Conditions and Leeway table output

The form will look like - 

There are a number of sections:

•Forecast information output

oA : The forecast details for each hour of the drift

oB : A graphic representation of wind, current and drift direction.  The longer the wind and current lines, the bigger the influence it has on the drift.
By default the system shows the first hour (line in the table), and if you click on another line in the table the graphic will change to accurately represent what happened during that hour.

•Total drift information

oC : This section gives the total drift distance, speed and bearing

•Datum coordinates

oD : The calculated Datum coordinates in the various coordinate formats.  These can be copied and pasted into any application as is necessary.

•Condition influence

oE : this section shows the relative influence of the wind and the current on the casualty's drift as a percentage, and it shows the number of random particles that have hit land as a percentage of the number of random particles that were calculated

•Search Boxes

oF : For each search box the following information is displayed -

▪the width of the search box in nautical miles

▪the height of the search box in nautical miles

▪the area of the search box in square nautical miles

▪how long it will take the casualty to drift out of the search box given the calculated speed of drift.  This gives a guide as to how long the search box might be valid for - in the above example it is estimated that the casualty will exit the search area in 67 minutes

▪the time that the casualty is expected to exit the search box

▪the coordinates of each of the turning points of the box.  These can be displayed in each of the coordinate formats depending upon which format has been selected

▪The GPX button - when clicked SearchWell will create and store a GPX file that contains the LKP and the Datum point and the search box.  This file can be sent to the rescue vessel and loaded into the navigational device on board

▪Currently there are three search areas available -

•Rapid Search Box - which uses the Search Error to calculate the coordinates of the box (see Rapid Search Box in the Search Box section)

•Extended Search Box - see Extended Search Box in the Search Box section

•Probability Search Box - this is specific to SearchWell and relies on the fact that the user has selected to create random probability points (see the Probability Search Box in the Search Box section)

•Files Saved

oG : this section gives the details of any files that are saved

▪The name of the folder in which the files will be saved

▪The file name of the random Datum points

▪The file name of the GPX file if one has been requested

This Datum calculation calculates the possible position of the casualty for every hour - giving what we call a "compound" drift line.  It shows the detailed path the casualty is likely to have drifted on -

Drift path using the different forecast models

It is accepted that the different forecast models will produce different forecasts.  Now that SearchWell has the ability to download from the USA and from EUR we can compare the calculated drift paths using both models

In the screen grab above, the green drift path and search area was calculated using the USA forecasts, and the yellow using the EUR forecasts.  
It must be noted that there are times the differences in the forecasts is greater than shown in this example. 

With the Random Datums are superimposed

 This example shows the benefit of being able to do a test drift (if the rescue vessel can get to the area quickly enough, and have access to a drift object that is similar enough to the casualty) - we would use the results of the test drift to verify which, if either, of the forecasts was the most accurate when compared to what the actual conditions shown by the drift of the drift object are.

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