Introduction                          

Please note that the eLearning courses can be found at-  https://searchwell.co.za/elearning/

SearchWell is a set of tools designed to be used in the Control Room of a marine search and rescue organisation -.automating tasks, making them faster and giving a more accurate result.

The opening SearchWell Main Menu is as follows, and more than one menu option can be open at any given time, so you can use any of the Calculations or Conversions while doing a Datum calculation for instance.

Search Operations  

It automates the tasks that are required when searching for a casualty, and it outputs the calculation results in a format that can be sent to the navigational device on board a Rescue Vessel or any asset being used by the Rescue organisation.

These search and rescue specific tasks are 

a)Last Known Position (LKP) which can be done using information from

i)an observer or caller.  We can calculate a rough estimate of where the casualty might be using the input from 1 caller, but we can use the input from 1 (in which case we need a distance as well), 2 or 3 callers - obviously the more callers the more accurate our calculated LKP will be

ii)the casualty.  There are times that we can communicate with the casualty, but they cannot give a clear description of their location.  If they have the ability to get a bearing to easily identifiable landmarks, then we can take these bearings and calculate a position where he is likely to be.  Again, we can have input on 1 point, in which case we will need the casualty to estimate a distance from the point, or to 2 or 3 points. As with the input from an observer, the more information we get, the more accurate the result of the calculation will be.

b)Datum Position (where we think the casualty will be at the time we will be able to search for them).  This can be calculated in the following ways

i)The Datum calculation which can use

(1)Test Drift

(2)Forecast wind and current information in combination with the formula in the Leeway Table for the casualty type

ii)The Rendezvous Point - this is used when the casualty is under control and can maintain it's speed and course.  It calculates the most efficient location for the rescue vessel to meet up with the casualty vessel

c)Search Patterns

i)Sector Search

ii)Expanding Box Search

iii)Parallel Line Search

iv)Expanding Parallel Line Search

v)Goal Keeper Search

vi)Pendulum Search (designed especially for SearchWell)

vii)ZigZag Search (designed especially for SearchWell)

viii)Expanding ZigZag Search (designed especially for SearchWell)

 All of the above can be exported and sent to an asset out in the field and loaded onto the navigation device and can also be imported into a visualisation tool like Google Earth so that the search planning team can better understand the situation.

d)Search Planning

i)       Convert the track of a rescue vessel, taken from AIS eg from Marine Traffic, to a KML to import into Google Earth Pro.  This can then show the search planning team how well an area has been searched and which sections still need to be searched.

Calculations

This section of SearchWell includes various calculations that might be required in any Control Room - 

a)Time - there are two calculations involving time

i)giving a time and adding a number of minutes to it to get an end time

ii)giving two times and calculating the number of minutes between them

b)Distance, Time and Speed - given any two items allows the calculation of the third

c)Height above sea level - this is used when estimating distance over the sea.  If we know the height the observer is standing at, then we can calculate the approximate distance to the horizon

d)Distance and bearing between 2 known points

e)End Coordinates - where we know the coordinates of one point and a distance and bearing to a second point

f)Estimated Time of Arrival 

Conversions 

There are various conversions that might be required in any Control Room - 

a)Coordinates - the three coordinate formats

i)Decimal Degrees eg -34.208°, 18.319°

ii)Degrees and Decimal Minutes eg  34° 12.480'S,  018° 19.140'E

iii)Degrees, Minutes and Seconds  eg  34°12'28.80"S,  018°19'8.40"E

b)Units - 

i)Distance - Nautical Miles, Cables, Meters, Miles

ii)Time - Minutes, Decimal Hours, Hours and Minutes

iii)Bearing - True, Magnetic

Forecasts 

We can 

a)download the wind and current forecasts for an area and a given time period.  The wind forecasts are downloaded from 

i)Wind forecasts are downloaded from https://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov

ii)Current forecasts are downloaded from https://ncss.hycom.org

b)read the forecasts for a specific point from previously downloaded information

Utilities

a)Points Table - SearchWell maintains a table with information that is frequently references by the Station.  The information stored includes 

i)the coordinates of the position

ii)whether it is on land or at sea

iii)if it is on land, the height above sea level from which the approximate distance to the horizon is calculated

iv)a description of the point - especially useful for land points to describe what the crew might need to know about the point should they be sent to it

The coordinates can be sent to the GPS on board a vessel, or as a Google Maps Location Pin to a vehicle

b)Station Table - the following information is stored for each station

i)Station Number

ii)Station Name

iii)Magnetic Variation

iv)The latitude and longitude of the station's "launch" place.  Some stations launch from harbours, down river estuaries etc, so the launch place is taken as the position the vessel will be able to start the given speed of the trip to the casualty.  It is used when calculating the Datum position when the Datum time considers that a vessel will be launching.  

Help

Our user manual that is stored on the web at www.SearchWell.co.za. 

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