COSPAS-SARSAT
COSPAS-SARSAT is an international, satellite-based search and rescue system for the detection and localization of emergency beacons - EPIRB ( Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon ) for ships, ELT ( Emergency Locator Transmitter ) for aircraft and PLB ( Personal Locator Beacon ) for personal use. The system is based on the technology of the Argos system .
The International COSPAS-SARSAT Program Agreement was founded on July 1st, 1988 in Paris by the then Soviet Union , the USA , Canada and France . Many other countries have since joined the program, and from 1982 to 2006 the COSPAS-SARSAT system rescued a total of 22,031 people in 6,197 SAR operations .
The Russian abbreviation Коспас (COSPAS) stands for Kosmitscheskaja Sistema Poiska Awarinych Sudow i Samaljotow ( space system for searching for wrecked ships and aircraft); the English abbreviation SARSAT means search and rescue satellite-aided tracking (satellite positioning system for search and rescue services).
Components from COSPAS-SARSAT
The COSPAS-SARSAT system consists of five COSPAS and five SARSAT satellites , with those from COSPAS no longer working, Low-Earth Orbiting Search and Rescue ( LEOSAR satellites) and five geostationary satellites (Geostationary Search and Rescue, GEOSAR ). All of these satellites receive signals on the international emergency radio frequency of 406 MHz. The signals are forwarded to a ground station (LUT, Local User Terminal) at the next opportunity. LUTs are currently active at 46 locations (LEOLUT) and 19 locations (GEOLUT) worldwide (as of December 15, 2012). From the ground station, the data is forwarded via a Mission Control Center (MCC) to the regionally responsible SPOC (SAR Point of Contact) and further to the responsible Rescue Coordination Center (RCC). In Germany, the SPOC and Leit-RCC are the SAR control center of the Air Force in Münster ( RCC Münster ). The RCC Münster itself is responsible for civil aviation and the military sector. The ARCC in Glücksburg is responsible for military shipping and the coastal area together with the Bremen Sea Emergency Management of the DGzRS (MRCC Bremen), which has been entrusted with the SAR service for civil shipping in the North and Baltic Seas.
The polar orbiting satellites of the LEOSAR system orbit the earth in about 100 minutes on an orbit inclined by 83 ° (COSPAS) or 99 ° (SARSAT) compared to the equator , so that a given point on the earth's surface after four hours at the latest from one of the Satellite is captured. If the received distress signal does not contain a GPS position, a LUT can be used with the help of the satellites' own movement in relation to the signal source and the resulting frequency change due to the Doppler effect and the knowledge of the position of the satellite in relation to the earth, during the perception, overflight and loss of signal, determine the approximate position of the signal source with an accuracy of about 1–3 nautical miles .
The position of the geostationary satellites of the GEOSAR system cannot be determined via the Doppler effect due to the lack of proper movement in relation to the transmitting emergency radio devices. Their advantage is that they can constantly see large parts of the earth's surface (coverage area between 80 ° north and 80 ° south) and can therefore quickly receive and pass on emergency signals. The devices emitting digital signals at 406 MHz send a special code with which the owner can be directly identified via data registers.
To support older emergency radio beacons, the satellites of the COSPAS-SARSAT system also received analog signals on the emergency radio frequencies 121.5 MHz and 243 MHz. Due to numerous disadvantages of these frequencies, this support was discontinued on February 1, 2009.
history
The SARSAT system was developed in the 1970s in a joint initiative by the USA, Canada and France in order to create a safe alternative to the previously common, but disadvantageous, alerting on the 121.5 MHz emergency flight frequency. At the same time, the COSPAS system was developed in what was then the Soviet Union .
Between 1979 and 1988, in the middle of the Cold War , the two systems were gradually merged to form COSPAS-SARSAT : the first joint satellite was launched in 1982, the procedure was declared fully functional in 1984, and the merger of the two systems became official in 1988 sealed. The COSPAS part of the system was taken over by Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union , while in the USA responsibility for the SARSAT part has now been transferred from NASA to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) .
Many other countries have since joined the program (Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Madagascar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway (Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Vietnam, USA, participating organizations, The Marine Department of Hong Kong).
Web links
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cospas-Sarsat, System-Data ( Memento from February 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Deutscher Aero Club eV: From February 1st, 2009 only the emergency signal on 406 MHz will be picked up by the COPAS / SARSAT satellites. (PDF) (No longer available online.) September 3, 2008, formerly in the original ; Retrieved October 17, 2008 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
