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Subj: ARES E-Letter December 19, 2012
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The ARES E-Letter December 19, 2012
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
In This Issue:
Hurricane Center Station Active on SKYWARN Recognition Day
Hurricane Sandy Spawns Lessons Learned for Connecticut ARES
Super Typhoon Bopha: Hams Respond with Communications Support
GAREC-2012 A Wrap
Clark County, Washington SET: Independence Day in November
Santa Barbara ARES Saves the Day for Agencies in Earthquake Drill
Utah ARES/SKYWARN Spotters Prompt Insightful NWS Letter
Nominate Now: 2012 ARRL International Humanitarian Award
K1CE For a Final
Hurricane Center Station Active on SKYWARN Recognition Day
----------------------------------------------------------
WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami,
Florida, was activated on Saturday, December 1, for SKYWARN Recognition Day,
a nationwide event. Julio Ripoll, WD4R, Assistant Coordinator for the
station, said "This was an excellent on-the-air event to practice our radio
skills and exchange basic weather data over ham radio between NWS forecast
offices and volunteer SKYWARN spotters. We tested our equipment, antennas,
computers and several modes of communications that are used to gather
surface eye witness reports during severe weather events including, of
course, hurricanes." Ripoll said that "this was also a good opportunity to
train new operators on equipment and procedures, and interface with NWS
staff that may not be familiar with the capabilities of Amateur Radio
communications."
"Even though HF propagation was poor from our location in south Florida,
WX4NHC operators were able to make a total of 122 contacts -- 70 on HF, VHF
and UHF frequencies, and 52 on EchoLink and IRLP," reported Ripoll. "We made
direct contact with 24 NWS offices nationwide. The farthest station
contacted was in Estonia where it was -1ø C with light snow. The coldest
weather report received was 18ø F from Turner, Maine. The warmest weather
report received was 82ø F from Brownsville, Texas. The most unique report
was "Volcanic Haze" from Honolulu, Hawaii." Ripoll offered special thanks to
the VoIP Hurricane Net team operating from NWS Taunton, Massachusetts, for
sponsoring the net on EchoLink/IRLP.
Hurricane Sandy Spawns Lessons Learned for Connecticut ARES
-----------------------------------------------------------
In last month's issue, Connecticut Section Manager Betsey Doane, K1EIC,
reported on her section's comprehensive deployment for massive storm Sandy.
This month, her Section Emergency Coordinator Wayne Gronlund, N1CLV, offers
his perspective on lessons learned from the event:
The old adage that "a disaster is not the time to be exchanging business
cards" was validated. In areas where strong relationships had been
previously developed with our served agencies (Red Cross, Connecticut
Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, and municipal
governments), requests for Amateur Radio assistance in shelters and at EOCs
were quickly and effectively handled at the local level. In those areas
where ARES/SKYWARN officials exercised active/strong leadership and were
proactive in offering and providing Amateur Radio support, there were a lot
of useful and productive assignments available to our volunteers.
The five regional DECs and the SKYWARN DEC (or their designated
representatives) participated in statewide SEC nets conducted every two
hours. The SEC net gave me a good feel for where things were going well and
where they were not. Section Manager Doane was an active participant and
helped me to identify and address any issues in our response.
VHF/UHF frequencies (both repeater and simplex) provided the primary
platform for our disaster response and emergency communications needs.
During the widespread power outages, many of our repeater systems shifted to
emergency power and continued to function. Repeater owners and control
operators did an extraordinary job of keeping us on the air. The KB1AEV
linked system in particular remained viable and provided coverage for
approximately 80% of the state. Many of the facilities where we rendered
assistance would not easily accommodate deployment of HF antennas.
Areas for Improvement
A significant number of our volunteers are affiliated with both ARES/SKYWARN
and the Red Cross (and to some extent, other volunteer groups who provide
disaster support). Depending on the nature of the incident, volunteers may
choose to assist one of the other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) whom
they support rather than ARES/SKYWARN. This "double counting" of resources
creates a shortfall in the numbers of operators expected to be available to
help.
Getting more ARES/SKYWARN leaders at all levels (ASEC/DEC/ADEC/EC/AEC) to
exercise what we in the Coast Guard call "trained initiative" would improve
our effectiveness when communications up/down the chain of command are
difficult or not readily available. Those leadership officials with local
situational awareness who know what needs to be done and how to get it done
right without being told do so, could help to decentralize control and make
the entire organization more responsive. Note: this is NOT suggesting
self-deployment of ARES/SKYWARN members, but rather leadership being
exercised at the lowest levels of the organization. -- Wayne Gronlund,
N1CLV, Connecticut Section Emergency Coordinator
Super Typhoon Bopha: Hams Respond with Communications Support
-------------------------------------------------------------
Typhoon Bopha (local name Pablo), a Category 5 super storm, hit the
Philippines on December 3 uprooting trees, downing power lines, sparking
landslides and driving 40,000 people to head for shelters. It was the
strongest of about 20 typhoons to affect the country this year with its
heavy rain and wind gusting up to 210 km/h as it came ashore at Mindanao. It
was the strongest typhoon to ever hit the southern island. More than 600 died.
The Philippine Amateur Radio Association (PARA) had its ham emergency radio
operations (HERO) program working when the typhoon struck. PARA used all
available means of communication including HF radio (7.095 MHz), VHF radio
(144.740 MHz), the Internet and social media such as Facebook, e-mail, and
EchoLink to monitor the situation and give updates to all concerned as
necessary.
RADNET 5, a local club of Amateur Radio operators in Tacloban City, provided
the city with vital communications links and was in constant coordination
with the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CDRRMC). 5700
families were evacuated from Saint Bernard. RADNET 5 also assisted the Red
Cross in Tacloban and Saint Bernard. The City Government of Tacloban City
used the Tacloban Convention Center as one of its evacuation points.
Operations and relief proceeded well with planning and preparations, the
cooperation of evacuees and the mammoth response and recovery efforts. --
Jim Linton, VK3PC, Chairman, IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications
Committee, with Philippines Amateur Radio Association Chief Operating
Officer Eddie Valdez, DU1EV
GAREC-2012 A Wrap
-----------------
The eighth Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference,
GAREC-2012, took place in Port Dickson, Malaysia, November 12-14, hosted by
the Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society and was attended by 17
delegates from nine countries. The theme of the conference was "One world,
One commitment." In 2005, the first Global Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications (GAREC) Conference was organized on the initiative of Seppo
Sisatto, OH1VR, in Tampere, Finland. Following the success of this event and
the increased interest in international and regional cooperation on the
function of emergency communications, GAREC conferences were established as
annual events.
For the Malaysia conference last month, presentations were received on the
mobile emergency weather system, which provides a means for citizens to
assist authorities with weather reports using simple equipment and training,
augmented by the amateur service.
The status of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service provisions in Finland,
Hong Kong, Indonesia, Germany and Switzerland was discussed, which
highlighted the differences and similarities in approaches to emergency
planning by the respective countries, directed to meeting the needs of their
peoples. The Swiss delegation presented their procedure for a special net
control protocol, which provided more efficient message handling when the
volume of messages increases beyond the needs of a simple net.
The conferees considered the common issues facing Amateur Radio emergency
communicators, and recognized that while solutions may not be easy to find,
sharing the problems and allowing individual countries to realize that they
were not alone provides valuable support to the global Amateur Radio
emergency and disaster relief community.
Conferees participated in two exercises, the first a directed exercise where
they were asked to work together as a team, providing emergency
communications for a fictional country and event. This encouraged the
delegates to consider what their ideal network and licensing environment
would look like as well as enhance interpersonal relationships helping them
to work together more efficiently in the future.
The IARU HF Emergency Operating Procedure was reviewed following the
experience of use in GlobalSET and national exercises. A number of
opportunities were identified to improve the procedure and these will be
developed by the delegates for presentation to the IARU Regional Emergency
Coordinators (EMCOR).
The titles of "GAREC" and the "Global Centre of Emergency Frequencies" (CoA
frequencies) can be misinterpreted as only referring to "Global"
emergencies, concluded the conferees. This is not the case, they said. "The
Conference and CoA frequencies are available for all emergency communicators
around the world to share their knowledge to assist their colleagues who are
having problems themselves."
There was a discussion on how GAREC and emergency communications should be
branded to allow more exposure to served agencies and the public we also
serve: "All emergency communications groups are encouraged to share
information on all emergencies they are asked to assist with so that our
public profile is raised and understanding of our service improved."
It was discovered that four countries were independently looking at the
issue of monitoring the CoA frequencies to allow the alert to be raised for
a disaster or emergency in an automatic manner: "It would obviously be
better for those countries to collaborate on establishing a standard
solution. The continuation of GAREC as a forum to share ideas and plans may
prevent duplicate efforts in the future."
There was increased understanding of the restrictions placed on radio
amateurs in different countries in the context of emergency response.
The delegates suggested that future conferences seek to involve partners in
emergency response such as IFRC and ITU to ensure that the most value is
gained from the memoranda of understanding that exist between those
organizations and the Amateur Radio community.
The next GAREC will be held in Zurich, Switzerland, June 25-27, 2013 and all
groups and organizations are invited to attend. Future conference venues
have been identified as Huntsville, Alabama, United States in 2014; and
Tampere, Finland in 2015. The conferees thanked their hosts, the Malaysian
Amateur Radio Transmitters Society, and the people of Malaysia.
Documents of GAREC-2012 can be found here.
IARU and GAREC
For each conference, an organizing committee works together with a local
host, and IARU representatives participate in the event. In its 2009 meeting
in Christchurch, New Zealand, the IARU Administrative Council has now
defined the relationship between GAREC and IARU, by adopting the following
recommendations contained in the Statement of the GAREC-2009 Conference:
"GAREC 2009 recommends that GAREC conferences should continue to be held in
locations throughout the world to the extent possible and should maintain
the character of GAREC as an informal meeting among representatives of IARU
member societies and of Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Groups within
or outside of the respective National IARU Member Society, serving as a
forum for the exchange of experience and as an advisory body for the work on
emergency communications of the IARU."
Clark County, Washington SET: Independence Day in November
----------------------------------------------------------
No, it wasn't the misdirection of a national holiday, but rather the
opportunity to focus on digital messaging modes that motivated Clark County
(Washington) ARES/RACES members to venture out for three hours on a dark and
stormy evening, November 19. A weekday evening was selected this time around
to allow members who are not normally available for weekday and/or weekend
exercises to participate.
This Fall 2012 SET scenario involved a typical "4th of July" public agency
communications overload, with the added task load of two simulated major
fireworks-related fires, one in a mixed business/residential neighborhood
and the other adjacent to Interstate 5 just north of Vancouver. More than 35
members deployed to their designated team locations, including the County
EOC, the Sheriff's office, five fire departments, one hospital, one EMS
station, and one SAR group. In order to practice multiple messaging modes in
parallel, injects of simulated traffic came via Winlink 2000 (RMS Express
and Airmail), packet BBS (Outpost), and voice. Interoperability between
Windows, Mac, and Linux computers was exercised as well. At one point voice
net control was smoothly shifted from 2m to 70cm. The 1.25m band was also
used for passing messages. -- Steve Aberle, WA7PTM, Western Washington
Official Emergency Station
Santa Barbara ARES Saves the Day for Agencies in Earthquake Drill
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The four Santa Barbara (California) County ARES units were activated on
November 15 to assist the county's public health department in a state-wide
emergency response exercise. As it turned out, the amateurs saved the day
when the participating agencies were unable to deliver messages through the
new WebEOC computer system.
The scenario was a major earthquake and each county health department was to
respond as though the disaster were local. In Santa Barbara County, players
included all hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, the American Red Cross,
Direct Relief International, and retirement communities, law enforcement,
public works, etc.
The County Office of Emergency Management staff had been training local
agencies on the Web EOC computer program for several months. This exercise
was to be a real-time test of the system, recently installed in the new
Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
ARES members reported to five local hospitals to establish backup
communications with the Public Health Department's Operations Center (DOC)
and the County EOC. They were also asked to respond to a medical field
treatment center in Santa Barbara, about 15 miles from the DOC.
Because three of the hospitals are separated from Santa Barbara and the DOC
by a 4,000'-high mountain range, a 2-meter repeater on the ridgeline was
used for county-wide voice communications. Each of the four areas
established nets on their local repeaters and on 2-meter simplex frequencies
to communicate between field units, EOCs, hospitals, and the DOC.
Within an hour of the exercise start, it was apparent traffic flow on the
WebEOC system was in trouble. ARES communicators at hospitals and city EOCs
were sending queries to the County EOC about messages that had not been
answered and information expected to arrive had not been received via
WebEOC. Fortunately, flow of traffic to, from, and between the hospitals,
EOC, and DOC on the ARES networks was seamless and important information,
such as conference call phone numbers and codes, allowed the exercise to
continue as planned. A Battalion Chief who is the Communications Coordinator
of the Lompoc Fire Department said, "ARES was about the only communications
that worked."
The ARES operator at the EOC also checked in to the state and region nets on
40 meters. In addition to voice communications backup, the Public Health
Department requested the Santa Barbara ARES unit to provide Slow Scan TV
from a field treatment site they had set up in Santa Barbara, about 15 miles
away, to the DOC. A 224 MHz repeater on the mountain was used to send the
images, which were received in both the radio room at the DOC and in the
operations center so staff managing the emergency could see "victims"
arriving, doctors providing triage and care, and transportation. The
Emergency Preparedness Program Administrator was extremely pleased with the
abilities of Amateur Radio to be flexible and respond to the needs of the
operations center staff as they occurred. The staff specifically requests
SSTV whenever they feel it will be useful to them.
Nineteen ARES members participated, led by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, District
Emergency Coordinator; Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, Santa Barbara EC; Ray Lischka,
W9EC, Lompoc EC; Jim Gilbert, AK6JG, Santa Ynez EC; and Dennis Daniel,
KM6DF, Santa Maria EC.
The new County EOC opened in 2011. During the construction, the Office of
Emergency Management staff solicited input from ARES officials, not only for
communications but for ideas and comments in general. When it came to
installing amateur antennas on the 40' tower, the OEM manager told ARES
there was a problem. He said the sides of the tower were pretty full, would
we mind a spot on the top? We said we would manage! The top of the tower
sports a tri-band antenna (2 meter, 220 MHz, 450 MHz bands), and a "Carolina
Windom" HF antenna on a cross arm to cover all HF Amateur frequencies from
3.5 to 30 MHz. At the 30' level is a 3-element 2-meter beam antenna aimed at
an amateur repeater across the mountain. On top of the building are two
discones, 120-1200 MHz, with one also able to work 6 meters and the other 27
MHz. -- Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, District Emergency Coordinator, Santa Barbara,
California, ARES
Utah ARES/SKYWARN Spotters Prompt Insightful NWS Letter
-------------------------------------------------------
The Uintah County (Utah) ARES group was called by the National Weather
Service's Grand Junction (Colorado) forecast office on Saturday, August 11,
to work in a SKYWARN capacity for expected severe weather. Lamond Harrison,
WX7L, Uintah County EC, sent alerting texts and e-mails, and put out a call
on the radio to ARES/SKYWARN members to be prepared. Harrison reports: "At
about 1:30 PM we were activated. The NWS requested that we have people
stationed at multiple points on the mountain north of Vernal to report the
received weather. The computer models were predicting heavy rain with hail
up to 1.25 inches in diameter and high winds. So we grabbed our equipment
and off we went."
Uintah County is located in the northeastern corner of Utah. It's larger
than Delaware and has a population of about 33,000. Dagget County is north
of the county next to Wyoming, and Moffat County, Colorado, is to the east.
The NWS office in Grand Junction is located 140 miles southeast of Vernal,
Utah. Because of the mountains in the area, we are in a Doppler radar "black
hole," said Harrison. "The bottom of the radar image over Uintah County is
about 20,000 feet high. Vernal's elevation is 5230 feet. So, the radar does
not come close to seeing what is happening on the ground. The southern part
of Uintah County is high mountain desert. Only Sage brush, cactus, and a few
clumps of grass grow there. Flash flooding is a constant danger. So having
the radar working properly is critical for the highway over the mountains
and the many roads and energy workers in the desert. Because the Doppler
radar image is only looking at the tops of the storm clouds the NWS has
written computer models to let them know what is actually happening on the
ground. They want them perfect. That is why they called us, Harrison said.
The storm produced heavy rain as expected, with the largest hail measuring
0.5 inches. Jim Pringle of the NWS office sent this post-event e-mail to
Harrison:
Hello Lamond:
Our staff and I are very grateful for the assistance of you and your SKYWARN
folks to mobilize and monitor the weather for us today. Although there were
no "big" events from this afternoon's thunderstorms in northern Uintah
County, your information helped us in several ways: Based on your reports,
we learned that our radar was running "too hot" as it was indicating hail
stones up to 1.25 inches in diameter, not only in Uintah County but also in
Moffat County. Your information also indicated that the strong winds (i.e.,
greater than 50 mph) did not materialize. This information resulted in our
forecast staff making the apparently correct decision to NOT issue any
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for northern Uintah County or Moffat County,
even though our radar algorithms were telling us otherwise.
Also, your reports confirmed that heavy rain was occurring from those storms
over northern Uintah County, which essentially confirmed the radar rainfall
precipitation estimates of a third to half an inch over any one spot from
any individual storm cell.
This morning, our forecast staff did discuss the possibility of drier air
moving into northern Uintah County sooner than any thunderstorms could
develop. Depending on the atmospheric computer model, thunderstorms could
have been totally suppressed over northern Uintah County or they could
develop and persist into the evening hours. That is why we were on the fence
this morning when I spoke with you and Julie during the "standby"
notification at 0900 MDT. Then after the thunderstorms initially developed
before noon today, and when they persisted through the time that I requested
the SKYWARN activation, it was decided in our office to err on the
conservative side and assume the possibility that the storms could persist
into the early evening hours in northern to central Uintah County. Well,
hindsight is always 20-20, and the drier air moved into northwest Uintah
County by 1600 MDT. As of 1700 MDT, that drier air already moved southward
with the cool front into central Uintah County.
It was a sincere pleasure working with you and your SKYWARN spotters today.
:-) -- Jim
Harrison said his group was grateful to have been of help: Erik Larsen,
AD70V; Heather Larsen, AD7OW; Christopher Larsen, KF7JRE; Jonathan Larsen,
KF7JRK; Dirk Checketts, KD7ZLG; Susan Checketts, KF7MWS; and Lamond
Harrison, WX7L, who concluded "It was fun, wet, and deliciously cool on the
mountain. The temperature dropped to 51 degrees while we were there. It felt
good to provide a service that afternoon, and have a heck of a lot of fun
also."
Nominate Now: 2012 ARRL International Humanitarian Award
--------------------------------------------------------
Nominations are open for the 2012 ARRL International Humanitarian Award.
This award is conferred upon an amateur or amateurs who demonstrate devotion
to human welfare, peace and international understanding through Amateur
Radio. The League established the annual prize to recognize those radio
amateurs who have used ham radio to provide extraordinary service to others
in times of crisis or disaster. As one of the few telecommunication services
that allow people throughout the world from all walks of life to meet and
talk with each other, Amateur Radio spreads goodwill across political
boundaries.
The ARRL International Humanitarian Award recognizes the Amateur Radio
Service's unique role in international communication and the assistance
amateurs regularly provide to people in need. Nominations should include a
summary of the nominee's actions that qualify the individual (or
individuals) for this award, plus verifying statements from at least two
people having first-hand knowledge of the events warranting the nomination.
These statements may be from an official of a group (for example, the
American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, a local or state emergency
management official) that benefited from the nominee's particular Amateur
Radio contribution. Nominations should include the names and addresses of
all references. A committee appointed by the League's President recommends
the award recipient(s) to the ARRL Board, which makes the final decision.
The committee is now accepting nominations from Amateur Radio, governmental
or other organizations that have benefited from extraordinary service
rendered by an Amateur Radio operator or group.
Andrey Fedorov, KL1A/RW3AH, received the 2011 ARRL International
Humanitarian Award. Fedorov is the former Chief Coordinator of the Russian
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (RARES) and has been involved in providing
communications support via Amateur Radio for almost 25 years. He has also
served in Rwanda, Turkey and Kosovo as an Emergency Rescue Service Officer,
and as a Regional Communications Officer for the UN Peacekeeping Mission in
Afghanistan.
All nominations and supporting materials for the 2012 ARRL International
Humanitarian Award must be submitted in writing in English to ARRL
International Humanitarian Award, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 USA.
Nomination submissions are due by December 31, 2012. In the event that no
nominations are received, the committee may determine a recipient or decide
to make no award. The recipient of the ARRL International Humanitarian Award
receives an engraved plaque, as well as a profile in QST and other ARRL
venues.
K1CE For a Final
----------------
I was taken by the letter from the National Weather Service's meteorologist
to the EC of Uintah county, Utah, Lamond Harrison, WX7L. It provided an
intimate glimpse into just how significant the NWS considers Amateur Radio's
SKYWARN contributions are. I found it be fascinating and richly rewarding.
Congratulations to Uintah county ARES.
And finally, happy holidays from all of us here on the corporate mega-campus
of the ARES E-Letter Editorial and Production offices, Daytona Beach,
Florida, the world's most famous beach! Catch you next year! 73, Rick, K1CE
___________
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