High resolution(Credit: NOAA)
By law, owners of emergency beacons are required to register them with NOAA at: That registration information often noaahelps provide better and ster assistance to people in distress. It may also provide information about the location of the emergency, how many people need assistance, what type of help may be needed and other ways to contact the owner. At the end of 2011 NOAAs registration database contained over 329,000 registrations.
With each rescue, this system performs the way it was intended as a real, life-saving network, said Chris OConnors, program manager for NOAA SARSAT.
NOAAs mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earths environment, from the depths of the ocean to the suce of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us onFacebook,Twitterand our othersocial media channels.
SARSAT System Overview.
High resolution(Credit: NOAA)
Alaska had the most people rescued on land last year with 39, followed by Florida with 11, and California with 8.
Rescue at sea.
In the pitch of night, two people were rescued from a life raft after their boat sank 140 miles off the coast of Marco Island, Fla.
In 2011, NOAA satellites were critical in the rescues of 207 people from life-threatening situations throughout the United States and its surrounding waters. The satellites picked up distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers, and relayed the information about their location to first responders on the ground.
NOAA SARSAT played a critical role in the rescue of a group of student hikers from a grizzly bear attack in Alaska by directing first responders to the scene.
noaa NOAA satellites aid in the rescue of 207 people in 2011,NOAAs polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites are part of the internationalSearch and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking System, called COSPAS-SARSAT. This system uses a network of satellites to quickly detect and locate distress signals from emergency beacons onboard aircraft and boats, and from smaller, handheld personal locator beacons called PLBs.
Since 1982, COSPAS-SARSAT has been credited with supporting more than 30,000 rescues worldwide, including more than 6,700 in the United States and its surrounding waters.
Of the 207 saves last year, 122 people were rescued from the water, 14 from aviation incidents, and 71 in land situations where they used their PLBs. Other rescue highlights from the year include:
When a NOAA satellite finds the location of a distress signal, the information is relayed to the SARSAT Mission Control Center based at NOAAs Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Md. From there, the infonoaa NOAA satellites aid in the rescue of 207 people in 2011rmation is quickly sent to a Rescue Coordination Center, operated by either the U.S. Air Force for land rescues or the U.S. Coast Guard for water rescues.
