Improving Maritime Distress Signals: Why a 130 cd Flashing LED is More Conspicuous than a 500 cd Flare

摘要

Pyrotechnic flares are the traditional maritime distress signals. But flares can injure users, and they contain environmentally-hazardous materials. The U.S. Coast Guard is looking for an alternative to flares. This paper summarizes a series of experiments to determine the characteristics of conspicuous distress signals. It provides four take-aways to improve visual distress signal design.