New artificial intelligence is able to map giant icebergs in the ocean before you can even say the word “Titanic.” And no, this is not an exaggeration. It was developed by researchers at the University of Leeds, UK. This software identifies pixel patterns in satellite images and highlights these icebergs in record time: one-hundredth of a second!
To give you an idea, this is about 10,000 times faster than the most efficient manual checks. The paper is titled “Mapping the extent of giant icebergs in Antarctica using Deep learning“, was published in the scientific journal Cryosphere. To better illustrate this progress, pay attention to the video below:
The video demonstrates the comparison between the use of artificial intelligence and manual inspection using specific software to identify structures in satellite images.
As can be seen, that itWhile AI takes a hundredth of a second to make the mapping, a manual scan takes more than two minutes. It may seem like a small thing, but in a routine mapping the movements of polar structures, which monitors hundreds of structures daily, this leads to an incredible saving of time.
In the second video we can see in detail how the new program’s algorithm works. By analyzing the pixels in the image, the AI can quickly identify the edges of objects, making the application very effective in the case of large icebergs.
Application in maritime transport and climate change
You may be wondering what the real application of this artificial intelligence will be in the future. While there are many areas that could receive contributions this quickly and efficiently, Two of them stand out: maritime transport and combating climate change.
In the first case, giant icebergs breaking off from the polar ice caps could cause accidents and disrupt important routes for commercial and military ocean transportation. Therefore, there must be continuous maps, such as on highways and air transport.
Therefore, using the program It can reduce the chance of accidents such as the TitanicWhich killed thousands of people at the beginning of the twentieth century, and made travel faster.
Furthermore, identifying icebergs can help better understand the melting state of the polar ice caps, thus contributing to the analysis of research data related to global warming and sea level rise.
“Icebergs are found in hard-to-reach parts of the world. So satellites are not only a great tool for monitoring where they are, but they can also help scientists understand the process of how these icebergs melt and break up. Using a new artificial intelligence system helps,” said Dr. Anne Brackman-Volgemann. , who led the research team, said: “Overcoming some of the problems with current automated methods, which can have difficulty distinguishing between icebergs and other ice floating in the sea, or even on the nearby coast that is in the same image.” The study at the Polar Monitoring and Monitoring Center University of Leeds.
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