Wilderness & environmental medicine
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Wilderness Environ Med · May 1997
GPS signal reception under snow cover: a pilot study establishing the potential usefulness of GPS in avalanche search and rescue operations.
Avalanches are one of the major threats to life in high-mountain terrain and account every year for approximately 150 accidents causing injury or death in the United States alone. Every year avalanches cause significant property damages and a death toll of approximately 15 people in the United States. The specific characteristic of the avalanche accident is the extreme importance of getting to the buried victim as soon as, possible to improve survival. ⋯ The satellite signals were received with good quality and precise readings up to a burial depth of 1 m. Under 1.5 m of snow the receiver was able to lock on only one satellite, making a positional reading impossible. The reception of the GPS signals under snow cover is possible and warrants further study directed toward the development of a search and rescue device using this technology.