The Trans Pacific Profiler Network: Investigating Tropical Processes

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A continuing series of grants since 1988 has made it possible for CIRES of the University of Colorado, in collaboration with the NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, to construct, operate, and maintain VHF wind-profiling radars at four sites stretching across the equatorial Pacific: Biak, Indonesia; Pohnpei, Micronesia; Christmas Island, Kiribati; and Piura, Peru. Observations from the profiler at Christmas Island are now assimilated into operational forecast models on a routine basis. Ongoing research activities based on data from the network include: (1) documentation of seasonal and interannual variability of winds over the Tropical Pacific; (2) investigation of the structure of atmospheric Kelvin waves, Rossby waves, and gravity waves; (3) measurement of the vertical structure and amount of rainfall at the profiler sites; (4) obtaining data for the validation of atmospheric models. The network fills both research and operational needs for data on winds and precipitation in the Tropical Pacific - a region important for the global climate, but where other sources of data are scarce.