New radar will improve storm tracking
The opening of the forty-third session of the Caribbean Meteorological Council was the occasion for Minister of Natural Resources Johnny Briceño to sign on the dotted line for a European Union financed project under which Belize and three other countries will receive advanced weather radar systems. According to Chief Meteorologist, Carlos Fuller, while satellite imagery can give the big picture, it is radar that provides the crucial details.
Carlos Fuller, Chief Meteorologist
“The satellite is a great tool for looking at weather systems from afar, from twenty-three thousand miles out in space. A radar is a close up look at it from something like four hundred miles away. So the definition you’re going to get from a weather radar is far better than from satellite. With the Doppler capability we’ll actually be able to measure the wind speed of the hurricane. And so with the radar we’ll be getting even better coverage than we’re now getting from satellite, and in fact better than from the old radars that we had.”
Stewart Krohn
“On a practical basis, how will the people of Belize and the rest of the Caribbean benefit in real terms from having this new capability?”
Carlos Fuller
“Again, technology is a big advantage there. Because it is now digital we can take that image, put it on the internet and share it with the entire world. We can pass it on to the media at the touch of a bottom and so it’s going to be available in house for everyone, where before we have to talk about it over the air what we were seeing in our office.”
But while hi-tech equipment is nice, will the new gear give Belizeans more accurate warnings about approaching hurricanes?
Carlos Fuller
“Certainly, it enhances our ability to track the movement of the hurricanes, and even better the micro scale. The radar will be able to give us the country of Belize, streets in Belize City or in Orange Walk town, to be able to tell you where a severe cell is occurring at the time. And so indeed, our ability to communicate is going to be far better now.”
Stewart Krohn
“Ought we as citizens of Belize and the Caribbean be concerned about rising sea levels or radical changes in weather patterns?
Carlos Fuller
“Certainly, we need to be concerned about it. The reason is that we’re seeing such erratic hurricane patterns occurring now. We have seen higher tides affecting more and more parts of Belize City, which did not go underwater before. And so it is something that we need to take very seriously. Incidences of coral bleaching are increasing, so we’re seeing all these impacts and we need to raise the awareness of the Belizean public. I’m afraid that’s an area that we were not doing properly. We were keeping among the scientific community and not being able to translate it to the man on the street. Luckily with the new project, which will have its headquarters in Belize, we’ll be addressing that. We now have a public education and outreach specialist who will take all the work we’re done in the past ten years and being able to put it into layman’s terms and give it to you the media so you can then share it with the rest of the Caribbean Community.”
Construction on the new building should start next year with the radar set for installation in 2005.
