A look at GPS Antennas and Tropical Cyclone data in the South Pacific

During late 2012 and early 2013, two tropical cyclones (Evan in December, 2012 and Garry January, 2013) affected American Samoa and one Super Typhoon (Bopha in December, 2013) passed very close to Palau within the Republic of Palau. This paper looks at the data acquired from GPS antennas and RRS Upper Air data located and observed on these islands to better understand the Integrated Precipitable Water (IPW) in conjunction with available upper air and measured precipitation. The data from these events will be analyzed to look for trends prior, during and post tropical cyclone passage over the GPS sites in Palau and American Samoa. It is hopeful that there will be trends that can be modeled to support forecast operations in a tropical cyclone environment in which is very data sparse with relatively few upper air data sites.