Bayanat’s Marine Exploration program predicts Abhilash Tomy’s boat coordinates

Using numerical weather modeling and AI models, Bayanat’s scientific team predicts Abhilash Tomy’s coordinates as he sails through the world’s most challenging sailboat competition, the Golden Globe Race. The team can predict the location of the boat to less than 1 km accuracy along the track of the boat up to 6 hours in advance.?

Based on the initial position coordinates of the vessel and the prevailing wind vectors, ocean currents and historical track of the boat, the future coordinates are estimated and provided in 5-minute intervals. This supports accurate tasking of satellite image acquisition which normally has to be done at least 3-4 hours in advance. As the boat travels through its set journey, satellite images are collected with less than a 1-meter spatial resolution to support the satellite image acquisition with high accuracy.

Bayanat is then able to radiometrically correct satellite data on the travel path, which is utilized to understand ocean color variations. As an added unique opportunity, water samples are collected in vials from around the world to detect the presence of microplastics and study the physical attributes of water.

It has been an exciting week for the Golden Globe Race sailors as they close up to Cape Town, where they must pass through a compulsory Photo Gate in Granger Bay. As of November 8, at 12:00 AM GMT, Abhilash is in a duel within a day of Pat, which he is in favour of leading as they near the Cape of Good Hope Crossing.