Obtaining vessel speed through gfw-api

[mattcarr03]

Hi there,

Thank you for providing these tools they are incredibly useful. I am unsure if this is the correct forum for this question, so please let me know if there is a better contact point or if I should direct this to a specific email address.

I would like to enquire whether vessel speed can be obtained as a variable through the Python API (or any other method). I noticed that the fourwings presence endpoint supports speed as a filter, for example:

For example a code snippet would be:
### Using the 4wings (fourwings) function ais presence
ais_report_result = await gfw_client.fourwings.create_report(
spatial_resolution=spatial_resolution,
temporal_resolution=temporal_resolution,
group_by="VESSEL_ID",
datasets=["public-global-presence:latest"],
start_date=yr_start,
end_date=yr_end,
filters=["speed in ('2-4', '4-6', '6-10', '10-15', '15-25', '>25')"],

    geojson=geojson if REGION == "TEST" else None,
    region=region if REGION == "EEZ" else None,
)

The existence of this filter implies that speed information is present in the underlying data. However, I cannot find any way to return speed as an output variable alongside presence.

My specific use case would benfient greatly from obtaining vessel speed per vessel rather than the speed band filter alone.

If this functionality does not currently exist, would it be possible through a different access tier, dataset, or account type? I would be happy to explore any available options.

Thank you again for your time and for the work you have put into these tools.

Matthew Carr

[GFWapis]

Hi Matthew, Thank you for this detailed question and for using our data and package! I completely understand your request, and I appreciate you providing a clear example of your use case. You're correct that the underlying data contains speed information; the fact that speed is available as a filter parameter indicates that speed data is present in the system. However, the 4Wings API currently does not support speed as an output variable. The *group_by* parameter in the 4Wings endpoint supports: VESSEL_ID, FLAG, GEARTYPE, FLAGANDGEARTYPE, and MMSI, and the returned fields are: date, flag, geartype, hours, lat, lon, and vesselIDs. Speed filtering is implemented at the data query level but is not exposed as an output metric in the response. While not a direct replacement, the Events API does provide speed-related metrics that might be useful for your use case: 1. Fishing Events - includes average_speed_knots during fishing activities 2. Encounter Events - includes median_speed_knots when vessels are in close proximity 3. Loitering Events - includes average_speed_knots during loitering behavior 4. Gap Events - includes implied_speed_knots during AIS signal gaps These provide per-vessel speed data for specific activity types, though they're event-based rather than continuous. Here's an example: ```python events_result = await gfw_client.events.get_all_events( datasets=["public-global-fishing-events:latest"], vessels=["your-vessel-id"], start_date="2024-01-01", end_date="2024-12-31", ) events_data = events_result.data() for event in events_data: if event.fishing and event.fishing.average_speed_knots: print(f"Vessel {event.vessel.id}: {event.fishing.average_speed_knots} knots") ``` If continuous per-vessel speed data is critical for your use case, we'd love to have you add this as a feature request to our improvement board: Submit Feature Request on Canny <https://global-fishing-watch.canny.io/>. Our product team actively monitors this board and considers user feedback when prioritizing development work. To better advocate for features like this and to help us demonstrate the value of keeping Global Fishing Watch tools open and free, we'd like to hear more about your project and use case: - What organization are you working with? (NGO, academic institution, government, private sector, etc.) - What is your project focused on? (e.g., IUU detection, supply chain monitoring, fisheries management, research, etc.) - How would per-vessel speed data help your work? Would event-based speeds (fishing, loitering, encounters) partially address your needs in the near term? Your story helps us demonstrate to donors and stakeholders the real-world impact of this work, which is crucial for keeping these tools accessible to researchers, policymakers, and organizations working on marine conservation and related ocean sustainability work. Thank you again for reaching out, and we look forward to learning more about how you're using our tools! Global Fishing Watch

…

On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 8:11 AM 'mattcarr03' via GFW API Support < ***@***.***> wrote: Hi there, Thank you for providing these tools they are incredibly useful. I am unsure if this is the correct forum for this question, so please let me know if there is a better contact point or if I should direct this to a specific email address. I would like to enquire whether vessel speed can be obtained as a variable through the Python API (or any other method). I noticed that the fourwings presence endpoint supports speed as a filter, for example: For example a code snippet would be: ### Using the 4wings (fourwings) function ais presence ais_report_result = await gfw_client.fourwings.create_report( spatial_resolution=spatial_resolution, temporal_resolution=temporal_resolution, group_by="VESSEL_ID", datasets=["public-global-presence:latest"], start_date=yr_start, end_date=yr_end, filters=["speed in ('2-4', '4-6', '6-10', '10-15', '15-25', '>25')"], geojson=geojson if REGION == "TEST" else None, region=region if REGION == "EEZ" else None, ) The existence of this filter implies that speed information is present in the underlying data. However, I cannot find any way to return speed as an output variable alongside presence. My specific use case would benfient greatly from obtaining vessel speed per vessel rather than the speed band filter alone. If this functionality does not currently exist, would it be possible through a different access tier, dataset, or account type? I would be happy to explore any available options. Thank you again for your time and for the work you have put into these tools. Matthew Carr — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#61?email_source=notifications&email_token=BRRNKWTWPLGJ3WWKD4ZNRML46AIY3A5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDCOJQGU4DLJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BRRNKWQMDM6CQUWBXPTURIL46AIY3AVCNFSM6AAAAACZYUURDSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43GRDJONRXK43TNFXW4OZRGAYTSMBVHA2Q> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/BRRNKWRU7QAR2QPYM375GZT46AIY3A5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDCOJQGU4DLJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2KUZTPN52GK4S7NFXXG> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/BRRNKWVJIFN3T4TVONBPTBT46AIY3A5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDCOJQGU4DLJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2K4ZTPN52GK4S7MFXGI4TPNFSA>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.*** com> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GFW API Support" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ***@***.*** To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/a/globalfishingwatch.org/d/msgid/apis/GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client/repo-discussions/61%40github.com <https://groups.google.com/a/globalfishingwatch.org/d/msgid/apis/GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client/repo-discussions/61%40github.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> .

[mattcarr03]

Hi GFW team,

Thank you for the clear and detailed response.

It's geat to know that the events API includes speed as an output variable, unfortunately our use case (which I will detail below) would greatly benifit from continuous per-vessel speed data. I will submit a Feature Request as suggested, it's great to know that this is avaidable to the users!

In response to the general information:

- What organization are you working with? (NGO, academic institution, government, private sector, etc.)

I am working at the South Africa National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) which is a govermental research institute. Specifically, within the marine research group lead by Dr Jock Currie (@jockongit). The key goal of group is to produce spatial pressure layers for marine spatial planning and protection.

• What is your project focused on? (e.g., IUU detection, supply chain monitoring, fisheries management, research, etc.)

The project goal is to use GFW data to enhance the pressure layers. Specifically, using the AIS/vessel registry data to produce a "vessel activity" layer where the vessel traffic is mapped. Closely linked would be the production of a underwater radiated noise (URN) layer.

These would be used to investigate interactions between shipping/vessel activity and ecologically senstive areas.

• How would per-vessel speed data help your work? Would event-based speeds (fishing, loitering, encounters) partially address your needs in the near term?

In order to produce a underwater radiated noise (URN) layer, the continuous per-vessel speed data is critical as vessel speed has a large impact on the noise produced. It would also need to be applied to all AIS equipped vessels rather than limited to events such as fishing. loitering etc.

Thank you again for the quick respond, if this project/use case is of interest to the your team if would be great to keep in touch. Potentially there has been similar research done and if would be great to connect with similar minded users in different regions.

I will submit the Feature Request.

Kind regards,
Matthew Carr

[jockongit]

Thanks Matthew and hi GFW team!

To add to further context to what Matt shared: We're collaborating with colleagues in the Glonoise project to estimate maps of underwater noise pressure and exposure from vessel activity. The idea is to use GFW AIS data, with the URN toolkit and relevant bathymetry and sediment layers to model vessel engine noise propagation and calculate the resultant noise pressure and noise exposure maps.

Our interest at SANBI in doing so is related to updating and improving our cumulative pressure mapping and ecological condition estimates for ecosystem assessments. Underwater noise has been an obvious gap in that work.

Much appreciation also from me for the valuable datasets and platform you provide. We are hoping to make use of your data across multiple activity/pressure layers in our ecosystem assessment and spatial prioritisation work.

Kind regards,

Jock

[GFWapis]

Hi Matthew and Jock, Thank you both for the context, the SANBI cumulative pressure mapping work and the Glonoise collaboration make this a genuinely compelling use case, and filling the underwater noise gap in the National Biodiversity Assessment is the kind of application we want our data to support. In the meantime, the speed-band filter approach could serve as a categorical proxy, allowing you to isolate vessel presence by speed regime (e.g. slow transit vs. high-speed) as an approximation, though we recognise this is not a substitute for the continuous speed data your URN toolkit requires. Additionally, we'd like to feature SANBI's work as a use case in Global Fishing Watch's communications; it's a strong example of our data supporting national biodiversity assessment and marine spatial planning in Africa. Would you and Jock be open to that? We'd come back to you for review before anything is published. Best regards, Yaa

…

On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 09:04 AM, 'Jock' via GFW API Support < ***@***.***> wrote: Thanks Matthew and hi GFW team! To add to further context to what Matt shared: We're collaborating with colleagues in the Glonoise project <https://glonoise.imo.org/about> to estimate maps of underwater noise pressure and exposure from vessel activity. The idea is to use GFW AIS data, with the URN toolkit <https://glonoise.blueoasis.pt/> and relevant bathymetry and sediment layers to model vessel engine noise propagation and calculate the resultant noise pressure and noise exposure maps. Our interest at SANBI in doing so is related to updating and improving our cumulative pressure mapping <https://nba.sanbi.org.za/content/marine/marine_pressures.html> and ecological condition estimates <https://nba.sanbi.org.za/content/marine/marine_condition.html> for ecosystem assessments <https://nba.sanbi.org.za/content/marine/marine_ets.html>. Underwater noise has been an obvious gap in that work. Much appreciation also from me for the valuable datasets and platform you provide. We are hoping to make use of your data across multiple activity/pressure layers in our ecosystem assessment and spatial prioritisation work. Kind regards, Jock — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#61?email_source=notifications&email_token=BRRNKWUXIFMKOO273STTHQD47FMERA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZSGUYTCNJYUZZGKYLTN5XKOY3PNVWWK3TUUVSXMZLOOSWGM33PORSXEX3DNRUWG2Y#discussioncomment-17251158>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BRRNKWUZ3GJXW6KG3ILTLVD47FMERAVCNFSNUABIKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHM4TANBXGQYDONRZHNCGS43DOVZXG2LPNY5TCMBRHEYDKOBVUF3AE> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/BRRNKWRMIN4YKQ527CFBT6347FMERA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZSGUYTCNJYUZZGKYLTN5XKOY3PNVWWK3TUUVSXMZLOOSVGM33PORSXEX3JN5ZQ> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/BRRNKWUAJVMXVXJXENBJGKL47FMERA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZSGUYTCNJYUZZGKYLTN5XKOY3PNVWWK3TUUVSXMZLOOSXGM33PORSXEX3BNZSHE33JMQ>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: <GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client/repo-discussions/61/comments/17251158 @github.com> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GFW API Support" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ***@***.*** To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/a/globalfishingwatch.org/d/msgid/apis/GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client/repo-discussions/61/comments/17251158%40github.com <https://groups.google.com/a/globalfishingwatch.org/d/msgid/apis/GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client/repo-discussions/61/comments/17251158%40github.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> .

[jockongit]

Thanks for the feedback Yaa, and your interest in featuring SANBI's use of GFW data. We are interested in supporting on that, but would like to make some further progress and have results to share before doing so. Could we touch base on that plan in late August or early September?

Kind regards,

Jock

[GFWapis]

Hi Jock, Sounds great. Let’s plan to reconnect in late August or early September once you’ve had a chance to make further progress. We'd be delighted to catch up to hear more about the results. Best, Yaa

…

On Mon, Jun 22, 2026 at 8:27 AM 'Jock' via GFW API Support < ***@***.***> wrote: Thanks for the feedback Yaa, and your interest in featuring SANBI's use of GFW data. We are interested in supporting on that, but would like to make some further progress and have results to share before doing so. Could we touch base on that plan in late August or early September? Kind regards, Jock — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#61?email_source=notifications&email_token=BRRNKWUETQON6CI7LPWQ2YT5BEQ2ZA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZTHEZDINRYUZZGKYLTN5XKOY3PNVWWK3TUUVSXMZLOOSWGM33PORSXEX3DNRUWG2Y#discussioncomment-17392468>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BRRNKWXGC5L5SYQ6OFYS6V35BEQ2ZAVCNFSNUABIKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHM4TANBXGQYDONRZHNCGS43DOVZXG2LPNY5TCMBRHEYDKOBVUF3AE> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/BRRNKWVWRFYTDDGNKTEYGJT5BEQ2ZA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZTHEZDINRYUZZGKYLTN5XKOY3PNVWWK3TUUVSXMZLOOSVGM33PORSXEX3JN5ZQ> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/BRRNKWXUMDE6PBAE7UGYZCL5BEQ2ZA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZTHEZDINRYUZZGKYLTN5XKOY3PNVWWK3TUUVSXMZLOOSXGM33PORSXEX3BNZSHE33JMQ>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: <GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client/repo-discussions/61/comments/17392468 @github.com> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GFW API Support" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ***@***.*** To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/a/globalfishingwatch.org/d/msgid/apis/GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client/repo-discussions/61/comments/17392468%40github.com <https://groups.google.com/a/globalfishingwatch.org/d/msgid/apis/GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client/repo-discussions/61/comments/17392468%40github.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> .