EARLY DETECTION OF THE START OF THE WET SEASON IN TROPICAL CLIMATES

In many tropical and sub-tropical climates the year is divided into well-defined wet and dry seasons. To maximize agricultural production it is important that crops are planted as early as possible in a wet season, but deciding exactly when the wet season has started may be a problem. A decision can be made on the basis of previous years' data, or we may try to incorporate information from the current season. The latter approach is discussed in the present paper, and shown to be potentially of greater value than relying solely on historical data.