The identical NOAA satellites that adopted the moon’s shadow alongside the trail of the Whole Photo voltaic Eclipse and tracked Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, additionally helped rescue 411 folks from life-threatening conditions within the U.S. and its surrounding waters final 12 months.
NOAA’s polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites are a part of the worldwide Search and Rescue Satellite tv for pc Aided Monitoring system, or COSPAS-SARSAT.
The system makes use of a community of U.S. and worldwide spacecraft to detect and find misery alerts despatched from 406MHz emergency beacons onboard plane, boats and handheld Private Locator Beacons (PLBs) wherever on the planet.
Since its begin in 1982, COSPAS-SARSAT has been credited with supporting greater than 50,000 rescues worldwide, together with greater than 10,871 all through the U.S. and the waters that encompass it.
Of the 411 U.S. rescues final 12 months, 318 folks have been pulled from the water, 41 have been saved from aviation incidents and 52 have been rescued on land. The file one-year whole for SARSAT rescues within the U.S. stays at 421, set in 2019.
Florida had the most individuals rescued with 122, adopted by Alaska with 56 and Hawaii with 31.
When a NOAA satellite tv for pc pinpoints the placement of a misery sign within the U.S., the knowledge is relayed to the SARSAT Mission Management Heart at NOAA’s Satellite tv for pc Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland. From there, the knowledge is shortly despatched to Rescue Coordination Facilities, operated both by the U.S. Air Drive for land rescues, or the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) for maritime rescues. NOAA additionally helps rescues globally by relaying misery sign data to worldwide COSPAS-SARSAT companions.
