Air France Flight 447 Recovery Assisted by U.S. Coast Guard and Advanced Search & Rescue Technology
The U.S. Coast Guard assisted the French authorities with the search for Air France Flight 447 by applying their new, advanced SAR software system called the Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System (SAROPS) that generates optimized search area predictions for objects missing at sea.
South Kingstown, RI (Vocus/PRWEB ) June 12, 2009 -- U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue (SAR) experts based in the Portsmouth Virginia Rescue Coordination Center assisted officials at the Rescue Coordination Center in Gris Nez, France, with the search for Air France Flight 447 by providing information and advanced technology to help locate the plane's fuselage as well as recover passengers and crew who were lost in the crash.
SAROPS search and rescue technology used to locate Air France Flight 447 generates a search area probability grid based on real-time and forecast winds and currents to help the recovery effort.
The Coast Guard assisted the French authorities by applying their new, advanced SAR software system called the Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System (SAROPS) that generates optimized search area predictions for objects missing at sea. Recovery of bodies and debris is significant not only for families, but for crash investigators, said Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.
SAROPS includes a "reverse drift" capability, which predicts a search area based on the location where floating wreckage is found. This enables search planners to develop optimal search patterns, maximizing the probability of successfully locating search objects. By tracking information on when and where debris is found, the SAROPS system works backward using the weather, wind and sea conditions over a specified period of time to estimate a probable location of the plane. Based on this position, search efforts can be focused to find the plane's flight data recorders.
SAROPS provides rapid and optimized search and rescue predictions by incorporating the latest real-time and forecast environmental data such as wind and currents. The SAROPS system was developed for the U.S. Coast Guard (deployed in 2007), collaboratively by Applied Science Associates (ASA), Northrop Grumman, and Metron, Inc.
ASA delivers the crucial EDS: Environmental Data Server™ component of SAROPS, which quickly aggregates and feeds meteorological and hydrodynamic conditions to the SAROPS system. In search and rescue and recovery operations at sea, the faster responders can get accurate model predictions of search areas, the greater the likelihood is of locating persons in the water and floating wreckage.
"The software is designed to minimize data entry and the potential for error, resulting in more efficient recovery than ever before," explains Eoin Howlett, ASA's CEO and lead for the continuing development of the SAROPS system. "The ability to access a variety of data from satellite, in-situ observations, radar, and models allows the search and rescue controller to quickly evaluate possible scenarios."
The exact location of the crash has not yet been determined. The flight data and cockpit voice recorders also remain missing, and may lay on the ocean floor. The area of ocean where the debris and bodies have been found ranges between 19,685 and 26,247 feet (6,000 and 8,000 meters) deep. The search area covers 77,220 square miles (200,000 square km), an area nearly as big as the state of Nebraska, but so far 29 bodies as well as pieces of the jet and luggage have been recovered.
Contact Lee Dooley by e-mail ldooley(at)asascience.com or by phone +1 401-789-6224 for more information or for high resolution images of ASA environmental software system interfaces.
For more information about ASA visit http://www.asascience.com.
For more information about the U.S. Coast Guard visit http://www.uscg.mil.
About Applied Science Associates (ASA):
ASA is a global science and technology solutions company. Through consulting, environmental modeling, and application development, ASA helps a diverse range of clients in government, industry, and academia investigate their issues of concern and obtain functional answers.
ASA's solutions are based on applied science and advanced research. Our services and products, along with our staff's diverse technical backgrounds, are specialized in the analysis of marine, freshwater, air, and land resources; computer modeling of physical, chemical, and biological processes; geographic information systems (GIS); operational research; and data management.
Headquartered in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, ASA also has offices in Seattle, Australia, and Brazil. The company's website, www.asascience.com, provides numerous scientific reports written by its staff and extensive information about its products and services.
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