On predicting boat drift under time-varying and uncertain sea environment and boat parameters

A theoretical model for predicting steady boat drift for search and rescue missions is being extended in this work for situations involving time-varying environments. The nature of a particular sea environment is addressed through uncertainty analysis with interval mathematics and nonlinear programming. Two theoretical models are presented, and field experiments that have been performed previously are described. Five sets of measured field data are selected to verify the presented models. Predictions of both theoretical models are compared with the measured field data. The result shows that both models can provide reliable drift regions for search and rescue.