Water Insight: Call for Supporting Rip Current Beach Safety with AI

 Water Insight: Call for Supporting Rip Current Beach Safety with AI

Thousands of beach users worldwide drown as a result of rip currents every year. In Noord-Holland, the Netherlands, rip currents are being mapped with drones. The drones are also used to track down people in a rip current stream. The MUI-SAT project aims to support drone activities and further rescue activities with risk maps derived with artificial intelligence (AI) from satellite imaging. These maps show where there is a potential risk of rip currents. Because rip currents move, we look at the coast as often as possible.

In this edition, we provide an overview of Water Insight and their new approach to rip current monitoring alongside dotSPACE and METIP. We aim to encourage customers and partners to get involved with the project launch.

An introduction to MUI-SAT

What are rip currents?

A rip current is a strong (relatively) narrow and often channelled propulsion of water, the current of which is often perpendicular to the coast. (Source: www.muien.nl).

What is MUI-SAT?

MUI-SAT is a project of Water Insight, METIP, and DotSPACE and is financed by Netherlands Enterprise Agency RVO. With the MUI-SAT project we will see if we can support rescue organisations by making risk assessment maps. These maps are derived from satellite imaging using artificial intelligence and should show where there is a potential risk of rip currents. Rip tides move, therefore new maps are made as often as possible.  The MUI-SAT service will offer supporting solutions for better beach safety in coastal areas of the Netherlands and beyond.

Project partners

Goals of the project

  • Better and cheaper information collection and provision.
  • More efficient use of resources in the preparation and deployment of rescue operations. We want to reduce the costs of supervision and enforcement.
  • Demonstration of the added value of MUI-SAT information to tourism operators and end users from various governments.
  • Contribute to effectively informing the public together with responsible parties via a website that will eventually also become available as an app (where attention will be paid to informing in various languages).

Importance of improving rip current beach safety

Rip currents account for 65% to 80% of the thousands of fatal and non-fatal coastal drownings worldwide each year! MUI-SAT thus contributes to a safe tourist export product: coastal, surf and beach leisure/tourism. The timely detection of rip currents leads to fewer casualties and rescue operations.

Not only does MUI-SAT monitor rip currents, but the project provides insight into the changes in coastal safety as a result of water quality, climate change, rising sea levels and interventions in the coast such as sand replenishment. 

A typical rip current spot seen from above. Image credit: Water Insight

Become a MUI-SAT partner or customer

Water Insight is an R&D driven commercial organisation with a great deal of specialist knowledge and has a good track record in developing new techniques and services together with Dutch and European partners. 

dotSPACE is an innovation consultancy with the aim to translate remote sensing technologies to new market and policy applications. 

Customers and partners of MUI-SAT include stakeholders in rescue work; governments and local authorities, stakeholders in the tourism sector and researchers.

The ambition of the MUI-SAT team is to  set up a fully automated service within 2-3 years. As far as is known, this service is not in preparation with other market parties, so our ambition is to become the first provider worldwide. If you are interested in the MUI-SAT project, please get in touch!

Contact Water Insight at peters@waterinsight.nl
or DotSPACE at linda.van.duivenbode@groundstation.space

Check-out more DotSPACE marine/water projects

Project Iliad

Project Water-ForCE

Tessa Buckley

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