A Stereo Camera System for Measuring Coastal Currents

Rip currents cause multiple drowning deaths each year as swimmers are often unaware of the location and strength of coastal currents. Currently, ocean safety officials do not have an affordable and reliable commercial system which can measure coastal currents. The goal of this Phase I study is to test a stereo camera system to measure the speed, direction, and location of alongshore currents and rip currents. The proposed stereo camera system will employ cameras mounted on pan-tilt systems for flexible use. As an additional tool, a smart phone application will be tested to measure currents over a limited area. Test measurement will be carried out with different camera configurations and for different beach settings. The creation of the new stereo camera system and the smart phone application will give ocean safety officials and beach goers a way to measure coastal currents before entering the water hopefully preventing dangerous events. Best practices for using the new observations will be studied as part of an expert and general public meeting and recommendation will be documented.