Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
The European Space Agency (ESA) is joining forces with TeleConsult Austria to develop an Internet-based system that combines satellites and other forms of technology to assist in Alpine rescue efforts, the organization announced on Tuesday.
The new system is called Sarontar (Situational Awareness and Command & Control of Rescue Forces in Alpine Regions), and according to the EDA, it uses orbiting probes to allow emergency service personnel to access maps, provide warnings and maintain contact with one another.
Stuck on a mountain? Satellites to the rescue!
In addition, the program will use smartphones equipped with a special app and a satellite modem to replace traditional FM radios, which can be unreliable in mountainous regions. Officials at a mission control center will coordinate operations and direct rescue teams – tracking them, giving them instructions, and monitoring and recording their progress, the agency added.
Last year, emergency serviced teams had to rescue nearly 1,800 people in the Austrian Alps. With Sarontar, backend software will be used to record those operations, creating a visual of all regular GPS positioning data (including timestamps). The app will also display messages and warnings from teams on the mountain and display that information graphically on a map.
[STORY: Curiosity rover arrives at martian mountain]
“Mission coordination and documentation are all in one place and can be used to report on the mission,” the ESA said. “There’s no need to plot GPS coordinates previously radioed in from the rescue crew – it’s all automated. They can also redirect incoming messages to the smartphones of other team members on the mountain.”
“All the data collected during the rescue operation are stored and fully accessible during and after the event,” they added. “Satnav enables real time tracking of the search and rescue teams operating in the mountain. Earth observation imagery provides up-to-date maps and telecom satellites ensure this information is delivered when terrestrial networks are unavailable.”
Testing Sarontar
Sarontar was recently tested during a simulated rescue operation in the Styrian region of Austria, in which crews were tasked with handing a pair of mock emergencies at different parts of the mountain near Admont. Mountain rescue services from six local areas were involved, responding to simulated incidents in a 359 square mile (930 square kilometer) region of the Alps.
Approximately 50 volunteers, the rescue dog brigade, Alpine police and the local fire brigade, were involved in the exercise, the ESA said. The rescue was successful, and those involved said that the smartphone app was easier to use than their traditional mapping tools.
“ESA’s Integrated Applications Promotions program helped us to meet user needs, to strengthen contact with user groups and to give them the opportunity to intensively test and use the system through the pilot stage,” said Claudia Fösleitner of TeleConsult Austria.
[STORY: Lone sailor saved by satellite iceberg warning]
“Sarontar guarantees contact between mission control and rescue crew by integrating terrestrial wireless and sitcom,” added ESA official Francesco Feliciani, who attended the simulation in Admont. “Simple messaging and automatic tracking provides excellent support in particular for coordinating teams in search operations.”
According to Sarontar’s official product page, the project is currently at the beginning of its validation phase. The hardware has been distributed to local mountain rescue service units, and is currently being tested in real-life rescue missions as well as exercise operations.
—–
Follow redOrbit on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest.
Comments