Avwatch technology leads the way in providing real-time situation awareness

PLYMOUTH, Mass. - July 24, 2014 - PRLog -- Avwatch (www.avwatch.us), a Plymouth, MA, business delivering aerial reconnaissance, real time motion video and airborne networking services to government and commercial clients, recently demonstrated its breakthrough technology at the International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC), held in Savannah, Georgia.

Avwatch Founder and President Chris Kluckhuhn and his team participated in the demonstration as part of the IOSC’s On Water and Aerial Technical Demonstration, which was held on May 7.  The demonstration’s theme was “A Complete Spill Response System,” and it sought to demonstrate oil spill response resources involving new and existing technology configured to increase the effectiveness of a response such as improved detection, tracking and increased encounter and recovery rates.  The 45-minute demonstration was held on the Savannah River.

The demonstration included a scripted simulated spill scenario, beginning with a remote oil detection device (featuring Avwatch technology) that initiated an oil spill alert message with spill coordinates to the Responsible Party, spill management team, identified OSROs, and Coast Guard Sector or Captain of the Port (and interested IOSC attendees).

The International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC) provides a vital forum for professionals from the international response community, private sector, government, and non-governmental organizations to come together to tackle the greatest challenges with sound science, practical innovation, social engineering and imagination. This conference is an ideal environment for government agencies, contractors, researchers, industry, and other stakeholders to work together toward mutual objectives, through the exchange of ideas and lessons learned from actual spill responses and research around the world.

The Avwatch technology offers real-time, situational awareness. Avwatch was called in during the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill, where they hosted a 10,000-square-mile network for four months and reduced lag time from 8-12 hours to real time.  Throughout this emergency, aerial images of the spill, transmitted instantly by high speed network through the aircraft, relayed mission-critical data to key points on the ground, through tablets and cellular phones, by way of Mobile Ad-Hoc Network (MANET) technology.

Kluckhuhn said, “People on the scene aren’t the only ones making decisions or noticing things.  This type of situational awareness technology that Avwatch provides has numerous applications and we are proud to have been selected to highlight how this technology and relay can help our environment and make people safer during times of environmentally dangerous spills.”

Avwatch was selected to present a similar demonstration at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) annual conference in Galveston, Texas, in April. The Galveston event was a Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Table Top Exercise.

About Avwatch

Avwatch is a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), which harnesses innovative and proven technologies to support, enhance, and train Federal, state and local government agencies in support of homeland security and disaster recovery. The company’s unique airborne platform permits homeland security professionals the freedom to interact directly with aircraft, generate requested flight routes, specify data to be collected and precisely control the onboard camera sensors. Communications between the ground user and aircraft are internet-provided, allowing the user and aircraft to communicate in real time.  This facilitates immediate aircraft tasking and retrieval of data and imagery updates from anywhere in the world, at any time.

Avwatch provides homeland security professionals with a low-cost solution capable of conducting routine patrols efficiently and effectively. The company was founded in 2008 by Chris Kluckhuhn, a former Coast Guard rescue pilot with two Homeland Security masters degrees. Kluckhuhn’s successes in improving operational processes and technologies have been nationally recognized by Government Computer News (http://gcn.com/articles/2007/05/04/chris-kluckhuhn--calcu...) for visionary leadership and by the Coast Guard as a leader in innovation.
TheAvwatch team consists of nationally recognized Homeland Security experts who are well-versed in military, federal, state and local disaster response planning and response protocols. Avwatch technology has been used to assist in oil cleanup following the 2010 explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, where they provided high-quality streaming video to the US Coast Guard, BP and authorities to assist with oil spill cleanup. The company also provides training for US Air Force Pilots prior to overseas deployment, and has been instrumental in rescue during extreme weather conditions, including hurricanes. In addition to firefighting, the technology is also used by the California Highway Patrol. Avwatch maintains headquarters at 246 South Meadow Road, Plymouth, MA and serves a national client base. For additional information, please visit www.avwatch.us or call 774-247-0001.