Mr. Evan Thompson (Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica) explains feature of the newly installed Automatic Weather Station at a brief ribbon-cutting hosted prior to the Virtual Launch. Listening keenly, from left to right: Prof. Dale Webber (Principal, The UWI Mona), Dr. Tannecia Stephenson (Head, Department of Physics), the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr , Minister of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change, Ms Claire Bernard (Deputy Director General, the Planning Institute of Jamaica) and Prof. Michael Taylor (Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology). Photo credit: Spalding.

 At a virtual launch held on World Meteorological Day (March 23, 2021) The UWI Mona officially launched its Automatic Weather Station (AWS). The AWS, sited in the vicinity of The UWI Bowl, was installed under a Memorandum of Agreement between the UWI and the Meteorological Service of Jamaica (MSJ) and will become part of the MSJ’s island wide network. The MSJ has a long standing cooperation with the Climate Studies Group Mona (CSGM) in the Department of Physics. The station will additionally provide climate data for research purposes and will be the pilot for an innovative solution being spearheaded jointly by the CSGM and MSJ for electronic real-time data transmission. The installation was funded through a World Bank project being implemented under the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) and being executed by the Planning Institute of Jamaica.

To view the virtual launch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5p5omH2Bf0

To learn more about research in the Department of Physics: https://www.mona.uwi.edu/physics/