The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), under the Improving Climate Data and Information Management project (ICDIMP), recently hosted a five-part training series geared at improving the understanding of the measurement, collection and application of soil moisture data for agro-meteorology and hydrology in Jamaica.

Three theory-based sessions were held in Kingston and two practical, in-the-field sessions at the National Irrigation Commission's (NIC) demonstration site in Braco, Trelawny and at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries' (MICAF) Bodles Research Station in St Catherine.

Dr Dale Rankine of the Department of Physics, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, led the training series which included topics such as climate change impacts on water; key concepts of soil moisture; methods of measurement including nuclear techniques, soil moisture probe installation; as well as data analyses options and applications.

The training series also included an assessment of the current network of soil moisture probe stations as well as considerations for improvement, standardisation and expansion.

A total of 28 officers from MICAF, Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, NIC, Water Resources Authority (WRA), Meteorological Service of Jamaica, and Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) participated in the training.

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