HarborVesselTrafficSurveillanceRadarNetwork
Long-range millimeter wave microwave backbone connecting coastal radar heads, AIS receivers, and harbor control centers.
The Brief
The Pacific Port Authority oversees navigation in a deep-water commercial inlet handling over 3,400 container ships, oil tankers, and bulk freighters annually. Dense coastal fog, heavy rainstorms, and tidal currents make the channel one of the most hazardous navigation routes in the Pacific Northwest.
Three remote radar surveillance towers positioned on offshore rock bluffs were connected via outdated wireless links that degraded during heavy rain fade, blinding vessel traffic service (VTS) operators to small fishing craft and rogue tugs operating in shipping lanes.
Apache Spark was commissioned to engineer an ultra-resilient communications network connecting all coastal radar stations, AIS receivers, and CCTV towers across 45 miles of coastal waterways to the central harbor watch station.
Engineering Approach
We designed and deployed an 11GHz and 18GHz licensed microwave backhaul network configured in self-healing rings with adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) to survive severe marine rain fade. Remote tower installations were equipped with marine-grade stainless steel enclosures, redundant solar-diesel microgrids, and fiber optic isolation drops to withstand lightning strikes. Network switching at each tower features ruggedized IP67 switches with synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) for radar pulse alignment.
Operational Outcome
Surveillance data availability climbed to 99.999% through two severe atmospheric river winter storms. Vessel tracking telemetry remains clear across all 45 nautical miles, with radar image refresh latency under 120 milliseconds.
Schematic Delivery Pipeline
Solid-state X-band radar transceiver outputs raw digitized target video frames.
Ruggedized fiber runs down concrete bluff tower to marine-grade enclosure base.
11GHz licensed link transmits encrypted payload across 18 miles of open ocean water.
Central harbor command correlates radar blips with AIS broadcasts on navigational charts.
Legacy vs Modernized Architecture
Technical Plates & Trace Graphs
Point Defiance radar tower microwave dish alignment overlooking navigation channel.
Marine-grade stainless cabinet showing battery bank and fiber splice tray.
Harbor radar composite screen displaying target track resolution in dense fog.
“When 60-knot gale winds and freezing rain hit the inlet, Apache Sparks microwave backbone held rock solid. Our harbor pilots had uninterrupted radar eyes through the worst storm of the decade.”