École Nationale Supérieure de
Techniques Avancées

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine whether it is possible to predict the drift of a person lost at sea. Three physical processes are considered: wind, current and surface waves. They are respectively given by ALADIN, NEMO and WAM numerical models. The software OpenDrift is used to run several trajectory simulations with different combinations of driving forces. It is found that Stokes drift cannot be neglected and that a crosswind leeway component is necessary. It remains that precisely predicting marine drift is difficult since the envelope of all possible trajectories is wide.