REMSAT II
(Real-Time Emergency Management via Satellite)
Funding Agencies
Project Team
- Telesat Canada (CDA)
- British Columbia Forest Service (CDA)
- Simon Fraser University (CDA)
- British Columbia Ambulance Service (CDA)
- Communications Research Centre (CDA)
- Canadian Space Agency (CDA)
Project Objective
The REMSAT II system builds on the experience with the REMSAT I system, which showed the feasibility of emergency management via satellite. The objectives of the REMSAT II program are to develop and implement a cost effective end to end system to provide a range of services for emergency management in the fire and flood domains. A secondary objective is to design the system so that it is adaptable to other emergency domains, such as search and rescue, earthquakes and others.
The key areas being addressed are the portability of the system, the use of earth observation products and an advanced hand held unit. The IMT is being designed as a modular system that can be rapidly deployed by air while providing the functionality of the original system by taking advantage of new technologies developed since the original system was designed. In addition, an emergency telemedicine component is being implemented that will utilize the REMSAT communications infrastructure to provide on-scene personnel with medical consultative expertise from centrally located emergency trauma staff.
Features
The REMSAT II architecture uses space technology to augment existing infrastructure and to provide communications infrastructure in those areas with none or where it has been degraded. The system will provide remote command posts with seamless access to weather, geolocation, mapping, logistic, communication and earth observation data to enable decisions to made at the remote centre.
The architecture is a three tier system based around the IMT with a Central Control Terminal acting as a central collection and distribution point for resources and data to manage the emergency. The management and control of the network is based in the CCT plus it will act as the control point for all emergency data wherever generated.
The IMT is the second tier and will be designed to address the issues discovered with the REMSAT I version. The new IMT is being designed as a light-weight rapid deployment system that can be easily transported by light aircraft or helicopter to remote sites. With the advances in technology the IMT can now provide, as a minimum, the same resources as the original 'heavy' system and due to the modular nature of the design can be expanded to increase the capability. With the advances in satellite technology it is now possible to provide more data services to the IMT so more decisions could be made by the 'team in the field'.
The IMT will serve as the command and control distribution node for the field teams and as such the third tier becomes the HUT. It is intended that the HUT be designed to provide communications and data services to the field teams. There will be at least two levels of HUT, a basic version for all team members and an advanced HUT for the team leaders. The advanced HUT is intended to be capable of providing image data to the team leaders as well as weather and data updates.
Project Plan
The program is divided into two phases, the first covering the system definition, hardware selection and trade off studies, and the second covering a Proof of Concept demonstration and two demonstrations with the full system deployment, all for the fire domain. The proof of concept will encompass the flood and telemedicine validation, however, a flood demonstration may not be viable as floods cannot be planned or easily simulated.
The starting point for the program will be a clear definition of the functional and performance requirements that are to be met by the system which will be based on how the system will actually be used. The system design will be bottom up, in that the key requirements will be defined by the end users based on the lessons learned from the REMSAT I program.
Key Issues
The key risk area is the development of the HUT, which is required to incorporate several levels of advanced technology. The current PDA market is experiencing a convergence between the cell phone based systems and PDAs so the REMSAT program is expecting to capitalize on this to mitigate some of the risks.
A second area of risk is the potential issues with communication in forested, mountainous terrain. The IMT to CCT satellite communication issues can be easily resolved but the HUT to IMT satellite communications issues could be substantial. In order to mitigate these risks trails will be performed during Phase 1 of the program to determine the optimum solution.
Expected Main Benefits
The REMSAT II system will be in a unique position in that there are no real competing systems; it is actually extending the capabilities of those authorities that have significant infrastructure and providing a low cost solution for those authorities without infrastructure. The modular nature of the design was chosen to eliminate the problems with a "one size fits all" solution while allowing users to expand the system as required without significant expense.
REMSAT II is expected to generate significant interest in the world forestry community and the flood domain work is expected to have spin off benefits for drought and flood monitoring by agricultural authorities. REMSAT will also be one of the first systems to use telemedicine capabilities in a rugged environment so it is expected that this can then be expanded into Search and Rescue activities.
Current Status
The CDR was successfully completed in early July along with the Phase 2 Kick-off Meeting. Phase 2 was therefore authorized to start on 2 July 2003. The initial planning for the Proof of Concept demonstration has started and the early procurement hardware has been identified. A rugged PDA is being procured for software development and the hardware for the ETOSS hospital will be procured so they can become familiar with the system prior to the Proof of Concept.