Why is Measuring Waves Important?

Q: Why should people care about measuring ocean waves?

Oliver: Great question. Field observations of waves are essential to improving our scientific models of wave dynamics. But beyond research, wave data has a lot of practical applications—real-time wave conditions influence everything from ship navigation and weather forecasting to oil-spill response and even surfing. Historical wave data also plays a key role in how offshore structures are designed—whether it’s an oil rig, wind farm, or fish farm—they all have to withstand wave energy over decades.

Q: So how does Open Ocean Robotics contribute to this?

Oliver: At Open Ocean Robotics, we use solar-powered Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs) called DataXplorers. They’re typically used for missions like marine protected area monitoring or bathymetric surveys, but with the right onboard sensors, we can turn them into mobile wave measurement platforms. It’s particularly valuable when you need a fast-deploying solution—like if a wave buoy goes down or there’s an urgent oil spill and you want to forecast how a plume will move.

Q: How do you actually measure waves with a USV?

Oliver: Our USVs are equipped with an inertial navigation system that tracks acceleration, attitude, and GPS location at a high sampling rate. Using signal-processing algorithms, we process these data in real-time onboard the USV to infer wave height, direction, and period. We recently validated this by comparing our data to a NOAA wave buoy, and the results lined up well.

Q: What’s next for your wave sensing work?

Oliver: We’re continuing to refine our algorithms, especially for detecting long-period swells. That’s a challenge due to sensor noise and drift at low frequencies, but we're exploring alternate approaches like pitch-angle analysis. The goal is to provide robust, cost-effective wave data wherever it’s needed—and help push forward both science and safety at sea.

*The dialogue was generated with the help of AI, but has been reviewed and edited for accuracy by Oliver Kirsebom.

Reference Kirsebom, O. & Deggan, S. (2025). Wave Sensor on the Go. The Journal of Ocean Technology, Vol. 20, No. 2.