the•Size class of the vessel (in gross tonnage) - the size of the vessel is determined by its gross tonnage.

positioning data. A reclassification may be needed in order to convert the commercial one to the Eurostat’sclassification.
This information is available for a large number of vessels in the positioning data. In this case, the size class
categories can be computed according to Eurostat’s classification.

c.Gross weight of goods: Eurostat’s variable on gross weight of goods cannot be directly
derived from the available (position) data.
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Initiative within the ESS
 Eurostat launched call for grants in February 2016
 Work Package 4: Pilot project on the use of Automatic
Identification System (AIS) of vessels for official
statistics, under which the following actions should be
performed:
••
•
•
•

Data Access
Source feasibility
Feasibility of Methodology and technology
Feasibility of outputs
Future Perspectives

The action shall start in the first quarter 2016.
The maximum duration of the action is 26 months.
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Initiative within the ESS
 Feasibility of Methodology and technology part foresees
the following actions:
•••••

•

Analysis of AIS and other data to extract characteristics relevant for
producing statistical output, e.g. statistics on feeder traffic;
Analyse if AIS data could be used to create a reference frame formaritime transport statistics;
Analyse feasibility for linking data with already existing data fromport and other authorities;
Analyse feasibility of relating maritime traffic data to location andtime;
Development methodology and IT-infrastructure for data processing,visualisation and production of statistical outputs, including linking toadministrative registers or other statistical data;
Production of provisional statistical data for participating NSIs.
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Eurostat Pilot Activities▫ Web activity evidence for nowcasting Google Trends
 Employment▫ Wikipedia as source for statistics
 Cultural and regional statistics▫ Mobile communication data Population
 Urban Tourism▫ Flight Reservation Systems for true Origin/Destination
 Amadeus Database▫ Aircraft Tracking System
 Satellite system to receive flight positions from aircrafts
Eurostat13

EU Air transport statistics• Legal basis:
Regulation (EC) N°1358/2003, implementing
Regulation N°437/2003 of the European Parliamentand of the Council on statistical returns in respectof the carriage of passengers, freight and mail byair• Datasets:
Eurostatdata» Flight Stage dataset (A1)
» On Flight Origin/Destination dataset (B1)
» Airport dataset (C1)
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True O/D – what is the problem?
• The existing data collection of air transport
statistics in the EU provides figures on the onflight origin/destination (OFOD).
• Only the last airport of origin or the first
airport of destination is known (with theexception of direct transit passengers) for
one stop journeys.
• In case of changing flight in a connecting
airport the real airport of origin/destination isunknown (transfer passengers/freight)
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Eurostat16
EurostatDATA:• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): 4 553 160passengers• Eurostat transport statistics: 1 337 447 passengers• Difference : > 3 000 000 passengers (> 200%!)+• Eurostat tourism statistics: 4,6 million (1,1 million
outbound trips by EU residents + 3,5 million inboundarrivals at accommodation)

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EurostatWhy true Origin/Destination is needed?
••The Commission needs this information for several main purposes:- To negotiate and follow up air service agreement with third countries- To monitor competition in the air transport market- To evaluate the need of resources linked to security and custom policies at
the airports- To monitor tourism flows- To assess health risks and implement prevention measures linked to healthalertsAt national level this information is also relevant for governments, airports
and airlines(in addition to some of the above mentioned reasons):- To know the distribution of passengers by country of origin/destination(tourism flows) and allow breaking down between national and international
markets.
- To define a variable pricing of landing charges at the airports- To plan investment on airport infrastructure taking into account the numberof transfer passengers- To plan direct flights for better comfort of the passengers, gain of time and18
fuel consumption for total trip and less environmental impact.
Eurostat

Work done

• 2009 - Air Transport Statistics Task Force worked
out the dataset which would fulfil the need forTrue O/D data
• 2010 - test data collection - only 5 countries
were able to provide the data
• Eurostat investigated alternative data sources:
 Amadeus UBM data
 IATA Paxis
 IATA DDS
 SITA FLIRTcoverage

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Eurostat

Work done cont.
• EUROSTAT – requested Amadeus product for 2week test period in order to check whether it could
been used for:• the compilation of True O/D data
• additional data quality checks• other purposes (tourism statistics)

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Eurostat

The way forward
As the outcomes of the tests show that Amadeus
seems to be globally coherent with the expectations:• Eurostat will launch a call for tender (or use negotiated procedure) inorder to get the licence (not necessarily with Amadeus) and continue
further tests with test data for 2014-2015 (if provided by thecountries)• The priority would be to obtain data to fill in need for True O/D +details on methodology applied when compiling the data fromdifferent booking systems/databases• Secondly, comparisons with Eurostat datasets would be performed inorder to extend data quality checks performed by Eurostat• Eventually additional use of the data would be further explored –possible use of the data in BD projects related with tourism statistics

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Aircraft Tracking System
Satellite based ADS-B• Automatic - It is always working; Aircraft measures its own position.
The information is transmitted automatically• Dependent - It relies on external GNSS data, extremely accurate
position and velocity vector from aircraft (GPS / GNSS)• Surveillance - It provides surveillance services; aircraft id, position,altitude, velocity vector, etc…
• Broadcast - It is always broadcasting, free to air.
ADS-B includes surveillance data suchas the following:• airborne position (latitude, longitude)• identity and category• airborne velocity• barometric altitude
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Satellite based ADS-B
ADS-B reception are to:• Provide air traffic situationalawareness in Non Radar
Airspace (NRA), over oceans,Africa…
• Increase air space capacity inNRA, by optimizing the airplane
separation• Optimize and secure flightpaths• Increase efficiency of searchand rescue activities• Come towards the future
increase of the air traffic volume.

• Existing airplane on-board equipment and ground infrastructure
support standard ADS-B messages.
• ADS-B transponder becomes mandatory for Europe and US by232020
EurostatSystem architecture planned

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EurostatLinks to additional information:
CIRCABC/Estat/BigData/Library
http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/big-data

Thank you for your attention !

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Eurostat