Caribbean Network Project
The COSMIC program has recently been funded by the National Science Foundation
to expand Suominet into the Caribbean. The objective of this expansion is to
improve the forecasts of hurricane track and intensity using continuous
observations of integrated water vapor. We will install and operate a network
of up to 15 GPS stations in the Caribbean. They will all be equipped with
meteorological sensors and the data will be analyzed to retrieve precipitable
water vapor (PW). The derived PW data will then be assimilated into the Weather
Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to evaluate what impact they have on
hurricane forecasts. We expect to significantly improve moisture fields within
the model, leading to a better description of the water budget, and therefore
improved hurricane intensity and track predictions.
Black Dots: Current GPS stations operating in the
Caribbean/Central America
Purple dots: GPS stations to be installed in the near future.
Red dots: Possible GPS stations
Strain in the Caribbean
with GPS estimated velocities overlayed.
Important links:
USGS Caribbean Project Fact Sheet
UCAR Caribbean GPS Project
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