Alternative Methods for Avalanche Search and Rescue

Abstract

For winter sports enthusiasts, avalanches present a significant threat, killing an average of 160 people a year. Currently, avalanche transceivers technology requires the searcher to walk a curved, indirect path to find the victim, thereby elongating the search time. The survival rate is inversely proportional to the time spent buried and therefore it is critical to find victims as quickly as possible. This thesis will propose, implement and test a new avalanche receiver design that will enable the rescuer to find a straight, and ultimately shorter, path to the victim. Ultimately, the goal is to make this process autonomous with a drone. Combining classic radio direction finding techniques with complex signal processing, this work effects wider applications in its aim to better understand near field dynamics of long electromagnetic waves.