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Introduction

        This information sheet highlights the activities of the Hong Kong Observatory in 2001 - 2002.

        The Observatory makes effective use of an internet website (http://www.hko.gov.hk) for dissemination of weather information to the public. The Observatory website is gaining popularity year by year. In 2002, about 150 million page visits were recorded during the first ten months, an 1.5-fold increase as compared to last year. The number of pages retrieved per day reached a record high of 4.3 million pages on 11 September 2002 during the passage of Severe Tropical Storm Hagupit.

        As part of the effort to provide timely information to the public in inclement weather, the Observatory arranges with local television and radio channels for a meteorologist to give hourly weather briefing when tropical cyclone warning signal No. 8 or above is issued.

        To promote public awareness and preparedness regarding natural disasters, the Observatory, in cooperation with Radio Television Hong Kong, produced a 6-part TV series on severe weather and precautionary measures for broadcasting on local television stations.

        The Observatory's three main objectives are: 

(1) to provide weather services to meet the public's demand for short to medium range forecasts and warnings of hazardous weather and to provide forecasts for international aviation and shipping in accordance with the safety standards of international organizations; 

(2) to provide information on local environmental radiation levels and effects and to advise the Government on countermeasures that may be necessary during nuclear emergencies; 

(3) to maintain the Hong Kong time standard and to provide geophysical and oceanographic information and consultative services to the public and private sectors. 

        The department's expenditure by programmes and revenue during the financial year 2001-2002 are shown in Figures 1 and 2 respectively. 

Figures 1. Expenditure by programmes

(i) Weather services
(ii) Radiation monitoring and assessment
(iii) Time standard and geophysical services

Figure 2. Revenue

(i) Forecasting service to Airport Authority
(ii) Forecasting service to industry and commerce
(iii) Supply of meteorological data
(iv) Sale of publications
(v) Miscellaneous receipts

WEATHER FORECASTING AND WARNING SERVICES

        In 2001, the Observatory's Dial-a-Weather service handled more than 23 million calls. In the same year, the Telephone Information Enquiry System, an interactive channel providing a variety of meteorological and geophysical information by phone and by fax, entertained more than one million requests. Information in both systems is disseminated in Chinese (Cantonese and Putonghua) and English.

        A full spectrum of information is available in the Observatory's website on the Internet. Apart from weather forecasts, the public could also have access to satellite pictures, 3D radar imageries, weather maps, weather information over various places in Hong Kong, tropical cyclone warnings for shipping, rainfall distribution maps, tropical cyclone tracks, Newsletters for the Friends of the Observatory, information on El Nino and the greenhouse effect, aviation weather information, environmental radiation monitoring information, etc. In 2002, the Observatory's website was enhanced with weather and climatological information for many cities around the world to facilitate travel planning by members of the public. Other new items launched on the website include: virtual exhibition hall, wind distribution and visibility information in Hong Kong, weather information for tourist attractions in Guangdong and rainfall in the province and its vicinity etc. A Simplified Chinese version of the website was also launched during the year.

        The Observatory has developed and operates two pilot websites for the World Meteorological Organization - World Weather Information Service (WWIS) and Severe Weather Information Centre (SWIC). The WWIS website provides official weather forecasts and climatological information for cities around the world while the SWIC website delivers tropical cyclone warnings and advisories in the western North Pacific and the South China Sea.

        The regular TV weather programmes presented by professional officers from the Observatory and broadcast by local TV stations offer detailed explanation of the current weather situation in simple terms. These weather programmes, including special media briefings during inclement weather, are produced in a studio at the Observatory. Some of the weather programmes are also put on the Observatory's website for viewing outside regular programme airtime.

        In 2002, Weather Service Officers of the Observatory began giving interviews on radio programmes over the telephone on weekdays to brief people on the latest weather situation before they set off for work or school.

        With the advancement of telecommunication technology in recent years, the century-old system of providing storm warning by hoisting visual signals has become obsolete. Over forty storm warning signal stations were progressively closed since the late 1970s. The last signal station in Hong Kong, on the island of Cheung Chau, was decommissioned on 1 January 2002.

        The number of members of the interest group "The Friends of the Observatory" has grown to more than 4300. Comments and ideas of members have been useful in identifying the needs of the public and helped to improve our service. Activities organized for the Friends of the Observatory include science lectures, visits to Observatory facilities and publication of newsletters.

        Two telephone opinion surveys are conducted every year to gauge public perception of the weather services provided by the Observatory. The latest results in 2002 indicated that 77% of the weather forecasts issued were regarded accurate. Also 61% of the respondents considered that the Observatory's weather forecast accuracy had improved compared with a few years ago. The overall services provided by the Observatory were rated 7.7 against a full mark of 10.

        Specialized weather services are provided to utility companies, public transport operators, engineering contractors and information provider on a cost-recovery basis. The number of users subscribing to such specialized services has increased to 48 in 2001.

        About 900 written requests for meteorological and climatological data were entertained in 2001-2002.

        The Doppler weather radar at Tai Mo Shan detects severe weather such as tropical cyclones, thunderstorms and heavy rain within some 500 kilometres of Hong Kong. In combination with the radar at Tate's Cairn, it enables the determination of winds at various heights above Hong Kong. Weather radar information is also available on the Internet for viewing by members of the public interested in the evolution of rain areas affecting Hong Kong.

        The satellite ground reception system of the Observatory receives cloud pictures from both the Japanese geostationary meteorological satellite and the Chinese Fengyun-2 geostationary satellite. These cloud pictures provide useful information on severe weather systems such as tropical cyclones, fronts, thunderstorms and heavy rain over Asia, the western Pacific and Indian Ocean. In 2001, the Observatory installed a ground reception system for receiving images from polar-orbiting weather satellites operated by China and the United States. These images are of higher resolution and usefully complement those from the geostationary satellites. Satellite images are accessible by the public through the internet from the Observatory's website. 

        During tropical cyclones and rainstorms, some advance indication of the issuance or cancellation of signals and warnings will be given to the public to the extent possible to let people take precautions against severe weather.

        To better forecast rainstorms forecasting, the Observatory operates a numerical weather prediction model with 20-km resolution. Running on a high-speed computer, the model produces short-term forecasts from a few hours to 2 days ahead once every 3 hours. To further strengthen this forecast capability, the Observatory has started trial runs of the next generation of numerical models for weather prediction. The Observatory also operates a nowcasting system which assimilates data from radars and automatic raingauges to provide rainfall forecast in the vicinity of Hong Kong up to three hours ahead. These forecast products provide useful indications to forecasters prior to the occurrence of heavy rain and landslip.

AVIATION WEATHER SERVICES

        The Observatory provides weather services for a designated airspace over the northern part of the South China Sea. In 2001, a total of 102229 flight documents were supplied, representing an increase of 8.7% over the previous year (Figure 3). In late 2002, the Observatory became one of the first weather services in the Asia and Pacific region to receive ISO 9001:2000 certification for the quality aviation weather service.

Figure 3. Number of meteorological flight documents issued annually from 1991 to 2001

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        The Observatory maintains a continuous watch on the weather in and around the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). The terminal Doppler weather radar (TDWR) at Tai Lam Chung enables close surveillance of severe weather approaching the airport and provides alerts of microbursts and other thunderstorm-related windshear. At the end of 2001, the Observatory completed a review of the windshear and turbulence alerting service at HKIA, implemented measures to further improve the service and achieved encouraging results. 

        In 2002, two weather buoys were installed to the west of the airport. Apart from providing useful weather information over the data-sparse waters, they enabled advance windshear warnings from such weather systems as sea breeze and gust fronts from that direction. To enhance the detection of windshear in fine weather, the Observatory placed order for a LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) to be installed at HKIA. The LIDAR will complement the TDWR, and together will provide comprehensive coverage of windshear detection under all weather conditions. 

        To provide information on windshear and turbulence and the alerting service at HKIA for reference by pilots, the Observatory published jointly with the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) a booklet entitled "Windshear and Turbulence in Hong Kong" in 2002. 

        The Observatory operates a web-based aviation weather information service to supply aviation users with flight documents, the latest weather forecast and warnings, and other relevant information. The service features over 200 products, about 40% of which was introduced in 2002 in response to user needs. The number of visits reached 3.2 millions in 2001. 

        The Observatory maintains close contact with airline operators and aviation users through regular meetings of a liaison group on aviation weather service. A user survey is conducted every year, and a newsletter on the latest development in aviation weather service is published on a regular basis.

MARINE METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES

        Marine meteorological services provided by the Observatory are vital to the safety of the shipping, fishing and yachting communities. Weather forecasts and warnings are issued routinely for 10 shipping areas in the South China Sea and seven fishing areas along the south China coast.

        Staff of the Port Meteorological Office visits Voluntary Observing Ships calling at Hong Kong and provides them with meteorological equipment and publications for making weather observations at sea. The number of Voluntary Observing Ships stood at 67 at the end of 2001.

        Since 1989 the Observatory has been conducting annual surveys to gauge feedback from the shipping community on its marine meteorological services. Newsletters for Voluntary Observing Ships are issued annually to address concerns raised and to provide information on services.

        Since 1993 ships equipped with INMARSAT facilities could receive forecasts and warnings issued by Hong Kong as part of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). The facilities were also used by ships to send weather observations to the Observatory directly or through Singapore. 

RADIATION MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT

        The Environmental Radiation Monitoring Programme entered its fifteenth year of operation. In 2001, 400 samples of air, water, soil and foodstuff were collected and some one thousand measurements of alpha, beta and gamma radiation levels were made. There was no observable increase in the amount of artificial radioactivity in the samples collected compared with those obtained prior to the commencement of operation of the Guangdong Nuclear Power Station at Daya Bay in 1994.

        The Observatory continued to operate a 10-station Radiation Monitoring Network to collect data on ambient gamma radiation levels. These data were transmitted in real-time to the Observatory. Averages of outdoor radiation levels over a 24-hour period at various locations in Hong Kong were provided to the public on a daily basis through the Internet and the media. Detailed information on these radiation levels was given in monthly bulletins and annual reports.

        Equipment installed for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Water Supplies Department to monitor radiation levels in food and water were maintained by the Observatory and kept under good working condition.

        In 2001, the Observatory continued to operate an Aerial Monitoring System to monitor radiation levels in Hong Kong.

IN-HOUSE AND OVERSEAS TRAINING

        As an important component of human resource development in the Hong Kong Observatory, professional and continual training scales new heights in 2001/2002. Besides conventional classroom training, the Observatory actively pursued training in the form of e-learning. One of the highlights is the development of a web-based "Cyber Learning Centre" which provides a wide variety of web learning packages on different subject areas with a view to nurturing life-long learning culture among staff in the department. In addition, the interactive e-learning facility the "Simulated Forecasting Office", continued to be a useful training facility for forecasters to practice and enhance their forecasting skills. Officers were also sent to institutions in the mainland and overseas to acquire new technology and improve their professional competence. Major training topics covered in the year include short-range climate forecasting, numerical weather prediction, tropical cyclone, satellite application, digital seismogram analysis, etc., in addition to basic meteorological professional training for new staff.

        The Observatory actively contributes to the advancement of world-wide meteorological operation by offering training courses and scholarships to meteorological personnel from members of the World Meteorological Organization. In 2001, five overseas students received training on automated weather observing systems provided by the Observatory. 

TIME STANDARD AND GEOPHYSICAL SERVICES

        The Observatory is responsible for maintaining the Hong Kong time standard. A calibrated Caesium beam atomic clock was used to ensure adherence to accuracy within fractions of a microsecond per day. Time checking services are provided through the internet, the Telephone Information Enquiry System and local radio stations. Through the internet the public can synchronize the clocks of their personal computers with the Observatory's atomic clock. The internet time checking service registered over 127 million hits in 2001.

        Round-the-clock monitoring of local and distant earthquakes continued. Seismological information collected are analyzed and disseminated to overseas earthquake monitoring centres and to the public.

        Data collected from a network of tide gauges in Hong Kong are used for tidal prediction, preparation of tide tables and operational advisory of sea flooding during the passage of tropical cyclones.

        As a member of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Observatory contributes to international scientific programmes on climate change. Since October 1993 measurement of ozone profiles in the upper atmosphere is regularly made to support WMO's Global Atmospheric Watch Programme.

        The Observatory provides an advisory service on the UV Index for the public. The latest UV Index is provided through the Internet, the Observatory's Dial-a-Weather service as well as local radio and TV stations.

        In March 2002, the Observatory issued an experimental forecast on the total rainfall and the number of tropical cyclones expected to affect Hong Kong in the year, as part of a pilot study on short-range climate forecast. The pilot study, itself was completed in December 2002, has demonstrated that some skills which exists in the techniques developed to forecast the annual rainfall and the number of tropical cyclones affecting Hong Kong in a year.

OUTLOOK FOR 2002-2003

        The Observatory will initiate procurement of satellite ground reception equipment to receive weather information from the Japanese next-generation multi-purpose transport satellite.

        In respect of development of its aviation weather service, the Observatory will conduct on-going trials on meteorological information exchange through the new Communication, Navigation and Surveillance / Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) systems under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

        To facilitate the public's access to the latest weather information, the Observatory will roll out a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) version of its website in 2003.

        The Observatory will assist the Security Bureau to produce a webpage and a short video programme to promote public awareness and understanding of the Daya Bay Contingency plan.