SeaTrac & SeaView Validate USV-Based Wave Monitoring

SeaTrac Systems and SeaView Systems partnered to demonstrate a new approach to wave data collection that bypasses the traditional reliance on buoys and crewed vessels. The team integrated SeaView Systems’ SVS-603HR wave sensor aboard SeaTrac Systems' remotely commanded SP-48 USV to deliver buoy-quality data at a fraction of the cost and without using carbon-producing crewed vessels. Accurate wave data is vital for marine safety, commercial shipping, and oceanographic research.

Base Platform and Payload Integration
SeaTrac’s SP-48 is a solar- and battery-powered USV designed for long-endurance operations in offshore and nearshore environments. For this mission, the SP-48 was equipped with the SVS-603HR sensor, an advanced wave measurement solution.

The SVS-603HR is proven to compensate for vessel wave responses, enabling accurate measurements from a moving platform. It also significantly reduces the size, weight and power requirements of traditional wave sensors, making monitoring accessible across a broader range of buoy platforms. It offers enhanced onboard memory, increased processing power and advanced hardware, and models the complex motion characteristics of non-radially symmetric hulls such as USVs.

These combined capabilities allow the sensor aboard a USV to accurately measure wave height, period and direction in dynamic offshore conditions.

Field Validation Testing
SeaTrac conducted trials in the offshore waters of the U.S. Gulf of America. The SP-48 completed a 39-day mission covering approximately 1,800 miles, while executing multiple survey patterns. As part of the validation effort, the USV operated for five days in proximity to Shell's Stones field buoy, which supports oil-and-gas development in the U.S. Gulf of America, allowing direct comparison between wave measurements collected by the SVS-603HR and a true reference source.

The project validated the ability of a USV-based wave monitoring system to provide accurate, reliable wave data while offering the operational advantages of an autonomous platform.

Data collected by the SVS-603HR aboard SeaTrac’s SP-48 showed strong agreement with measurements from Shell’s Stones field buoy across key oceanographic parameters, including significant wave height, wave period and wave direction.

By reducing dependence on fixed infrastructure and the vessels required to service it, SeaTrac's USVs can lower operational costs, improve deployment flexibility and expand access to real-time oceanographic data.