Cellular Coverage Mapping in the U.S. Virgin Islands
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Authors
Wigal, Jacob
Eisenberg, Daniel A.
David L. Alderson, David L.
Subjects
cellular telephone coverage
critical infrastructure
disaster recovery
hazard mitigation
critical infrastructure
disaster recovery
hazard mitigation
Advisors
Date of Issue
2023-05
Date
May 2023
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
Wireless mobile telephone service is now a dominant mode of communication throughout the world, with new technologies enabling ever expanding digital services that
support commerce, government, and society. A lack of coverage in mobile services is inconvenient under normal conditions, but can exacerbate dangerous situations during
emergencies. This report models and measures mobile telephone coverage in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a Caribbean territory that is still recovering from two devastating
hurricanes in 2017. We present a physics‐based model designed to predict wireless coverage based on characteristics of the transmitting antennae and surrounding topography.
We then present the results of ground measurements intended to validate our predictions. Overall, we confirm the anecdotal experience that there are significant “dead zones”
in mobile coverage throughout the territory—both through our numerical modeling and primary data collection efforts—which can cause problems for public safety. However,
our predicted coverage maps cannot be treated as authoritative at this time, due to incomplete data for transmitting towers. We recommend additional study and identify next
steps required to generate authoritative coverage maps, along with the potential benefits of doing so.
Type
Technical Report
Description
Prepared for: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Series/Report No
Department
Operations Research (OR)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
NPS-OR-23-001
Sponsors
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Funder
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Format
57 p.
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.