Puerto Rico

Weekly and Monthly Agricultural Rainfall Deficit for Puerto Rico, 2015

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Rainfall deficit is defined here as the rainfall minus the reference evapotranspiration (ETo), and has been used in previous studies in Puerto Rico (e.g., Harmsen et al., 2009).  The “true” rainfall deficit is dependent on the potential crop evapotranspiration, however, the reference evapotranspiration may serve as an approximation of the potential crop evapotranspiration for a typical, mature crop.  If the monthly rainfall deficit is positive it means that there was more rainfall than the crop needed, if, however, the rainfall deficit is negative then the monthly rainfall was insufficient to meet the crop water requirement.   To view the monthly estimated rainfall deficit for Puerto Rico, click below:

Monthly agricultural rainfall deficit for Puerto Rico, 2015
Weekly agricultural rainfall deficit for Puerto Rico, 2015

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PRAGWATER now providing daily reference evapotranspiration for Cuba

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Daily reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is now available for Cuba at the following link: Northern Caribbean ETo.  The link also includes ETo data for Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Hispaniola and Jamaica.

Yesterday’s Reference Evapotranspiration

CUBA

Click for archived maps of reference evapotranspiration and  other climate variables.

 

The following links will provide guidance on scheduling irrigation using the ETo map data.

Harmsen E.W., 2012.  TECHNICAL NOTE: A Simple Web-Based Method for Scheduling Irrigation in Puerto Rico.  J. Agric. Univ. P.R. 96 (3-4) 2012.

A simple irrigation scheduling tool for using ETo maps

Progress of the 2015 Puerto Rico Drought – Selected Soil and Water Parameters

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Weekly and monthly images of selected soil and water parameters for Puerto Rico will be available at the following website during the period of drought in the island. Click below:

https://pragwater.com/progress-of-2015-puerto-rico-drought-selected-soil-and-water-parameters/

Downscaled Climate Data Projections for Puerto Rico Now Available

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The Caribbean Landscape Conservation Cooperative (CLCC) has just announced the release of downscaled climate data projections (through 2099) for Puerto Rico.  This is a valuable resource, which will allow scientists from many fields to evaluate climate change impacts in their respective fields.

The data have the following characteristics:

Projections of daily maximum and minimum temperature and twenty-four hour cumulative precipitation for over 200 long-term weather stations throughout the region for the period 1960-2099 based on Global Climate Models (GCMs) from the Third Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3) used for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (AR4 IPCC).

Projection datasets are available for three greenhouse gas emission scenarios: high (A2), medium (A1B), and low (B1). The global model output for precipitation and temperature were downscaled to local station locations by Hayhoe (2013): 71 stations for precipitation, 29 stations for maximum temperatures (Tmax) and 27 stations for minimum temperatures (Tmin).

Download the downscaled precipitation and temperature data here.  (After loading website, click on Geospatial Data.)

PRAGWATER now providing daily reference evapotranspiration for St. Thomas, USVI

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Daily reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is now available for St. Thomas (USVI) at the following link: Northern Caribbean ETo.  The link also includes ETo data for Puerto Rico, St. Croix (USVI), Hispaniola and Jamaica.

Yesterday’s Reference Evapotranspiration

St. Thomas, USVI

The following links will provide guidance on scheduling irrigation using the ETo map data.

Harmsen E.W., 2012.  TECHNICAL NOTE: A Simple Web-Based Method for Scheduling Irrigation in Puerto Rico.  J. Agric. Univ. P.R. 96 (3-4) 2012.

A simple irrigation scheduling tool for using ETo maps

FINCA ALZAMORA WEATHER DATA AVAILABLE ONLINE

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Today a new weather station was installed in the Finca Alzamora, UPRM campus, Mayaguez Puerto Rico.  Data from the weather station are available from two websites:  WeatherLink  or WeatherUnderground.  The WeatherUnderground site allows you to download archived data in a coma delimited text format that can be imported into Excel.  Data being collected include:  air temperature, dew point temperature, RH, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, UV index, soil moisture tension and soil temperature.  A value of the reference evapotranspiration is available on the WeatherLink page.  We are still working out a few kinks, but should have it running smoothly within a few days.

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The weather station was purchased with funds from the UPRM NOAA CREST Project.

Photos from a Class Field Trip to the Coloso Valley

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On April 25, 2014, students from the TMAG 4035 Soil and Water Management course at  UPRM visited the farm of Sr. Patiño in the Coloso Valley near Aguada, PR.  This post includes some of the pictures that were taken during the field trip.

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CLICK HERE to see more pictures from the field  trip.

CLICK HERE to see miscallaneous pictures from the TMAG 4035 Soil and Water course.

PR remains on SpaceX’s launch radar

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PR remains on SpaceX’s launch radar

Puerto Rico could still land a planned private rocket launchpad that would give a lift to the lagging local economy and make the island a player in a bold new industry that is starting to take off.

SpaceX — formally named Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — has yet to nail down where it will develop the world’s first commercial rocket-launching complex, but a site in Texas has emerged as the frontrunner in a race that includes Puerto Rico, Georgia and Florida.   Read more

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