Sun News, The (Myrtle Beach, SC)

June 26, 2002 Section: LOCAL & THE CAROLINAS Page: C1 SYSTEM WILL BETTER PREDICT FUTURE CONDITIONS Tonya Root The Sun News Researchers in the Carolinas expect to offer more accurate weather predictions by using a high-tech system provided by more than $2.5 million in federal funding. Officials announced that $2,583,300 in funding was released Monday from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the University of South Carolina Research Foundation's Belle W. Baruch Institute.

The institute's marine field laboratory is housed in Georgetown. The money will be used for the Carolina Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System, or Caro-COOPS, which will monitor estuarine and coastal ocean conditions in the Carolinas. U.S. Sen. Ernest ``Fritz'' Hollings, D-S.C., who made the announcement this week, said in a release he helped secure the funding in the fiscal year 2002 appropriations bill funding Commerce, Justice and State departments. The institute will partner with N.C. State University and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington on the system, which will use ``state-of-the-art computer models to characterize and predict complex land-air-sea processes,'' a release said. ``This program establishes an important new capability to observe changes in our coastal oceans and produce advance warnings about the impacts of approaching storms. This clearly [is] extremely important for our coastal community, economy and natural resources, which affects all of us,'' said Madilyn Fletcher, director of the Baruch Institute. The system also will establish real-time forecasts to coastal managers regarding major storms, water quality, pollutants, sediment transport, shoreline stability and the state of fisheries. ``Anyone who has enjoyed living or vacationing on our coasts knows the importance of accurate weather predictions,'' Hollings said. ``All in all, this system will work wonders in helping us to monitor the health of coastal areas in North and South Carolina so that they may continue to be enjoyed.'' The system is expected to produce an advanced storm-surge model to accurately forecast storms and, in the long-term, improve NOAA's forecasts of natural hazards and information on ocean and estuarine weather conditions, Hollings said. Contact TONYA ROOT at 626-0306, 1-800-568-1800, Ext. 306, or troot@thesunnews.com.

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