Oceanographers at The University of Western Australia are set to make advances in wave forecasting with the deployment of small drifting wave buoys that promise to improve the accuracy of wave predictions, allowing for safer and more informed activities for those reliant on ocean conditions.
The research is being carried out through UWA’s ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Transforming Energy Infrastructure through Digital Engineering (TIDE).
Associate Professor at UWA’s School of Earth Sciences and Oceans Institute and project lead at TIDE Dr Jeff Hansen said the drifting wave buoys, which float on the ocean surface, measured wave height, period (time between waves), and direction – data crucial for forecasting wave and swell conditions.
Dr Hansen and Research Fellow at UWA’s Oceans Institute Marzieh Derkani recently supervised the release of an additional four drifting wave buoys in the Indian Ocean on a voyage from Heard Island, one of Australia’s sub-Antarctic islands, assisted by Austral Fisheries.
