APPLICATION OF SARMAP TO ESTIMATE PROBABLE SEARCH AREA FOR OBJECTS LOST AT SEA

The Search and Rescue Mapping and Analysis Program (SARMAP), a persona l computer based search and rescue model with a Windows-based user int erface, was employed to predict the probable search area for two accid ents: a Rhode Island (RI) couple who were thought to have committed su icide by jumping from the Pell Bridge across the lower East Passage, N arragansett Bay in November 1993 and a shipping container lost at sea from the KAMINA in April 1994 off the coast of Valparaiso, Chile. In t he case of the RI couple, simulations were performed assuming that the bodies were negatively, neutrally, and positively buoyant. The most p robable search areas were identified for each case and provided to loc al and state police. The police search, immediately after the incident , included side scan sonar surveys, trawling and diving operations. Bu t, it was unsuccessful in locating either body. In late August 1994, o ne of the couple's skulls was collected in a fishing trawl-it was foun d north of the bridge and positively identified. Leg and hip bones wer e also found several hundred meters north of the bridge. The SARMAP pr edicted search area for the negatively and neutrally buoyant cases wer e consistent with retrieval of skeletal parts. lit the case of the acc ident off Chile, a simulation was performed for the movement of a half submerged shipping container lost at sea from the vessel KAMINA. The model correctly predicted the container path and its location over a p eriod of 18 hours when tracking data were available. The two examples for substantially different problems, illustrate SARMAP's ability to p rovide useful data to assist in search and rescue operations.