Evaluation of environmental data for search and rescue

Ocean Environmental data is a key component utilized by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) when developing and executing a search and rescue mission. The Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System (SAROPS) became operational with the USCG in 2007 and is the main tool for developing search and rescue mission plans. This tool utilizes environmental data (wind, ocean currents, etc.) to estimate the drift of an object in the ocean and also calculate a probability of detection for the object based upon the various search sensors. The environmental data used by the Coast Guard is a combination of model output, in situ and remote sensing measurements. Recent work by the Coast Guard Office of Search and Rescue has shown that the various environmental data sources available in SAROPS have shown skill but none on a consistent basis. In the Mid Atlantic Bight we compared the predicted drift of several surface drifters that were advected with High Frequency radar measurements and regional and global ocean model surface currents. The results shown here indicate that an ensemble of surface current estimates is useful when trying to predict the path of an object drifting on the surface of the ocean.