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.