Artificial intelligence: New tool enables prediction of deadly monster waves

The system is based on 14 million measurements of wave height near the coast. They were collected continuously from 172 buoys along the American coast and the Pacific islands. The AI was able to use this data to recognise patterns before the occurrence of monster waves.

According to the developers, this makes the new system in the recognised science magazine "Scientific Reports" was able to predict the monster waves five minutes before they occurred in 73 per cent of cases. They also assume that the accuracy and warning time of the tool can be further improved with additional data, such as wind and water depth.

With the help of this artificial intelligence, it would be possible to save people from certain death. The existence of monster waves has only been scientifically recognised since the mid-1990s. Since then, the phenomenon has been the subject of intensive research. A distinction is made between three types.

Three types of monster waves

The so-called Caveman is a large, relatively fast wave that does not follow the direction of the normal swell. Under Three sisters is understood to mean three consecutive waves that significantly exceed the prevailing wave height, in the narrow valleys of which ships cannot develop the necessary buoyancy and are then rolled over. One White wall experts describe this as a very steep wave, followed by a deep trough.

Diverse reasons for origin

There can be various reasons for the formation of the monster waves, which were ridiculed until they were recognised as sailor's yarn, but so-called linear superposition always plays a role. This phenomenon has been known for 400 years and occurs when two wave systems cross and then reinforce each other for a short time.

Early use of AI for monster wave forecasting

Already last year we reported on YACHT online about research by the University of Copenhagen into the prediction of monster waves. They had also used the measurement data from numerous buoys on various oceans and developed a formula for the forecast.