Satellite Solutions Emerge For Disaster Response

By Peter J. Brown

In 2004, global natural disasters and terrorist attacks took a tremendous toll. In the United States, many died and billions in property damage resulted as hurricanes ravaged the southern region of the country. Japan’s Niigata Prefecture was devastated by a major earthquake, which claimed numerous lives. And in Europe, dozens died in the horrifying Madrid train terrorist attack.

For first responders and other emergency management personnel facing difficult moments, access to satellite-enabled products, and satellite phone service in particular, remains a top priority. For example, both the National Guard and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), among others, have decided that even more capable satellite equipment is needed so that their emergency personnel are better prepared and better coordinated if and when the need arrives.

GMPCS Personal Communications through Iridium Satellite LLC service provider, Telenor, provided satphone service to the Hillsborough County, FL, Emergency Support Function (ESF 3) when Hillsborough County provided mutual aid support to Polk County, FL during Hurricane Charlie. The four crews designated as part of ESF 3 arrived on scene with Iridium satphones. Through the use of the Iridium system, GMPCS was able to arrange for an expedited shipment in what would fast become a crisis scenario.

After Hurricane Charlie had unleashed its fury, Hillsborough County’s ESF 3 preparedness plan was revised to accommodate a total of 40 Iridium satphones well in advance of Hurricanes Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Today, ESF 3 continues to use some of these satphones in a training mode.

"Although public sector agencies have embraced fixed satellite services, they have nowhere near exploited the advantages of mobile satellite services," says Iridium Spokesperson Liz DeCastro. "We are seeing promising growth in public/private partnerships in developing new equipment and solutions such as asset tracking, warfighter applications and satellite imagery. Iridium certainly believes there to be unlimited opportunity in this space."

DeCastro reminds readers that while voice telephony remains the primary application for Iridium, data services represent a particularly rapid growth area and now represent approximately 20 percent of Iridium traffic.

The Emergency Management Division of the Washington Military Department (WEMD) spent much of 2004 watching for the early warning signs of a possible major eruption by Mount St. Helens; however, as the designated coordinator until September 2004 of the multi-state Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), WEMD also played a major role in Florida’s hurricane response and relief effort by coordinating the involvement of 800 people from 38 states, the largest EMAC deployment in history.

Satphones are seen as valuable assets and WEMD keeps them charged and ready to go. "We have a number of satellite phones that are available in our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for deployment to a disaster site. We also have a number of satphone units deployed to strategically placed county EOCs around the state," says Terrence M. I. Egan, mitigation, WEMD analysis and plans unit manager.

According to Austin Comerton, channel manager at Ontario, Canada-based Mobile Satellite Ventures LP (MSV), the Florida Department of Community Affairs deployed MSV’s satellite- based dispatch radio solution years ago. The Connecticut Department of Public Health and California’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) have embraced this approach too.

In 1999, OES created the Sky Mutual Aid Radio System or SKYMARS Network using the MSV platform. According to Comerton, California now operates five dispatch radio talk groups; four internal to the agency (including two for tactical operations and one dedicated to fire operations) with the fifth being the SKYMARS talk group, which is available to any public safety agency in California. SKYMARS exists in all six California EOCs with 10 portable units that can be deployed to any disaster site. While Florida has access to its own MSV platform, SKYMARS has been deployed from California to Florida during past hurricane recovery efforts as well.

MSV not only provides reliable communications totally independent of any terrestrial infrastructure, it also offers push-to-talk capabilities, along with one to many group communications and interoperability with LMR systems through cross banding equipment.

"Florida deployed MSV over a number of years in anticipation of serious communications problems during hurricane season. California adopted a similar position due to the fire season and Connecticut is deploying its solution to support potential terrorism, bio-terrorism, hazmat or other events that could cause interruption or failure of normal communication channels," says Comerton, who adds that due to demand for service, MSV is developing a new terminal that will incorporate GPS functionality. This new terminal will be available late in 2005.

"Many public safety agencies are still unaware of the full potential of satellite. In addition, there are perceptions that satellite technology is exorbitantly expensive or that the technology is unreliable – neither of which is the case," says Comerton.

Satellite technology can represent a powerful enhancement to existing networks. In a few cases, it can better serve primary needs where terrestrial is not suitable for any number of reasons. These can include issues such as environmental concerns, topographic issues, population density and occasional requirement," says Comerton.

Satellite Broadband To The Rescue

Virginia-based Tachyon Networks, Inc. was also duly engaged in Hillsborough County during this latest hurricane season. The Sheriff’s Office via Tachyon’s service partner, Freedom 4 Wireless, deployed Tachyon VSAT technology in order to have access to mission critical broadband links for assistance with live video surveillance, weather monitoring, command and control, logistics management and interoperability with Wi-Fi and WLAN grids. Tachyon Networks’ Auto Deploy Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) solution is now available: a small, lightweight device with one-button-push motorized antenna deployment.

"Tachyon plans to deploy guaranteed Voice over IP," says Denisse Goldbarg, Tachyon Networks� senior vice president of sales and marketing. "Public sector agencies are seeking satellite-based solutions for fixed-wireless back up, negating concerns over terrestrial broadband backup failure in the event of a natural or manmade disaster that takes out terrestrial circuits. As the reliability and TCP/IP compatibility issues are being overcome by service providers like Tachyon, more and more agencies are adopting satellite broadband."

The FDNY has selected EMS Technologies’ Storm and Cyclone portable and vehicular-mounted mobile terminals to ensure dependable video and voice communications between any first responders on-scene and command personnel back at FDNY’s command center at MetroTech in Brooklyn. Full videoconferencing and laptop PC links are part of the mix as well. Stratos Global Corp. is serving as the overall network integrator with network connectivity via the Inmarsat GAN (Global Area Network) service. Other partners in this project include DVLaptop Inc., Global Communications Solutions, and LiveWorks, Ltd.

"Satellite communications quickly emerged as the primary path for video communications at FDNY, while serving simultaneously as a back-up for voice and data," says Mark Stoochnoff, account manager for the land mobile group at Atlanta-based EMS Technologies’ Satcom Division.

The Quicker, The Better

Because getting the word out quickly and adequately warning the public in the event of pending hit from a hurricane or other natural disaster is no easy task, the National Hurricane Center in Miami relies heavily on the hybrid fiber/satellite links provided as part of The Miami Switch at the Miami Teleport operated by Globecast America. During a hurricane, any reporter assigned to the National Hurricane Center can instantly reach any TV affiliate in any city about to be hit by a hurricane via Globecast’s teleport.

"During the recent hurricanes that hit Florida and the Southeast, we were able to help get a lot of traffic out of the Hurricane Center for the broadcast networks, so that people in affected areas could better prepare to evacuate," says Rick Behar, senior vice president, Globecast America.

Speed of deployment can make all the difference too when it comes to TV coverage of major disasters and terrorist attacks. In the immediate aftermath of the Madrid bombing last March, Globecast was able to dispatch several to the scene in Madrid from its fleet of roughly 50 mobile satellite production trucks that operate throughout Europe and Asia.

"Emergency communications and broadcasting often come together and broadcast media is part of the communications lifeline. At the scene of the Madrid terrorist bombing, Globecast provided multiple truck feed points. This fall, Globecast deployed to the Indonesian embassy in Paris after a bomb blast as well," says Globecast spokesman Dan Freyer.

For its new rapid response teams known as CERFP (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear or High Yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package), which will support other first responders around the country, the National Guard is turning to Virginia-based iDirect Technologies for a vastly upgraded IP-based VSAT communications and data transfer platform. According to Warren A. Brown, vice president of marketing at iDirect Technologies, which is partnered in this instance with service provider SkyPort Communications, the National Guard is no stranger to satellite solutions.

The National Guard plans to start deploying this platform in both fixed and/or mobile modes at 33 initial sites nationwide and will be able to transfer data at speeds from 64 kbps to 4.2 Mbps from the remote site and up to 9 Mbps from the hub to the remotes. This platform can support multiple virtual LAN (VLAN) networks with Quality of Service (QoS) supporting VoIP, video and data.

At the recent Joint User Interoperability Communications Exercise known as JUICE04 involving the Missouri National Guard, the National Guard Bureau, Missouri State Highway Patrol, St. Louis City and County offices, this VSAT system earned very high marks indeed for being easily deployed and managed.

An in-depth description of the VSAT solution adopted by the American Red Cross, which uses Montreal-based PolarSat’s FlexiDAMA system with SkyIP remote terminals in their emergency response vehicles, can be found in our previous features examining satellite enabled emergency communications, at http://www.viasatellite.com. China’s Ministry of Railways (MOR) has installed a Polarsat VSATPlus II terminal in a truck that can be sent via rail to any disaster site. "The VSATPlus II is a hubless architecture so there is no single point of failure. This is key to our customers as they cannot accept a network outage caused by a hub failure," says Richard McPhaden, Polarsat’s vice president of marketing. "With disaster response vehicles such as these, the underlying feature is the ease with which this terminal can be up and running within the overall network, thus providing voice, data and/or video communications to any other site within the customer network."

Recovery And Restoration Is A Work In Progress

Long Island, New York-based Globecomm Systems Inc. is looking at a number of applications and has contracts for business restoral services with a restoral company called Agility Recovery Solutions using VSAT flyaway terminals and vans equipped with workstations and phones, fixed overlay satellite networks to back up existing terrestrial service, and mobile first responder vans equipped with communications and videoconferencing by satellite.

"I think that this business is still in its first stages. Budgets and requirements definition have been slow in getting started," says David E. Hershberg, CEO of Globecomm Systems. "I think that people in general have a lack of knowledge of what can be done and misconceptions about problems with satellite delay that need to be addressed. While some agencies such as FEMA are very much committed to satcom, most are just getting involved. We have a pilot program we have been working on with the government for almost a year that has yet to get full funding."

"We can restore services using patented IP technology very quickly. This involves having a very flexible system that will meet a number of customers unique operational and routing requirements," he adds.

According to Ken Miller, president of Globecomm Systems, emergency managers and first responders usually have narrow-band communications like VHF radios and cell phones, but usually do not have satellite communications facilities because of the cost and complexity of operation.

"In general, the use of satellite technology is minimal compared to the potential for using this technology to improve communications during emergencies. We are working to raise awareness of the benefits of satellite technology for these applications," says Miller. "Emergency management, disaster recovery and business continuity solutions represent a good niche for satellite communications."

Much More Than Real Time Communications And Imagery

According to Egan, while the military has the resources to control satellite targeting and specialists to interpret the data, emergency management organizations often function in cash-strapped states that seldom have access to high-resolution imagery nor have the remote sensing specialists necessary to interpret the data.

"We have had to train our own remote sensing specialists and equally important, we’re training our management staff on what geo-spatial data is available to them and how to use it," says Egan. "My wish list is for high-resolution imagery like that taken by the Ikonos satellite and for real-time data downlinks. Geo-spatial data, if available real-time, could assist incident commanders and emergency managers whose job it is to get that data in the hands of those responders so that they can quickly and efficiently deal with an event. However, less-than-real-time data (like we are using) is also valuable to mitigation specialists who take action to lessen the effects of a disaster."

NASA is currently funding a WEMD grant proposal entitled Strategic and Practical Use of Remotely Sensed data in Emergency Management (SPURS-EM), which has as its goal the provision of additional, more current, remotely sensed information to support hazards analyses risk assessments that will be displayed on the Washington All-hazards Warning and Risk Estimation (AWARE Washington) Web site.

"Without the grant from NASA, the WEMD would not have a geo-spatial capability," says Egan. "However, because airborne systems are relatively inexpensive, very responsive, and programmable, I think they will remain as the primary platform of choice for years to come. For example, we can fly a Civil Air Patrol aircraft equipped with airborne sensors for about $60 an hour. The USGS recently flew an unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) into the Mount St. Helens crater to confirm what the mountain was doing. I see the use of UAVs as an increasing trend that complements the use of satellite and terrestrial sensor systems."

"I anticipate that as the use of satellite imagery becomes more common, the federal government will do even more to share this technology with state and local end users," Egan adds. "I think one area of emergency management that will become a user of geo-spatial data is in homeland security, particularly in critical infrastructure identification, mapping and protection."

According to Dr. Suminao Murakami, professor at the Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering at Waseda University in Tokyo and a member of the Laboratory of Urban Safety Planning, local and regional emergency personnel in Japan had enough satellite equipment close at hand so that they could maintain communications and respond quickly to the recent earthquake in Niigata Prefecture. He agrees, however, that more satellite equipment is needed with an emphasis on the rapid sharing of GPS and GIS data with local and regional emergency personnel. Complicating the situation in Japan, according to Murakami, is the absence of a single uniform GIS database in all regions of Japan, and a lack of standardization which prevents rapid updating of the GIS database.

While the satellite industry is stepping up and addressing these concerns, the demand for additional satellite industry participation in key decision-making groups shows no sign of abating. Take for example the work being done on the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) by the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) and others. EDXL is a proposed Extensible Markup Language standard specific to the emergency management and response community. This is evolving as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s disaster management e-government program.

"We would love to have a satellite player in EIC, but none has come forward so far. I hope they do, as many emergency agencies are looking to satellite systems for redundancy, and the common alerting protocol this group got adopted as a standard is all about public warning, and there are few technologies better suited to fast, broad distribution of alerts and associated data than satellites," says David Aylward, director of the Washington, DC-based The ComCARE Alliance which is a member of the EIC.

Brown at iDirect has other concerns, including the fact that the public sector is mostly exposed to satellite technology through either satellite TV or satellite radio.

"We need to raise awareness in the industry and general public that satellite technology is much more advanced than the current prevailing perceptions. This is not your father’s satellite any longer. The perception is in line with technology as it stood about five years ago. We have come a long way in just the past two years and our new generation of products will launch us even farther ahead with capabilities surpassing a T1 terrestrial connection," says Brown. "The satellite industry in general needs to think of themselves as being part of hybrid networking solutions instead of just ‘satellite connectivity.’ Providing wireless connectivity may be WiFi, WiMax (or Wi ‘X’ as we call it), satellite services, or part of a blending of terrestrial and all of the above. Nonetheless, we need to think of ourselves as fitting into a network operator’s hybrid offering if we are to be fully adopted into more and more networks."

Peter J. Brown is Via Satellite’s Senior Multimedia & Homeland Security Editor. He also volunteers as a satellite technology and communications advisor to the Maine Emergency Management Agency.