Geospatial Technology and Data for Volunteer-based

Wilderness Search and Rescue

GEOG 596A Capstone Peer ReviewLoren Pfau, MGIS Candidate

Justine Blanford, Faculty Advisor22 September 2011

Introduction

Objective

Methodology

Timeline

Acknowledgements

Questions

Agenda

“I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks.” – Daniel Boone

Locating people/objects in

Urban settings (e.g. EMS, law enforcement)

Water (e.g. lost boats/ person USCG)

Land (e.g. lost aircraft (Civil Air Patrol, DND))

Confined space (e.g. collapsed buildings, mines)

Wilderness – focus of my study

Search and Rescue

Primary Search & Rescue (SAR) Activities

Primary SAR

Activities

Search

RecoveryRescue

Search –looking for lost person. Rescue – extricating a person.

Recovery – location and transport of a deceased.

National Park Service – paid professionals

VOLUNTEER based – Everywhere else In most Western States SAR is responsibility of the

County Sheriff

Many SAR teams are members of the Mountain Rescue Association and are funded by donations and fundraising, not tax dollars

Wilderness SAR?

SAR Incidents in USA, 1992-2007

Fatality3%

Ill or In-jured31%

Not Ill or Injured

66%

Source: Heggie, 2009

USA National Parks

• Approximately 65,439 SAR missions

• Approximately 4,090 per year

Colorado between 1995-2009

• Approximately 20,672 SAR Missions

• Approximately 1,378 per year

Source: CSRB, 2009

Activities of people rescued, Colorado 1995-2009

Climbe

r

Hiker

Hunte

r

Angle

r

Snow

mo.

..

Bicyclist

River

Lake

OHVSk

ier

Horse

back

Campe

r

Aircra

ft

Other

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

CSRB, 2009

How is a lost/missing person successfully rescued/recovered in the wilderness?

SAR Mission Process

Initial Trigger

• E911 call• SPOT/PLB• Friend/Family• Employer• Other

Search Decision

• Fact Finding• Information

Gathering• Wait or Go

Decision

Conduct Search

• Initial Strategy• Deploy

Resources• Continue

Information Gathering

• Adjust Search Strategy

Completion

• Successful• Not Successful• Lessons

Learned

SEARCH – RESCUE - RECOVERY

Search Preparation - Information Gathering

Variety of sources, formatsPaper:USGS 7.5" topo maps, 1:24,000 scale, various publication dates

Smaller-scale topo maps, 1:50,000 and 1:100,000, various publication dates

Park/NFS trail maps, scale varies by source, various publication dates

Digital:Electronic topo maps (e.g. US National Map, Delorme Topo North America),variable scale and publication dates

Aerial/Satellite Imagery, variable scale and publication dates

Digital Elevation Models, National Elevation Dataset at 30, 10 and 3 meters

GPS units with topo maps (e.g. Garmin MapSource) Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). (e.g. OpenStreetMaps, 14ers.com)

Two step process◦ Hasty Search and containment

- Landscape (e.g. vegetation, terrain)- Activity (e.g. hiking, running) Local knowledge of area (SAR Team)

◦ Detailed Search- Search Theory (originally developed during WWII)- Lost Person Behaviour (Koester, 2008)- Survival rates over time (Koester, 2008)

Performing Search

unsuccessful

A B

Search TheoryPOA

Probability of Area (chance the person

is in the search area)

POD

Probability of Detection (chance the

person will be detected if in the search area)

POS

Probability of Success

(chance of finding the person)

= x

From Ferguson, 2008

Lost Person BehaviorISRID (International search and rescue incidents database) - SAR mission data from around the world (e.g. Australia, USA, UK)- information on subject type (e.g. age, mental state), search time

(i.e. time it took to find the person), distance traveled, weather conditions etc.

Used to determine survival rate in different settings

<24 hours >24 hours >48 hours >72 hours >96 hours0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

4-6 year old child (all weather, terrain, N=205)

Source: Koester, 2008

Hikers (all weather, terrain, N=3013)

Documentation for training and analysis purposes

Post-Mission

Need to Visualize, Analyze, Model, Manage and Document mission

Fundamentally a Geospatial Activity

Time-sensitive

Summary of SAR

50% searches completed < 3 hours

81% are over within 12 hours 93% are complete within 24

hours  

 Source: Koester, 2008

US Coast Guard Civil Air Patrol Urban Fire and EMS Wildland Firefighting Natural Disasters Avalanche Forecasting &

Mitigation Social Media (Facebook,

Twitter)

GIS and Emergency Management

MapSAR (Not released and is currently under development) – extension for ESRI ArcGIS

National Park Service GIS tools

Mountaineer Area Rescue Group

Applying GIS technologies for wilderness SAR

SAR teams mainly volunteer

Lack of GIS expertise within SAR teams to use GIS and maintain databases

Lack of Funding – training, cost software

Limited use of GIS for wilderness SAR?

Traditionally: a telephone call and a topo map

Now: e911 Phase II, social media, smartphone apps, mapping GPS units, GIS, etc.

A wealth of geospatial data becoming available but understanding of how to access and use this data is in early stages of development

Moving from “Search For” to “Go To” environment in real-time at the click of a button

SAR Information is Changing

AccuTerra OnDemand

Geotagged iPhone photo

Location Information

APRS tracking

Google Latitude

Tracking

SPOT Satellite Messenger

OpenStreetMap trails

Avalanche paths near Loveland Ski Area, CO

Alternative Baselayer Sources

14ers.com route and trip reports

Wireless e911 Call

Some Examples

Challenges facing SAR teams is understanding

what information is available and how to access how reliable is the data/information how the data may be utilized, managed and

integrated during time-sensitive missions.

Objective

Purpose: To evaluate what data and technology may be effectively used in wilderness SAR missions

Data Gathering Assessment of Data and Technology

Study Area: Colorado

Methodology

Mission Data Gathering and Analysis

Current mission data is logged in paper format - Data for 2-5 years of mission will be digitalized Data will be used for part II: Assessment of Data

and Technology

Interviews and short survey

Data Needs:Critically assess data needs within current SAR group Alpine Rescue Team and two external SAR groups

Methodology – Data

Methodology – TechnologyTechnology Assessment:

Critically assess a variety of Geospatial tools Identity a wide variety of Geospatial

technologies that will include: full GIS, on-line mapping tools, smartphone apps

Develop assessment criteria

Test technology (1-3 apps (1 Full GIS, 1 online mapping, 1 Smartphone App)) during real SAR mission

Easy to learn Ease of use Ability to integrate data Analytical capabilities Accuracy For smartphones – coverage (is coverage reliable) For smartphone apps – accuracy of tracks,

coordinates How useful was the application during a mission?

(e.g. quick to get information)

Some criteria that may be used to critique Geospatial tools (still to be determined)

Summary of data needs (type of data and scale, human expert knowledge, historical missions)

Summary of data sources and strengths and weaknesses

Summary of Geospatial Software strengths and weaknesses and how rated/ranked based on criteria

Summary of how each of the 1-3 selected software apps performed in a real SAR operations

Expected Results/Outcomes

Mission Data ◦ Compile – 2 Months◦ Analyze – 1 Month

Survey of SAR Team Use of Geospatial Data and Technology – 4 Months◦ Create◦ Compile ◦ Analyze

Assess Technologies – 4 Months Test Technologies – 2 Months Target Presentation: Mountain Rescue

Association Spring Meeting – June/July 2012

Timeline

Acknowledgements

• Justine Blanford

• Members of the Alpine Rescue Team and Rocky Mountain Rescue Group

Just Another Day in the Bowling Alley…