Development of CYMETEO Strategic Meteorological Infrastructure and Service in Cyprus

This study aims to describe the main objectives and activities of the research project "Cyprus GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Meteorology Enhancement" (CYGMEN) funded (€1.500.000) by the Cyprus Research Innovation Foundation (RIF) in the frames of "Strategic Research Infrastructures" Call for Proposals. CYGMEN was initiated at January 2024 with the aim to establish a Meteorological cluster (CyMETEO) in Cyprus that will strategically augment existing Frederick Research Center (FRC) and Department of Meteorology (DoM) infrastructure, through the introduction of: a) a Lighting detection network, b) a dense GNSS network for atmospheric water vapor estimation (supported by Cloudwater Ltd (CW) and Nicosia Development Agency (ANEL), c) a Radar Wind Profiler (RWP) and d) a Microwave Radiometer (MWR). Within this framework, the evaluation of the CyMETEO GNSS tropospheric analysis component prior to its deployment at Nicosia district is pursued in this study. Furthermore, CyMETEO will enrich severe weather forecasting, through the assimilation of relevant datasets into WRF Numerical Weather Prediction model (NWP), in the context of a near real-time local weather service, that will be realized through the key collaboration with the Meteo Unit of the National Observatory of Athens.