Development of a GIS for sea rescue

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Saving the life of another person cannot be measured in monetary terms. It is alsoimpossible to describe the satisfactiori of carrying out a successful rescue to anybody.However, the disappointment and sense of failure when a rescue mission fails and alife is lost, is devastating. Many rescue workers, including those of the National SeaRescue Institute (NSRI), have experienced this overwhelming sense of failure. Rescueworkers often dwell on failed rescue attempts, wishing that they could have arrived onthe scene earlier or knew where to start looking for people. The fact that lives are stilllost, despite the best efforts of rescue workers, points to the need to improve on lifesaving techniques, procedures, equipment and technology.Providing the NSRI with a workable tool to help them manage and allocate resources,plan a rescue, determine drift speed and distance or create search patterns, may oneday be just enough to save one more life.With this goal in mind, a search and rescue application, called RescueView, wasdeveloped utilising ArcView 3.2a. This application was specifically designed for useby the NSRI, and it will be used as a command centre in all NRSI control rooms andfor all rescue efforts.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University