OPTIMUM FILTERING AND SMOOTHING OF BUOY WAVE DATA

The problem of estimating ocean wave heights given accelerometer and pressure measurements from a spar buoy is described. A Kalman optimum filter and a smoother are used to combine these measurements to estimate four state variables: wave height and its time integral, and buoy vertical displacement and velocity. The time history of the ocean waves is presented as a second-order system driven by white noise. The buoy dynamics in the vertical are represented as a second-order system driven by the waves with additional white noise. Numerical computations were carried out for the state vector of order four using five minutes of digitally recorded data from an actual spar buoy. One of the state variables, buoy vertical displacement, is compared directly with the accelerometer output as doubly integrated by another numerical technique and found to be slightly more stable. Inspection of the measurement residuals from the filter and smoother suggest that the model or parameters chosen are not in final form.

• Corporate Authors:

  American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

  1290 Avenue of the Americas
  New York, NY  United States  10019
• Authors:
  • Severance, R W
• Publication Date: 1975-4

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 69-74
• Serial:
  • Journal of Hydronautics
  • Volume: 9
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Buoys; Electromagnetic spectrum; Hydrodynamics; Measurement; Ocean waves; Technology; Wave height; Wave measurement
• Old TRIS Terms: Buoy hydrodynamics
• Subject Areas: Design; Hydraulics and Hydrology; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00098169
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 29 1975 12:00AM