Aerial imagery and drones for safety in searches for missing persons

In many work environments, adaptation is a key factor, as the COVID-19 pandemic accentuated. Restrictions such as social distance or confinement made it difficult to search for missing persons using conventional procedures. Although mobility limitations led to a decrease in the number of disappearances, they did not stop completely and search teams had to adapt to the new scenario which prevented, for example, the participation of volunteers. Therefore, it was decided to implement a tool developed by D4S researchers, thanks to the collaboration between the Provincial Fire Fighting Service of the Zaragoza Provincial Council (SPEI-DPZ) and the University of Zaragoza. Currently, the Virtual Cloud Search and Rescue (VC-SAR) tool has already been applied in real searches for missing persons and continues to be developed. The use of this tool makes it possible to manage all the graphic information captured, distribute it in batches of images to be analysed by the searchers, quickly identify possible relevant clues, mark them for later review, geoposition them and then distribute the important information to the participants in the search, guaranteeing the safety of all participants and not requiring geographical proximity to detect clues.