In early summer of 2001 Plymouth State College (PSC) completed the setup and installation of a GPS antenna and receiver system for sampling precipitable water vapor in the atmosphere. The PSC site is just one of many participating in SuomiNet, a network of colleges and universities focused on real-time acquisition of geophysical data. Plymouth State became an operational site on July 10, 2001 when data collection and analysis began. Another poster paper, based on the first two months of sampling, is being presented at the Symposium on Observations, Data Assimilation, and Probabilistic Prediction in Orlando, FL.

The installed GPS system at PSC involves several principal components including a Paroscientific MET3 metpack, a Trimble GPS antenna and receiver, a pre-configured Dell PC, and all of the necessary cabling. The metpack and GPS antenna were mounted on a well-grounded, guyed mast on the rooftop of the science building, some three and a half stories above ground. Cabling enters the building via a dormant ventilation duct to a utility room below on the third floor where the GPS receiver and PC are located. An Internet jack allows the data to be sent over the Internet to Boulder, CO where they are screened for quality, processed and made available to the SuomiNet community.