Search and rescue at sea aided by hidden flow structures
Name
s41467-020-16281-x.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.56 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
8bee633e0c1aa4dfd8e44ade3c1cbce2
Author(s)
Serra, Mattia
Sathe, Pratik
Rypina, Irina
Kirincich, Anthony
Ross, Shane D.
Allen, Arthur
Peacock, Thomas
Haller, George
Date Issued
May 2020
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Citation
Serra, Mattia et al. "Search and rescue at sea aided by hidden flow structures." Nature Communications 11, 1 (May 2020): 2525 © 2020 The Author(s)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Every year, hundreds of people die at sea because of vessel and airplane accidents. A key challenge in reducing the number of these fatalities is to make Search and Rescue (SAR) algorithms more efficient. Here, we address this challenge by uncovering hidden TRansient Attracting Profiles (TRAPs) in ocean-surface velocity data. Computable from a single velocity-field snapshot, TRAPs act as short-term attractors for all floating objects. In three different ocean field experiments, we show that TRAPs computed from measured as well as modeled velocities attract deployed drifters and manikins emulating people fallen in the water. TRAPs, which remain hidden to prior flow diagnostics, thus provide critical information for hazard responses, such as SAR and oil spill containment, and hence have the potential to save lives and limit environmental disasters.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16281-x
