New tool warns sailors of rogue waves three minutes in advance

MIT engineers may have just stumbled upon a tool that can save the lives of sailors. According to MIT, rogue waves can measure eight times higher than the surrounding seas and can hit sailors even in calm waters, with no warning whatsoever. (Picture a scene from The Perfect Storm.)

The new prediction tool was created in the form of an algorithm, which sorts through data from the waves around the ship to spot clusters of waves that could potentially develop into a rogue wave based on length and height. The tool could possibly provide a two to three minute warning, giving sailors enough time to shut down operations on the ship or offshore platform.

“It’s precise in the sense that it’s telling us very accurately the location and the time that this rare event will happen,” said Themis Sapsis, the American Bureau of Shipping Career Development Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. “We have a range of possibilities, and we can say that this will be a dangerous wave, and you’d better do something. That’s really all you need.”

In order to use the algorithm, ships and offshore platforms will need to use high-resolution scanning technologies like LIDAR and radar to measure the surrounding waves.

Watch the video for more information.

Story via MIT.