Barbados is set to become a key hub in a groundbreaking regional effort to improve hurricane forecasting in the Caribbean.
On Tuesday, scientists from across the Caribbean and North America gathered at Aquatic Gap to launch a cutting-edge ocean glider – an underwater robot – just off the island’s coast.
The historic deployment marked the start of the Vetlesen Caribbean Hurricane Ocean Glider science field experiment—an initiative aimed at strengthening real-time ocean observation and enhancing the region’s ability to predict powerful storms with greater accuracy.
The glider will dive up to 1 000 metres beneath the ocean’s surface, collecting crucial data on temperature, salinity, and currents before resurfacing every few hours to transmit its findings via satellite to forecasters worldwide.
“This is an historic day,” declared Scott Glenn, Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University and co-lead of the initiative. “We’ve gone out to sea in ships to study ocean flow, but now we’re doing it with robots. We don’t have to use those expensive ships—we can do it more cheaply, and we can sustain it.”
He explained that the robot will join a distributed network of gliders stationed across the Caribbean, forming a high-tech monitoring system that feeds critical data into weather models every three hours.
“For the first time ever, we have a distributed network all working together, all sending their data to the forecasters who provide us with early warnings,” Glenn said. “This is the first glider this far east. Any hurricane that forms out there is going to hit Barbados first. You’re the most forward-deployed spot—and that’s why we want to be here.”
The glider, valued at US$200 000 (BDS$400 000), has already been deployed from South Africa to Brazil, Australia to Sri Lanka, but Glenn said its new mission, sponsored by the Vetlesen Foundation, is the most important yet–enhancing hurricane readiness in the Caribbean.
“It’s the start of the future for us today,” he said, noting the long-term goal is to establish Barbados as a permanent glider port as part of a regional ocean observing system.
“This is a demonstration project. Once we prove the value, the goal is to build that Caribbean glider fleet and operate it every year, especially during hurricane season.”
Dr Lorna Inniss, regional coordinator of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOCARIBE), described the initiative as a vital investment in the region’s resilience.
“We are trying to build a regional observing system that would support just about every area of sustainable development,” she said. “From biodiversity conservation, plastics pollution, and ecosystem preservation—right now we are focused specifically on improving the accuracy of hurricane forecasting.”
Dr Inniss, who previously served in the Coastal Zone Management Unit in Barbados, said: “With every improvement in hurricane forecasting, we reduce the amount of losses from tropical cyclones.”
She noted that some of the oceanic challenges being experienced today are a result of poor management of the world’s water space.
“The ocean supplies 50 percent of our oxygen, and because we’ve not been treating it the way we should, the ocean is sick. It’s not doing what it used to do. That’s why we’re seeing more ocean-related hazards and increased climate variability,” Dr Inniss said.
The ocean glider was launched approximately ten kilometres off Barbados’ south-west coast. The project is led by the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, in partnership with Rutgers University’s Center for Ocean Observing Leadership, the University of the Virgin Islands, and UNESCO-IOCARIBE.
The glider will remain deployed for three months, traversing waters from Barbados to Guyana and back, transmitting vital ocean intelligence that satellites cannot pick up.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
The post Ocean science mission launches off Barbados appeared first on Barbados Today.
