SuomiNet: A report from a beta site—Millersville University

"SuomiNet," a university-based, real-time, national Global Positioning System (GPS) network, is being developed for atmospheric research and education with funding from the National Science Foundation and with cost-share from collaborating universities. Millersville University of Pennsylvania, one of the first universities to register for participation in SuomiNet, is establishing its site for the purpose of both atmospheric and geodetic measurements in concert with programs in meteorology, geology/geophysics, physics, and geography. SuomiNet will use Unidata's well-established Internet Data Distribution (IDD) software and protocols to coordinate network sensors and distribute its data in real time via the IDD system. Millersville University is a tier II node on the IDD system and will serve as a beta test site for SuomiNet to demonstrate the innovative concept of a university-based national geophysical instrument providing critical real-time atmospheric and geodetic data for research and education.

From an educational perspective, SuomiNet will place state-of-the-art GPS equipment, data, and processing methods in the hands of a large number of university departments, faculty, and students. At Millersville University, faculty view SuomiNet as a tremendous tool that can be used to expose students to improved observation capabilities and the development of new observational capabilities. Students can learn about GPS satellites, signal transmission, phase path delays, and signal propagation errors. Millersville faculty are also excited about opportunities for research that are likely to emerge from SuomiNet, building on the expertise of UCAR programs including the GPS Science and Technology (GST) Program and Unidata. Unidata and GST will provide data and products, such as the raw GPS data, tropospheric and ionospheric delays, and 2-D water vapor and electron density, to universities in real time. University investigators, through independent research programs, will be able to assimilate these data into models to provide 3-D water vapor and electron densities, and enhance space weather and hydrological modeling. The availability of a national network of GPS data should stimulate collaborative interdisciplinary research. For instance, at Millersville the meteorology and geography programs are interested in 3-D integrated water vapor for modeling, climate, and hydrological studies; geology seeks to investigate strain in the mid-Atlantic region, while geography requires accurate coordinate referencing through geodetic applications; physics and meteorology intend to co-develop 3-D ionospheric assimilations and modeling capabilities using the real time high-frequency total electron densities, borrowing from work already underway at other universities.

Millersville University serves as a beta site for the installation and operation of a dual-frequency GPS receiver and antenna, surface meteorological sensors, and computer connected to the Internet and configured to run LDM and IDD software and protocols. The GPS antenna will be mounted on a stable monument for geodetic applications. A description of the instrumentation, installation, operation, raw data collection and initial analysis, and the processing of water vapor and TEC products is presented in order to demonstrate the concept of a national geophysical instrument and its potential for interdisciplinary research and education. With over 100 universities participating in SuomiNet, the strategies and procedures employed by Millersville University can serve as guidance for others.