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This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of the northeast Caribbean island Saint Martin. The island is divided between two nations, France in the north (Saint-Martin) and the Netherlands in the south (Sint Maarten).
October–November Caribbean tropical cyclone (TC) activity has significant impacts for both the Caribbean islands and Central America (e.g., Hurricanes Eta and Iota in 2020). October–November Caribbean TCs can also track northward and make continental United States landfall, resulting in substantial damage and fatalities (e.g., Hurricane Michael in 2018 and Delta and Zeta in 2020). We find significant increasing trends in October–November Caribbean hurricanes, rapidly intensifying hurricanes (winds increasing by ≥15 m s −1 within 24 hr), and landfalling hurricanes during the global satellite era (1979–present). Since 1979, we also observe significant warming trends in the western Atlantic Warm Pool and anomalous relative cooling in the eastern Pacific during October–November. These trends yield a more conducive dynamic and thermodynamic environment for Caribbean TCs, including reductions in Caribbean vertical wind shear, increases in Caribbean potential intensity, and a more TC-conducive African easterly jet.
African easterly waves (AEWs) are an important precursor or “seed” for Atlantic tropical cyclones (TCs), with 60%–80% of major hurricanes observed to originate from AEWs. However, climate model simulations indicate that AEWs are not necessary to maintain annual Atlantic TC frequency. Furthermore, small ensembles suggest that AEWs may impact the spatial distribution and landfall of Atlantic TCs. Here, we investigated the influence of AEWs on the spatial distribution of Atlantic TC tracks and landfall using 50-member ensembles of TC-permitting regional model simulations for five hurricane seasons characterized by different levels of TC activity. The control simulations are seasonal hindcasts in which AEWs were prescribed through the eastern lateral boundary condition using reanalysis. In the experiments, we suppressed AEWs by applying a 2–10 day filter to the eastern lateral boundary condition. In response to AEW suppression, we discovered statistically significant increases in Atlantic TC frequency (10%–26%) and landfall (16%–44%), a westward shift in TC genesis location and tracks with increased landfall over the Caribbean Islands, southwestern Gulf Coast, and southeastern US coast, and increases in mid-tropospheric relative humidity in the main development region. In addition, we evaluated TC genesis mechanisms in the absence of AEWs and found evidence that the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) intensified and extended northward, resulting in ITCZ wave-breaking that shed vortices which served as TC seeds. By uncovering the connections between TC seed types and the likelihood of TC landfall, this research can provide Atlantic coastal and island communities with useful information to prepare for TC impacts.
Fine roots play an important role in plant nutrition, as well as in carbon, water, and nutrient cycling. Fine roots account for a third of terrestrial net primary production (NPP), and inclusion of their structure and function in global carbon models should improve predictions of ecosystem responses to climate change. However, studies focusing on underground plant components are much less frequent than those on aboveground structure. This is more marked in the tropics, where one-third of the planet's terrestrial NPP is produced. Some tropical forests have been more represented in the literature than others, as demonstrated in the collective studies in Puerto Rico. This Caribbean island's biodiversity, frequency of natural disturbances, ease of access to forests, and long-term plots have created an ideal place for the study of tropical ecological processes. This review of the literature emphasizes 50 years of root research and patterns revealed around Puerto Rico. The data in this review were compiled from scientific publications, conference reports, symposiums, and raw data shared by some researches. Emergent patterns include the shallow distribution of fine roots, the great variation in root biomass among different forest types, little variation in root phosphorus concentrations, the slow recovery of root biomass after Hurricane Hugo, and the fact that most data on roots come from the wet tropical Luquillo Experimental Forest, causing other habitat types to be underrepresented. This review also shows the gaps in knowledge about fine roots in the island's ecosystems, which should be used to promote and guide future studies. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.
To satisfy a wide group of stakeholders across various wind energy disciplines, including but not limited to stakeholders in the distributed and utility scale wind industry, the new emerging airborne wind energy field, grid integration, power systems modeling, environmental modeling, and researchers in academia, and to close some of the gaps that current public datasets have, we aimed at developing an updated version of the meteorological WIND Toolkit, named WIND Toolkit Long-term Ensemble Dataset (WTK-LED), which is a meteorological dataset providing time series every 5 min and 2 km, including model uncertainty of wind speed at every modeling grid point so that users are provided with a range of possible wind speeds every 2 km. The data were produced using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). The vertical grid used in WTK-LED includes many vertical layers in the atmospheric boundary layer to provide information of atmospheric quantities across the rotor layer of utility scale and distributed wind turbines. The WTK-LED includes: 1) Numerical simulations covering the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii, with high-resolution data being available for 3 years (2018-2020). 2) Climate simulations from Argonne National Laboratories covering the North American continent, including Alaska, Canada, and most of Mexico and the Caribbean Islands. These simulations complement the new WTK-LED to offer a 4-km dataset covering 20 years, from 2001-2020. 3) Specific long-term,high-resolution offshore simulations have been conducted separately for the US coasts, Hawaii, and the Great Lakes, leading to the 2023 National Offshore Wind data set. This report focuses on a description of the land-based WTK-LED for CONUS, Hawaii, and Alaska, for the 3-year 2-km/5-min dataset and the 20-year 4-km/hourly dataset, as well as the uncertainty quantification method. We also provide limited validation results. Based on our results to date, we suggest use cases and applications for each dataset of the WTK-LED.
WIND Toolkit Long-term Ensemble Dataset (WTK-LED), an updated version of the meteorological WIND Toolkit, is a meteorological dataset providing high-resolution time series, including interannual variability and model uncertainty of wind speed at every modeling grid point to indicate ranges of possible wind speeds. The data were produced using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). The vertical grid used in WTK-LED includes many vertical layers in the atmospheric boundary layer to provide information of atmospheric quantities across the rotor layer of utility scale and distributed wind turbines. The WTK-LED includes: (1) Numerical simulations of wind speed and other meteorological variables covering the contiguous United States (CONUS) and Alaska, with high-resolution (5-minute [min], 2-kilometer [km]) data for 3 years (2018-2020): WTK-LED CONUS, WTK-LED Alaska. (2) Climate simulations from Argonne National Laboratory covering North America, including Alaska, Canada, and most of Mexico and the Caribbean islands. These simulations complement the new WTK-LED to offer a 4-km, hourly dataset covering 20 years (2001-2020): WTK-LED Climate. (3) Specific long-term, high-resolution offshore simulations have been conducted separately for the U.S. coasts, Hawaii, and the Great Lakes, leading to the 2023 National Offshore Wind dataset: NOW-23. The data for Hawaii include land-based data and are part of WTK-LED Hawaii. Because the accuracy of simulations from a mesoscale model, such as WRF, varies depending on the location and weather situation, and can reach up to several m/s for wind speed, we provide simulated wind speed uncertainty estimates to the community to be used in conjunction with the deterministic model simulations. This dataset was developed to satisfy a wide group of stakeholders across various wind energy disciplines, including but not limited to stakeholders in the distributed and utility scale wind industry, the new emerging airborne wind energy field, grid integration, power systems modeling, environmental modeling, and researchers in academia, and to close some of the gaps that current public datasets have. Based on our validation results to date, we suggest use cases and applications for each dataset of the WTK-LED as shown in "WTK-LED Use Cases" resource below.
Leptospirosis is one of the most common zoonotic diseases in the world and endemic in the Caribbean Islands. Bovine leptospirosis is an important reproductive disease. Globally, cattle are recognized as a reservoir host for L. borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo, which is transmitted via urine, semen, and uterine discharges, and can result in abortion and poor reproductive performance. The dairy industry in Puerto Rico comprises up to 25% of agriculture-related income and is historically the most financially important agricultural commodity on the island. In this study, we report the isolation of two different pathogenic Leptospira species, from two different serogroups, from urine samples collected from dairy cows in Puerto Rico: L. borgpetersenii serogroup Sejroe serovar Hardjo and L. santarosai serogroup Pyrogenes. Recovered isolates were classified using whole-genome sequencing, serotyping with reference antisera and monoclonal antibodies, and immunoblotting. These results demonstrate that dairy herds in Puerto Rico can be concurrently infected with more than one species and serovar of Leptospira, and that bacterin vaccines and serologic diagnostics should account for this when applying intervention and diagnostic strategies.
This document presents the modeling of load profile consumption for Low-and-Moderate-Income (LMI) communities in the Caribbean Islands, as well as an assessment of the solar-rooftop energy potential. In this work, real data, together with synthetic and electricity bill data, were collected to validate and improve the load profile models. The solar-rooftop energy potential was obtained through a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) software called the PVWatts calculator, and mathematical analysis. The analysis of rooftop solar energy potential was conducted to enable the minimum size of solar power systems to fit the energy demand in the community. The results obtained allow estimation of the capacity of the energy system for each house or an entire community.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), one of three sets of the Virgin Island territories in an archipelago making up the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of St Vincent and the Grenadines - islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of Antigua and Barbuda, an independent nation in the Leeward Islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Antigua and Barbuda's base residential utility rates are approximately $0.15 U.S. dollars (USD) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) plus a variable fuel charge.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy profile of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, encompasses 3 islands in the western Caribbean Sea. Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of Grenada—a small island nation consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands in the southeastern Caribbean Sea—three of which are inhabited: Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of Barbados, an independent nation in the Lesser Antilles island chain in the eastern Caribbean. Barbados' residential electricity rates are approximately $0.25 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of Haiti, an independent nation that occupies the western portion of the island of Hispaniola in the northern Caribbean Sea.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of Jamaica, an island nation located in the north Caribbean Sea. Jamaica has set a national target of producing 30% of the country's electricity from renewable energy by 2030.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) - St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. The Virgin Islands archipelago makes up the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles and the western island group of the Leeward Islands, forming the border between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of Trinidad and Tobago, a two-island nation located off the coast of Venezuela. Trinidad and Tobago's electricity rates are some of the lowest in the Caribbean at approximately $0.05 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), well below the regional average of $0.34/kWh.