Status of the NOAA/CU trans-pacific profiler network

Abstract

Since the Sixth MST Radar Workshop held at National Central University, Chung-Li, Taiwan, in August 1993, the NOAA/CU Network of VHF wind profilers has been operated in a routine mode. The network is comprised of VHF wind profilers located at Piura, Peru; Christrnas lsland, Kiribati; Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia; and Biak, Indonesia. The Biak wind profiler was completed in early 1992 and has been in continuous operation since March 1992. In addition to the VHF wind profilers named above a 50 MHz wind profiler is operated in Darwin, Australia through a cooperative research agreement between NOAA's Aeronomy Laboratory and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Research Centre. The VHF profiler network was described in more detail by Gage et al, (1990) and the VHF profilers are described in Gage et al. (1994a). In addition to the 50 MHz wind profilers, several sites have been instrumented with lntegrated Sounding Systems (ISS) (Parsons et al., 1994) complete with 915 MHz wind profilers (Carter et al., 1995) equipped with RASS and OMEGA Balloon Sounding Systems and a suite of surface instruments to record surface wind, temperature, humidity, pressure, radiation and precipitation. The ISS were developed jointly by the Aeronomy Laboratory and NCAR's Atmospheric Technology Division. VHF wind profilers at Christmas Island, Biak and Darwin have been complemented with 915 MHz wind profilers. In 1994, 915 MHz profilers were deployed at Tarawa, Kiribati; and San Cristóbal in the Galápagos lslands of Ecuador.