The Role of Climatology in the Hawaiian Sugar-Cane Industry: An Example of Applied Agricultural Climatology in the Tropics

Abstract

Climatological study in the Hawaiian sugarcane industry has a long, noteworthy history. Meteorological observations on the plantations were initiated in 1883, preceding the establishment of the first official weather bureau station in Hawaii by fully 20 years. The climatological network in the cane-growing areas expanded by leaps and bounds to 50 stations at the turn of the century, and to 500 stations in 1960 in an area of only 350 sq miles (Fig. 1).