Abstract
Search and rescue (SAR) in remote maritime locations is a difficult mission. One of the limitations in these isolated regions is the low density of available oceanographic data for model validation. In order to examine the state of remote search and rescue a review of maritime search theory and advances was conducted. This included basic drift theory, leeway, available environmental data, and the current methods used by the United States Coast Guard for SAR operations. In particular the U.S. Coast Guard’s fourteenth district’s SAR case history was examined and it was found that 60% of SAR cases fall outside of areas that have high-resolution wind and current data, with only global scale model forecasts available. In addition, 2% of cases occurred in offshore waters ( > 12nm from land) and exceeded 36 hours in asset response time. Three SAR simulations were run off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii using the same wind data, but different surface current models. These simulations had extremely large (up to 12,000 km2) search areas, highlighting the need for solutions that narrow these expected areas.
Highlights
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is responsible for more than 21.3 million square nautical miles of ocean and oversees 11 mission areas including aids to navigation, living marine resources, law enforcement, and search and rescue
Total drift is predicted from leeway, defined as the motion of the object induced by the 10-m reference height wind and surface waves relative to the ocean current in Breivik et al (2013) as well as Allen and Plourde (1999)
Surface drifting buoys are commonly used to validate ocean currents during Search and rescue (SAR) operations (Breivik et al, 2013). These units are deployed in the area of interest and their drift is compared to available numerical model outputs, which aide in the placement of search patterns used by response assets
Summary
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is responsible for more than 21.3 million square nautical miles of ocean and oversees 11 mission areas including aids to navigation, living marine resources, law enforcement, and search and rescue. Most SAR cases are short lived and do not require an extensive search, the cases that do extend over multiple days and necessitate extensive asset allocations are quite expensive These cases generally have a low probability of successfully finding missing persons alive. A prime example is the Coast Guard’s fourteenth district, which is responsible for the Hawaiian Islands, America Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands as well as the high seas in between. Many of these regions are isolated and lack observational current data for model validation. Using current methods and datasets available to USCG SAR, we run three example case studies in the Hawaiian Islands
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