SANTA USING HIGH-TECH RESCUE SUPPORT—JUST IN CASE

Dec. 23, 2003 — While Santa Claus is crisscrossing the United States at blinding speeds on Christmas Eve night, he’ll be carrying a Personal Locator Beacon or PLB in the back of his sleigh—just in case Rudolph makes a wrong turn. And, it will be the NOAA Search And Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) System that will be there to help. (Click NOAA image for larger view of Cospas-Sarsat system overview.)

PLBs are hand-held, digitally encoded distress-alerting devices that outdoor enthusiasts carry while hiking, biking and camping in remote areas where other means of communication do not exist. If Santa, or any other PLB owner, is lost and facing danger, the device sends out an emergency signal on the 406-megahertz frequency, which is instantly detected by the NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES).

The satellites are part of the worldwide search and rescue system called COSPAS-SARSAT, primarily made up of a cluster of NOAA and Russian satellites. Once these satellites pick up the distress signals from PLBs, and similar emergency beacons used onboard ships and aircraft, they are relayed to the U.S. Mission Control Center based at the NOAA Satellites and Information Service in Suitland, Md. From there, the signals are sent to rescue agencies around the world. (Click NOAA image for larger view of PLBs from various manufacturers.)

In the United States, the PLB alerts are routed to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, which acts as the single federal agency for inland search and rescue missions in the 48 contiguous states.

“Santa’s got an incredibly tight schedule to keep. If he should find himself stranded in the middle of nowhere, he can activate his PLB, and we’ll be able to find him quickly,” said Lt. Daniel Karlson, SARSAT operations support officer for NOAA.

Before July 2003, PLBs had only been available for use in Alaska under a test program to evaluate their usefulness in search and rescue operations. In just under ten years, PLBs were responsible for helping to save nearly 400 Alaskans. It was due largely to the success seen in Alaska which ultimately paved the way for the Federal Communications Commission to approve their use nationwide.

Last month, a Cleveland, Ohio, man camping in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York, was the first person rescued in the contiguous U.S. using his PLB.

“The system works remarkably well,” said Ajay Mehta, the NOAA SARSAT program manager. “If we get a distress signal, our search and rescue partners are ready in a moment to save Santa—except if he’s stuck in a chimney,” Mehta said.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation�s coastal and marine resources. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA’s Role in the Cospas-Sarsat Program

NOAA Satellites and Information

Personal Locator Beacons—Help From Above

International Cospas-Sarsat program

Media Contact:
John Leslie, NOAA Satellites and Information Service, (301) 457-5005