New computer algorithm can locate people lost at sea

A team of researchers have developed a new algorithm that could help search and rescue teams locate people lost at sea using ocean currents, wind speed, and wave direction. The project was a joint effort from scientists at MIT, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and Virginia Tech, who tested their method using human manikins in the ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. Unlike current search and rescue models--which also use data about ocean currents and wind to calculate the likely location of a missing person by simulating one single linear path--the team's new system is focused on identifying multiple points of'attraction' in the ocean, which can sometimes change dramatically over time. Using a system they called Transient Attracting Profiles (TRAPS), the team tracks these attraction points, which they behave like'moving magnets' pulling people in the water toward them. Instead of mapping out a single, linear path, the TRAPS model identifies many different attraction points, or'traps,' in the ocean that will likely have pulled a person in multiple directions as they drift through the waters.