Climate Sense

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Resources Management of McGill University, CIMH,

and the partner countries of Grenada, Guyana and

Jamaica. This six-year project is funded by the

Canadian International Development Agency.

Drought and the general precipitation status will

be monitored on two scales: regional, encompass-

ing the entire Caribbean basin, and national using

a number of indices and indicators. Indices such as

the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI),

and

deciles

will act as indicators of normal or abnormal

rainfall. Other indices can provide information on

normal or abnormal soil moisture (Palmer Drought

Severity index (PDSI), developed by Palmer in

1965;

and Crop Moisture Index (CMI) developed

by Palmer in 1968

), as well as the status of vege-

tation (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index).

Other indicators can provide information on stream

and river flow, lake and reservoir levels and ground

water quantities.

The final drought and precipitation status of the

region/country will be determined – by consensus – by

a network of persons from different sectors, institutions,

communities and backgrounds embracing the diversity

in definitions and impacts of drought and utilizing the

spectrum of indices and indicators.

Caribbean Basin monitoring

The Caribbean Basin monitoring has been the first

area of focus. It constitutes mainly sea surface, but

Greater Antilles during the months from June to August. Most

models predict a decrease in annual precipitation in the region

of 5 to 15 per cent.

It is therefore anticipated that droughts will

become more frequent in the future. On the other hand, there

are indications of more intense rainfall events occurring in the

region since 1950,

and this trend is likely to continue with

anthropogenic climate change.

Basic approach of drought and precipitation monitoring

With concerns over drought and excessive precipitation, it was

thought necessary to develop a system that can monitor and fore-

cast such events and thereby allow for the mitigation of their

impacts and provide some means for adaptation in the future.

The Caribbean Drought and Precipitation Monitoring Network

(CDPMN) was launched in January 2009 under the project The

Caribbean Water Initiative (CARIWIN).

The goal of CARIWIN

is to increase the capacity of Caribbean countries to deliver equi-

table and sustainable Integrated Water resources Management

(IWRM). It sets out to achieve this by improving the capacity of

the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH)

to meet the water management needs of their member states in

a multi-stakeholder environment, in collaboration with regional

and national networks, selected national governments and

community water users. The mission of CIMH is to build national

capacities in meteorology and hydrology. By integrating the

IWRM approach into CIMH training and capacity development

initiatives, the project will have a significant multiplier effect

throughout the Caribbean. CARIWIN, launched in February of

2007, was jointly implemented by the Brace Centre for Water

SPI maps for the Caribbean basin

Rainfall readings taken in 1, 3, 6 and 12 month intervals ending April 2009. The drought information can be found at

www.cimh.edu.bb/precipindex.html

Source: CIMH

SPI for April 2009

SPI for February to April 2009

SPI for November 2008 to April 2009

SPI for May 2008 to April 2009