Note - content is provided for historical continuity and may be out of date. The UNAVCO SuomiNet pages are not actively maintained, and up-to-date SuomiNet information should be obtained from UCAR’s COSMIC program at: www.cosmic.ucar.edu/suominet.html

SuomiNet is an international network of GPS receivers, configured and managed to generate near real-time estimates of precipitable water vapor in the atmosphere, total electron content in the ionosphere, and other meteorological and geodetic information.

SuomiNet Participation Procedure

NOTE: All SuomiNet systems have been allocated. There are no longer any systems available for new participants.

• How to Proceed

• Site List

SuomiNet Site Installation Instructions

• Connect the GPS Receiver and Computer Using These Instructions

• Installation questions? Contact UNAVCO (supportunavco.org).

• Notify the UCAR SuomiNet Data Analyst Teresa VanHove (vanhoveucar.edu) when the system is connected and on-line. Include the computer IP address.

How to Access SuomiNet Data

• Geodetic data can be accessed via FTP from the UNAVCO Data Archive, as daily RINEX files.

• SuomiNet participants can access their site data, and data from other SuomiNet sites by subscribing to the LDM service from UCAR. A separate computer is required to run LDM, since the SuomiNet computer is for data collection only.

  1. Install LDM on your local computer. See the Unidata LDM Support Page.

  2. Notify the UCAR SuomiNet Data Analyst Teresa VanHove (vanhoveucar.edu) when your computer is set up to receive SuomiNet data. Include the computer IP address.

  3. Configure the "pqact.conf" file on your local machine.

• Participants may also directly access data from their own site via LDM. A separate computer is still required to run LDM, since the SuomiNet computer is for data collection only.

  1. Install LDM on your local computer. See the Unidata LDM Support Page.

  2. Change the "ldmd.conf" file on your local SuomiNet computer to allow data access from the local computer.

  3. Configure the "pqact.conf" file on your local machine.

  E-mail support questions to Unidata Support (supportunidata.ucar.edu).

SuomiNet Equipment Information

• Configurations

• GPS Receiver

• GPS Antenna

• GPS Antenna Cable

• GPS Antenna Monument

• Meteorological Package Specifications, Configuration, and Purchase

• System Computer

• SuomiNet Network Rules

• University Cost-Share Equipment

Additional SuomiNet Information

• GST/SuomiNet Page

• GPS Receiver and Antenna Testing Report for SuomiNet

• Trimble SuomiNet Press Release

• UNAVCO Submission to American Meteorological Society (AMS) UNAVCO Support for SuomiNet, a GPS Network for Atmospheric Sensing

• SuomiNet Efforts in the US Southern Great Plains

• GPS Sensed Small Scale Water Vapor Variability in the Southern Great Plains

• Impact of GPS-Based Water Vapor Fields on Mesoscale Model Forecasts

For more information regarding SuomiNet procedures, system components and network installation, contact UNAVCO (supportunavco.org).