ICT Program for Excellence in Western Sicily’s Entrepreneurial Sector, starting from Marine Research
START DATE: March 1, 2010 END DATE: February 28, 2011
This project includes actions that require in-depth knowledge of the design and implementation of information systems, telematics networks, and software environments for information processing, including those in the geographic and Internet domains. These actions are aimed at enhancing and leveraging the marine resources and the territory centered around Mazara del Vallo, which is naturally suited for the enhancement of these resources.
The main activities were linked to Search and Rescue at Sea (SAR):
Maritime Search and Rescue operations are governed by a series of procedures defined and approved globally and detailed in the IAMSAR (International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue) manual, Volume II.
In Italy, Search and Rescue operations in the marine environment are entrusted to the Port Authorities – Coast Guard (Corpo delle Capitanerie di Porto Guardia Costiera), which uses an articulated organizational network involving other national forces to carry out these operations.
The goal of this project is to equip this organization with a computer-assisted system capable of covering all procedures involved in Search and Rescue operations and that is compatible with the guidelines provided by the IAMSAR manual.
To meet the project requirements, the CNR SAR System was developed—software fully created with open-source technologies that provides suitable decision support during the initial minutes of the event and maximizes the effectiveness of the search activity.
The system provides the natural advantages typical of a computer-assisted system and was implemented by applying optimizations to the procedures defined by IAMSAR, leveraging techniques made more efficient by the use of available systems, as well as extensions to be able to manage specific situations that may occur in the particular geographic context of use.
Search and Rescue operations at sea are critical activities involving people, naval vessels, and aircraft in a race against time, often carried out in adverse sea and weather conditions. In this context, information and telecommunications systems play a crucial role, sometimes contributing to the success of the rescue mission. We have developed an application capable of locating the vessel that issued a distress call and planning the routes for subsequent search operations at sea. The application was implemented as a distributed and open multi-agent system deployed on rescue vehicles as well as at the shore-based maritime station of the Italian Coast Guard. The system will be tested in a real-world scenario by the Coast Guard.
