PacIOOS Receives Grant to Enhance Atmospheric and Wave Forecasts in Pacific Island Territories
PacIOOS Receives Grant to Enhance Atmospheric and Wave Forecasts in Pacific Island Territories
Posted June 12, 2018The Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs’ Technical Assistance Program awarded PacIOOS with nearly $500K in grant funding to help enhance public safety through improved atmospheric and wave forecasts for the three Pacific Island Territories: Guam; the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI); and American Samoa.
During the three-year project, PacIOOS will improve and validate the existing suite of atmospheric forecasts for the three territories, and also develop new high-resolution wave forecasts for Saipan, Tinian, and Rota in the CNMI and for the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa.
Impacts from the most recent tropical cyclones in American Samoa and typhoons in Guam and CNMI are stark reminders of the importance of near-term wind, rain, and wave forecasts for these island communities. Providing NOAA’s National Weather Service field offices with additional tools increases forecasting capabilities and results in more accurate forecasts, advisories, and warnings for residents and visitors of Guam, CNMI, and American Samoa.
PacIOOS Director, Melissa Iwamoto, says, “We are extremely grateful for the support from the Office of Insular Affairs to improve PacIOOS’ forecasts for the territories. Reliable forecasts are essential to empower insular communities to make proactive decisions. Increased preparedness helps increase public safety.”
PacIOOS, in collaboration with co-investigator Dr. Yi-Leng Chen’s lab within the Department of Atmospheric Sciences in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, will sustain the existing atmospheric model grids for the Western North Pacific, Mariana Islands, and Samoa, predicting air temperature, wind, rain, humidity and pressure. Partnering with NOAA’s National Weather Service forecasting offices in Guam and American Samoa, PacIOOS will also introduce significant improvements to the atmospheric forecasts through the integration of additional observation data into the model predictions (e.g., from new satellites) and by comparing the model predictions to the actual conditions.
In addition, co-investigator Dr. Kwok Fai Cheung, Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering in SOEST at UH Mānoa, will oversee the effort to develop new high-resolution wave forecasts for Saipan, Tinian, and Rota in the CNMI and for the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa to provide 7-day predictions of significant wave height, peak period, and peak direction in hourly intervals. Those new locations will supplement the existing PacIOOS regional wave forecasts for the Mariana Islands and Samoa, and high-resolution forecasts for Guam and Tutuila.
PacIOOS will work closely with NOAA’s National Weather Service to integrate these enhanced model outputs into internal operational systems, allowing for easy access at all NWS forecasting offices. All forecasts will also be freely available to local agencies, organizations, and the general public via the PacIOOS website, PacIOOS’ online mapping platform Voyager, and PacIOOS data services.
