Surf’s up, data’s in
Considering we live in a world obsessed by big data, we know remarkably little about our oceans.
Smartfin, a US non-profit, is doing what it can to get the right data to the right people. But for that you need the right data collectors. In this case, surfer dudes.
Dedicated surfers can be found riding the waves virtually every day, often for several hours at a time. It’s hard to imagine a group of people more geared up for the job. Using an Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled surfboard fin, the company is enlisting surfers to help collect data.
That near-real-time data is then delivered via a cloud database. Crucially, it is data collected from the nearshore and surf zone – areas which traditional measurement tools can prove expensive and challenging.
These fins are able to measure water temperatures to within 0.5°C. This information can then be used by scientists to track changes to water temperature and quality, as well as patterns in riptides and swells.
Research suggests that over the past five decades, more than 90% of excess heat from global warming has been absorbed by the ocean. Having the relevant data is the first step towards mitigating the damage caused by climate change and the impact it is having on the oceans.