First MAGES Demonstrations - Applications of GNSS for Emergency Scenarios

R. Haas, C.S. Dixon

Abstract:	The paper reports from a number of live emergency management demonstrations which are carried out within project MAGES (Mature Applications of GNSS for Emergency Scenarios) in summer and autumn 2009. Project MAGES addresses the benefits of GNSS support to operations that are necessary for the management of various types of emergency. The demonstrations focus primarily on operations needed for response and recovery activities following natural and man-made disasters. Three distinct Emergency scenarios are dealt with through demonstrations across four different European States. These encompass Forest Fire Fighting, Disaster Relief, and Helicopter based Search and Rescue. Both, the Forest Fire Fighting as well as the Disaster Relief Demonstrations concentrate on the use of GNSS for Resource management, where fleet management will be part of the controlled deployment of emergency operators, vehicles and other types of equipment. This ensures better coordination and effective procedures for disaster response operations. The various scenarios impose different requirements for the emergency management. For example, the complex nature of disaster relief scenarios requires coordinated management of multiple “blue-light” (fire, police, ambulance) and other related emergency relief forces. The Helicopter Demonstration Scenario shows that Galileo (and EGNOS) bring key Integrity and Accuracy benefits, which allow critical flight operations to continue even under difficult visibility conditions. This will be demonstrated in a live Galileo-signal environment using the GATE Testbed in Germany and will include a helicopter equipped with a combined GPS/Galileo receiver taking advantage of the Galileo Integrity signal transmissions. The various demonstrated emergency scenarios underline the importance of combining Navigation technology with Communication mechanisms and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to facilitate both greater efficiencies and greater safety for the emergency management community. This will be described from a theoretical point of view, through practical implementation, and to ultimate demonstration in representative live operational scenarios. A second significant item of the paper is the demonstration of a pre-disaster warning and alert service for the general public with global coverage using satellite communication functionality of Galileo. This novel concept is demonstrated as part of the disaster relief scenario and it shows the capability to send geographic zone related warning messages via Galileo Signals, which are then displayed to users on appropriate mass-market user devices (GPS-equipped mobile phones, In-car SatNavs, etc.). Important directives and evacuation directives can thus save lives directly using the GNSS transmissions.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2009) September 22 - 25, 2009 Savannah International Convention Center Savannah, GA
Pages:	1841 - 1848
Cite this article:	Haas, R., Dixon, C.S., "First MAGES Demonstrations - Applications of GNSS for Emergency Scenarios," Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2009), Savannah, GA, September 2009, pp. 1841-1848.
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