The WaveTwin project aims to further develop a digital twin for estimating the wave state in the Baltic Sea from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. Previous methods for SAR data are not successful enough for enclosed water bodies where steep wind waves are dominating. It is apparent that the Baltic Sea also cannot be covered fully with wave buoys to measure the energy spectrum, i.e. the distribution of wave energy by frequency. The use of SAR data allows us to effectively evaluate the wave spectrum over the entire Baltic Sea, skipping the high costs of installing and operating wave buoys. To achieve this goal, the team will use their expertise in the application of deep learning techniques to estimate wave spectra based on SAR images. Environmental protection and navigation at sea (e.g. for the construction and maintenance of wind farms) are two of the most important application areas. A growing interest in such problems is also evident in the field of situational awareness systems.
Implementation of the IT Academy programme ICT research support project according to three strategic objectives: 1. Increasing the innovation capacity of the Estonian economy and society at large through the smarter use of ICT; 2. Increasing the ICT R&D capacity of universities in priority research areas; 3. Linking R&D with teaching activities at all levels of higher education.