---
title: "Drone Experts Help NASA, NOAA Solve Sea Rescue Problems"
date: 2021-12-02T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/drone-experts-help-nasa-noaa-solve-sea-rescue-problems"
section: Articles
---
# Drone Experts Help NASA, NOAA Solve Sea Rescue Problems

*December 2, 2021* — by [Robert Herschbach](/author/robert-herschbach)


> Research Supports Global Search and Rescue Network

*SAR photo 2 1920x1080 — UMD drone experts from the university's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site this fall conducted a series of flights in Florida to provided NASA and NOAA with a wealth of data on the reliability of algorithms used to track distress beacons of the type that help rescuers find lifeboats at sea.*

A ship is lost at sea. Passengers huddle in lifeboats, awaiting rescue.

Thankfully, help is on the way. Emergency beacons housed aboard the lifeboats have transmitted location data to orbiting satellites, which relayed the information to ground stations. Equipped with this data, search and rescue professionals at one of several mission control centers around the globe alerted first responders to the location of the stranded passengers, resulting in a rescue.

Such a scenario isn’t fiction: [Cospas-Sarsat](http://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/), an international satellite-aided search and rescue effort that began in 1979 and today includes over 40 countries, has made it a reality—and University of Maryland drone experts today are helping to refine the system’s capabilities to better zero in on tiny lifeboats adrift in often-stormy seas.

In recent years, NASA’s Search and Rescue (SAR) office has been working with national and international partners to upgrade the system with new satellites, ground stations, and beacons, while the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) operates the U.S. region of the Cospas-Sarsat network.


*Man in bright vest watches drone in the distance*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [A. James Clark School of Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/james-clark-school-engineering)