The purpose of the work is to develop and implement a comprehensive research program in Caribbean climate dynamics, aimed towards

• the development of a research grade existing weather data collection and analysis program for the Caribbean region, and
• the development of atmospheric dynamic mathematical modeling for the region.
• the development and establishment of the Joint Institute for Caribbean Climate Studies (JICCS) to be located at the UPR, Mayaguez. JICCS will be dedicated to fostering research on climate and environmental change. Its Caribbean location offers unparalleled opportunities for the development of this crucial field of study. It will be an autonomous and self-sustaining legal entity to conduct and continue Caribbean Climate Studies.

The motivation for this research program is based on the urgent need in present days to generate a full understanding of regional scale climate processes. The increasing effects of global industrialization and land use patterns have generated an excessive emission of greenhouse gasesthat are suspected to be leading to a global warming of the atmosphere. Global warming may affect temporal variations of large-scale processes such as the El Nino/La Nina - Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the variability of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and jet streams fluctuations. The Caribbean, for example, lies in a very sensitive climatic region manifested by the high coherency between climate variability in the northeast Caribbean and global variability over the last one hundred years. 

The climate pattern of a group of islands is unique compared to continents. The presence of continental coastal regions will influence the general air/sea circulation surrounding tropical islands. However, there is no indication in the literature that these effects have been considered in a unified manner for these regions. Detailed studies of regional climate across tropical islands require the use of reliable climate data and simulation tools capable of fine resolutions. The climate information should consider the detailed atmosphere/land/ocean dynamic interaction to generate a good understanding of these regional zones. 

Review and establish effective mechanisms to collect existing ground and satellite based climate data and results from general circulation models that may contain relevant information about the Caribbean. 

Perform rigorous statistical analysis of the climatic variables collectedto identify trends and periodicities. The statistical analysis will express the climatic behavior in the Caribbean.

Develop an atmospheric dynamic mathematical model to simulate the three dimensional, transient circulation, and thermodynamics of the Caribbean low, mid, and high atmosphere, including the presence of rain forests, group of islands, topography, and large human populations. 

Perform a series of numerical simulations to predict short- and long-terms atmospheric trends across the Caribbean using results generated from data collection and analysis efforts for boundary and initial conditions. Results from simulations will be compared against actual data to test the effectiveness of the numerical model. 

Design a series of educational activities to motivate the interest of college level students to know about areas of climatology, atmospheric dynamics, remote sensing, and statistical weather predictions. Activities will include courses and generation of interactive web pages. 

Develop a series of activities and products to collaborate with research institutions and potential users of the results of the research program that will pave the way for further expansion and continuation of the program.