A system for monitoring a plurality of marine vessels using a satellite network, the system comprising: a) a plurality of satellite payloads to be carried by respective satellites , each satellite payload comprising a) a communications interface configured to communicate via the satellite network, b) a radio frequency (RF) transceiver configured to communicate with the plurality of marine vessels , and c) a controller cooperating with the communications interface and the RF transceiver to obtain automatic identification system (AIS) data including vessel position and call sign information via the RF transceiver , and communicate the AIS system data via the communications interface ; and b) a terrestrial station configured to a) receive the AIS data, b) process aerial marine imagery using a fractal algorithm to assign respective vessel classifications to a plurality of marine vessels , and c) correlate the vessel classifications with AIS data; characterized in that d) the terrestrial station is further configured to determine a wake profile and/or exhaust profile associated with respective vessel classifications from the aerial marine imagery based upon the fractal algorithm. a) a plurality of satellite payloads to be carried by respective satellites , each satellite payload comprising a) a communications interface configured to communicate via the satellite network, b) a radio frequency (RF) transceiver configured to communicate with the plurality of marine vessels , and c) a controller cooperating with the communications interface and the RF transceiver to obtain automatic identification system (AIS) data including vessel position and call sign information via the RF transceiver , and communicate the AIS system data via the communications interface ; and a) a communications interface configured to communicate via the satellite network, b) a radio frequency (RF) transceiver configured to communicate with the plurality of marine vessels , and c) a controller cooperating with the communications interface and the RF transceiver to obtain automatic identification system (AIS) data including vessel position and call sign information via the RF transceiver , and communicate the AIS system data via the communications interface ; and b) a terrestrial station configured to a) receive the AIS data, b) process aerial marine imagery using a fractal algorithm to assign respective vessel classifications to a plurality of marine vessels , and c) correlate the vessel classifications with AIS data; characterized in that d) the terrestrial station is further configured to determine a wake profile and/or exhaust profile associated with respective vessel classifications from the aerial marine imagery based upon the fractal algorithm. a) receive the AIS data, b) process aerial marine imagery using a fractal algorithm to assign respective vessel classifications to a plurality of marine vessels , and c) correlate the vessel classifications with AIS data; characterized in that d) the terrestrial station is further configured to determine a wake profile and/or exhaust profile associated with respective vessel classifications from the aerial marine imagery based upon the fractal algorithm. <EOS>