COCONET (CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING CARIBBEAN GPS OBSERVATIONAL NETWORK): INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCEMENTS TO IMPROVE SEA LEVEL MONITORING

The COCONet (Continuously Operating Caribbean GPS Observational Network) project was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with the aim of developing a large-scale geodetic and atmospheric infrastructure in the Caribbean that will form the backbone for a broad range of geoscience and atmospheric investigations and enable research on process-oriented science questions with direct relevance to geohazards. The original COCONet plan consists of 50 new GPS and meteorological stations throughout the Caribbean region, 15 existing stations refurbished with new receivers, antennas, and meteorological instruments, and will also incorporate data from up to 61 existing operational GPS stations. Additional funding has recently been allocated to install 2 new collocated GPS and tide gauge sites and also add GPS instruments at two existing tide gauge sites in the Caribbean region. These enhancements to COCONet will provide a crustal reference for long-term sea level monitoring. COCONet will provide free, high-quality, low-latency, open-format data and data products for researchers, educators, students, and the private sector. Data will be used by US and international scientists to study solid earth processes, for example plate kinematics and dynamic as well as plate boundary interactions and deformation, with an emphasis on the earthquake cycle. COCNet will also serve atmospheric science objectives by providing more precise estimates of tropospheric water vapor and enabling better forecast of the dynamics of airborne moisture associated with the yearly Caribbean hurricane cycle. COCONet is being installed and will be maintained by UNAVCO on behalf of the science and other user communities in the United States and abroad, thus leveraging UNAVCO’s proven record of efficient and effective network management and its longstanding commitment to collaborative science. We present an overview of COCONet equipment and data communications systems as well as some of the major project milestones to date.