COCONET (CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING CARIBBEAN GPS OBSERVATIONAL NETWORK): STATUS OF THE NETWORK TO SUPPORT GEODETIC AND ATMOSPHERIC INVESTIGATIONS AND 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 current COCONet network construction plan consists of 46 new GPS and meteorological stations throughout the Caribbean region, 21 existing stations refurbished with new receivers, antennas, and meteorological instruments, and will also incorporate data from at least 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. COCONet 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. Lastly, there is outreach component to the project, with a focus on training and capacity building in the region. 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 a brief overview of these major project areas as well as some of the COCONet milestones to date.