Awards

How high, at what point and at what time water levels rise or fall is just as relevant for shipping as it is for emergency services and private individuals. Viadonau used the challenge at the IÖB innovation platform to look for new solutions for reliable low water forecasts lasting several days for the navigation operators of the Danube waterway. VRVis and SOBOS GmbH accepted this challenge and developed a new solution with PegelCast2D, which enables safe shipping routes with artificial intelligence and fast hydrodynamics. For this solution VRVis and SOBOS were chosen as one of the four winning projects at the IÖB Niederwasser-Challenge.

The strength of the strategy lies in the combination of several models: physical (hydrodynamic), statistical and AI-based models. With this combination, a significant improvement in accuracy over the length of the forecast period was achieved. This accuracy is provided not only for the locations of the measurement levels but also for every point of the Danube surface in between. This allows users to be provided with the effectively lowest draught per river section or route.