Belize has strengthened its ability to monitor hurricanes, rough seas and changing ocean conditions with three new marine monitoring stations that will provide real-time data from offshore waters.
Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon said the stations tackle issues that the National Meteorological Service has long faced. “We knew that we have a gap in terms of monitoring oceanic variables, and these stations will assist us to do so,” Gordon said. He said the country already runs a wide network of weather stations on the mainland and a few offshore in the cayes, but those only track atmospheric variables such as pressure, air temperature and wind.
The National Meteorological Service is considering Glover’s Reef, English Caye and Southern Turneffe Atoll as the three installation sites. Each station carries solar-powered, satellite-linked weather buoys, floats, moorings, anchors and integrated sensors to track wave activity, sea surface temperatures, wind patterns and atmospheric pressure.
“This buoy project is just another step… into monitoring the marine space and maybe improving models, improving hurricane prediction and so on,” said CIMH Mission Lead Courtney Forde.
The equipment was donated by the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and is valued at $66,000, with funding from the European Union through the Caribbean Development Bank.
Tune in to News 5 at 6:00 for a closer look at the technology now helping Belize keep a closer eye on its waters.
