Installation of real time automatic weather stations begins across the island
Jamaica’s weather forecasting capacity will be boosted with the addition of 35 automatic weather stations to the Meteorological Service Division’s (MSJ) network across the island.
The weather stations, which will be outfitted with the capability to transmit real time data, are being acquired and installed as part of the Improving Climate Data and Information Management Project (ICDIMP) under the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR).
The ICDIMP is funded by the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), administered through the World Bank and is being executed by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and other partners.
To date, automatic weather stations have already been installed at six sites and it is projected that installation at the 35 sites will be completed by the end of January 2018.
Project Manager for the ICDIMP, Lehome Johnson, advised that this is just one phase of the upgrading works which involves the MSJ.
He said, “A major component of the project involves upgrading the hydro-meteorology (hydro-met) data collection systems and updating weather forecasting mechanisms so that as a country, we can use the data to inform and improve climate resilient planning. Apart from the automatic weather stations, plans are far advanced for the installation of a sea level tide gauge at the Montego Bay Pier and the team is assessing the possibility of an additional site on the South Coast”.
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