Anatomy of a SAR Case: EPIRBs

Coast Guard Lt. Daniel Dunn and Petty Officer 1st Class Travis Unser, watchstanders with the Fifth District command center in Portsmouth, Virginia, and Lt. Tyler Monez, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter pilot at Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, discuss the importance of emergency position indicating radio beacons, Dec. 20, 2018. The Coast Guard responded to over 700 false EPIRB alerts in 2018 and urges all beacon owners to properly register their devices with NOAA. (U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Corinne Zilnicki/Released)

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — After responding to over 700 false alerts in 2018, the Coast Guard is urging anyone with an emergency position indicating radio beacon to properly register their device.

An EPIRB is a device that transmits a distress signal to a satellite system called Cospas-Sarsat. The satellites relay the signal to a network of ground units and ultimately to the Coast Guard and other emergency responders.

Owners of commercial fishing vessels, uninspected passenger vessels that carry six or more people, and uninspected commercial vessels are legally required to carry an EPIRB. However, the Coast Guard recommends that every mariner who transits offshore or on long voyages should carry an EPIRB.

The Federal Communications Commission requires all EPIRB owners to register their beacons with NOAA and keep the registration information up-to-date.

If an unregistered beacon activates, the FCC can prosecute the owner based on evidence provided by the Coast Guard, and will issue warning letters or notices of apparent liability for fines up to $10,000.

Coast Guard personnel were only able to contact 163 of the more than 700 EPIRB owners to determine the cause of the false alerts. The other individuals had not registered their beacons, not updated their registration information, or had disposed of them improperly.

“We handle EPIRB alerts with a bias for action,” said Lt. Daniel Dunn, a command duty officer in the Fifth Coast Guard District’s command center. “We have to treat them as actual distress calls until we can prove otherwise.”

When Coast Guard watchstanders receive an EPIRB alert and cannot trace it to the owner due to missing or outdated registration information, they launch aircraft and boat crews to search the area for signs of distress.

It costs approximately $15,000 per hour to fly an HC-130 Hercules airplane, $10,000 per hour to fly an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, and $5,000 per hour to operate a Coast Guard small boat.

“If people used this system appropriately, it would take a lot of the guesswork out of search and rescue,” said Dunn. “Unregistered EPIRBs result in lost time, money, and the misuse of resources that could be used to save someone’s life.”

To register your beacon with NOAA, click here.

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Coast Guard icebreaker returns home following 129-day Arctic deployment

A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew conducts deck-landing evolutions with Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) boat crewmembers on Southeast Alaskan waters Nov. 24, 2018. In this evolution, pilots practice landing on the cutter while at sea to maintain proficiencies. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Kellen Browne.

SEATTLE – The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy returned home Friday to their homeport in Seattle following a four-month deployment in the Arctic.

In addition to providing presence and access in the Arctic during the 129-day summer deployment, the Healy crew completed three research missions in partnership with the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Office of Naval Research, conducting physical and biological research in the Arctic Ocean.

The crew’s first mission was a NOAA-sponsored project aimed at furthering the understanding of the changing biological picture in the Arctic, along with studying the physical oceanography and offshore ocean currents in both the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The findings from this mission will aid scientists in studying the biological conditions in the Polar region.

The second mission, supported by the Office of Naval Research, is part of a larger, multi-year Arctic study program. This mission focused on studying the effects of water inflow and surface force changes on ocean stratification and sea ice in the Beaufort Sea. In completing this mission, the Healy crew deployed specialized instruments on ice floes and placed subsurface moorings on the seafloor, which will remain in the Arctic until next year.

Healy’s final mission, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, was aimed at understanding the effects of the Pacific and Atlantic water-inflow and the associated boundary current in the Arctic ecosystem. As part of a multi-year endeavor, this study captures measurements from subsurface moorings deployed on the Barrow Canyon Slope as well as data collected from Healy’s onboard scientific equipment.

Under the command of U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Greg Tlapa, the Healy is the nation’s premiere high-latitude research vessel and is the only U.S. military surface vessel that deploys to and is capable of operating in the ice-covered waters of the Arctic. In addition to science operations, Healy is capable of conducting a range of Coast Guard operations such as search and rescue, ship escorts, environmental protection and the enforcement of laws and treaties in the Polar Regions. Healy provides access and presence throughout the Arctic region to protect U.S. maritime borders and to safeguard the maritime economy.

At 420-feet long with a displacement of over 16,000 tons and a permanent crew of 87, Healy is the largest ship in the U.S. Coast Guard. Commissioned in 2000, Healy is one of two active icebreakers in the U.S. fleet; the other is the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the service’s only heavy icebreaker, homeported in Seattle. Commissioned in 1976, the Polar Star recently departed for a four-month Antarctic deployment to support Operation Deep Freeze 2019.

Operation Deep Freeze is the logistical support provided by the U.S. Armed Forces to the U.S. Antarctic Program. During Operation Deep Freeze the Polar Star carves a navigable path through seasonal and multi-year ice, sometimes as much as 10-feet thick, for supply ships to deliver annual operating supplies and fuel to National Science Foundation research stations in Antarctica.

The Coast Guard has been the sole provider of the nation’s polar icebreaking capability since 1965, and is seeking to increase its icebreaking fleet with six new Polar Security Cutters in order to ensure continued national presence and access to the Polar Regions.

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Coast Guard, NOAA increase efforts to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale

BOSTON — Northeast Coast Guard units and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement personnel are increasing focus this year on the enforcement of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP), to detect and deter illegally placed fishing gear and reduce the likelihood of fatal whale entanglements from occurring.

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and in alignment with whale migration patterns, increased operations will run May 1 through June 30 and compromise of more frequent air and sea patrols in seasonal gear closure areas by NOAA law enforcement personnel and Coast Guard patrol boats, cutter crews, and air assets.

Additionally, Coast Guard units across the First District will engage in an operation taking aim on at-sea inspections of unattended lobster and gillnet gear. The goal is to identify and affect the removal of illegally rigged and improperly marked gear in an effort to decrease whale entanglements within New England's waters.

Each spring, as nutrient rich waters yield large planktonic blooms, the North Atlantic right whale migrates to feed in these productive areas off New England's coast. A variety of species, like humpback and fin whales, also display a strong presence throughout the spring and summer months. The right whale is of particular interest due to its status as an endangered species.

In 2017, NOAA documented the fatalities of 17 right whales within U.S. and Canadian waters. With an estimated population of 450 right whales remaining in existence, only 25 percent identified as breeding females, the impact of these fatalities is a major blow to conservation efforts and vitality of the species. Whale fatalities are often the result of human interference such as ship strikes or fishing gear entanglements. In at least seven of these documented whale fatality cases, fishing gear entanglements and ship strikes were deemed to be the main causes of death.

For more information about Northeast trap/pot requirements and management areas in New England, please see the Northeast Trap/Pot Gear Guide.

For information about gillnet fisheries requirements and management areas, please see theNortheast Gillnet Fisheries requirements and Management Areas.

The ALWTRP 2018 Closure Area Reminder Fact Sheet outlines details for trap/pot and gillnet closure dates and areas.

ALWTRP is an evolving plan that changes as NOAA Fisheries learns more about why whales become entangled and how fishing practices might be modified to reduce the risk of entanglement. It has several components including restrictions on where and how gear can be set; research into whale populations and whale behavior, as well as fishing gear interactions and modifications; outreach to inform and collaborate with fishermen and other stakeholders; and a large whale disentanglement program.

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Northrop Grumman-Built ATMS and CERES Instruments Successfully Supporting NOAA Weather Satellite

Advanced data-gathering technology provides scientists with observations on atmospheric temperature and water vapor transport improving global weather predictions out to seven days

AZUSA, Calif. – March 30, 2018 –Two critical instruments built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) newest weather satellite were activated and are successfully performing post-launch procedures after reaching orbit. 

This image uses ATMS data to depict the location and abundance of water vapor (as associated with antenna temperatures) in the lower atmosphere, from the surface of the Earth to 5 kilometers altitude. Blue-green and purple colors depict areas with less water vapor, while transparent/grey colors represent abundant water in all phases (vapor, clouds, and precipitation) in low and middle latitudes. In the polar regions, purple depicts surface snow and ice. Water vapor distribution in space and time is a critical measurement for improving global weather forecasts. With detailed vertical information, forecasters can better identify the transport of water vapor associated with jet streams, which can fuel severe weather events. Image courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Joint Polar Satellite System 1 (JPSS-1) spacecraft, now known officially as NOAA-20, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Nov. 18, 2017. The key Northrop Grumman-built instruments are the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), a next generation cross-track microwave sounder, and the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) (Flight Model) FM-6.

As of Jan. 23, the NOAA-20 ATMS has reached provisional maturity status declaring ATMS data products potentially ready for operational use. Data gathered by the ATMS Microwave Integrated Retrieval System technology is successfully generating atmospheric temperature vertical profiles, from the Earth’s surface to an altitude of 45 kilometers, as well as images of the location and abundance of water vapor, precipitation, and snow and ice cover. Water vapor distribution and vertical temperature science data are critical measurements for improving short- and long-term global and regional weather forecasts. With the detailed information ATMS provides, forecasters can better identify the transport of water vapor associated with jet streams, which give valuable insight to the nature of expected weather and also the duration of any weather system such as heavy rains leading to flooding, long term dry conditions leading to drought, and the direction and intensity of hurricanes.

“With the severity of weather experienced this past year, early weather prediction is becoming more crucial in protecting lives and property.  We are excited that these sensors will provide the technological capabilities necessary to improve weather prediction accuracy,” said Bob Mehltretter, vice president, military and civil space, Northrop Grumman.

CERES FM-6, which measures reflected sunlight and thermal radiation, also is performing as expected. The covers on CERES were opened Jan. 5, allowing it to scan the surface of the Earth for the first time. CERES allows scientists to collect data to monitor the temperature of the planet and validate models that calculate the effect of clouds in driving planetary heating or cooling. This data can also be used to predict weather events such as El Niño and La Niña, which are climactic fluctuations in the temperature of the tropical Pacific Ocean that can influence weather globally.

The first data collected from the NOAA-20 instruments is preliminary and part of a series of startups and checkouts that will take place before the satellite becomes fully operational later this year.

NOAA-20 will join the NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite in the same polar orbit, operating about 50 minutes ahead of Suomi NPP. These two satellites will revisit the same part of the earth at different times.  This important coverage provides scientists with observations of atmospheric temperature and moisture, clouds, hurricane intensity, sea-surface temperature, ocean color, snow and ice cover, volcanic ash, smoke plumes and fire detection.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.

In this longwave image from CERES FM6, heat energy radiated from Earth is represented by shades of yellow, red, blue and white. Bright yellow regions are the hottest and emit the most energy out to space. Dark blue and bright white regions, which represent clouds, are much colder and emit the least energy. Image courtesy of NASA.

In this shortwave image from CERES FM6, the white and green shades represent thick cloud cover reflecting incoming solar energy back to space. Compare that with the darker blue regions, which have no cloud cover, to get a sense for just how much clouds can affect the balance of incoming and outgoing energy on Earth. Image courtesy of NASA.