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Forecasters at the Airport Meteorological office keep acontinuous watch for weather which may affect flights, andissue warnings of tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, icing orsevere turbulence.An experimental wind shear warning system using datarecorded by five anemometers near the airport provideseffective warning of low-level wind shear, which can affectaircraft during takeoff or landing. The Royal Observatoryalso has a Doppler acoustic radar installation, with threeacoustic radars pointing in different directions. This measureshorizontal and vertical winds at various heights andcontributes to aircraft safety.Air temperature affects aircraft, particularly duringtakeoff. Whenever there is a marked temperature inversionof more than 5°C from the surface to a height of 300 metres,a special warning is issued.Weather for shipping:One of the primary functions of the Royal Observatoryis to provide weather services for ships at sea or in port.The Observatory's bulletins contain a synopsis of significantweather features over the western North Pacific west of140 degrees east and the China Seas, warnings of windsof gale force or above, 24-hour forecasts for 17 marineareas, weather reports from land stations and ships and acoded analysis of the synoptic situation in the westernNorth Pacific west of 150 degrees east and the China Seas.These bulletins are broadcast in Morse code three time aday.When there is a tropical cyclone within the area boundedby the latitudes of 10 degrees north and 30 degrees north andlongitudes 105 degrees east and 125 degrees east, warningbulletins are issued every three hours.When a tropical cyclone is within about 400 nauticalmiles of Hong Kong and may later affect the territory,warnings are issued for ships in Hong Kong and visualwarning signals are displayed.109
The marine meteorology section of the Royal Observatoryrecruits voluntary weather observing ships and providesequipment for their reports. The Observatorymaintains contact with the crews of many ships which callregularly at Hong Kong, and the information they provideis valuable in compiling forecasts.One good example of this cooperative volunteer workoccurred in 1953. In May of that year, volunteerObservatory staff began observations from the Indo-ChinaSteam Navigation Company's S.S. Hing Sang, plyingbetween Hong Kong and British North Borneo. Theysigned on as supernumeraries at a token payment.After two voyages, Observatory staff could no longerbe spared for such work, so Captain George Edwards andhis officers volunteered to take over. They made regularobservations of winds up to 25 000 feet and in December1953 they tracked a balloon to 72 000 feet, following theflight by theodolite and taking readings each minute fornearly two hours.In a broader area of weather services for shipping, theObservatory is closely involved in an international programmeof marine climatology.Hong Kong's role in this field follows a decision of theWorld Meteorological Organisation in 1963 to providemarine climatological summaries. The world was dividedinto areas of responsibility, with Hong Kong as the'responsible member* in charge of collecting and processingweather reports from ships in the South China Sea.The first marine climatological summary for the SouthChina Sea (for 1964), published in 1970, was the first of itskind in the world. Summaries for 1961-70 are now available.In the process of producing these summaries, theObservatory has accumulated a large number of weatherreports from the South China Sea. Since 1979, specialanalyses of climatological conditions have been prepared tomeet the needs of off-shore operations along the SouthChina coast.110
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UNIVERSITY OFHQ,NG KONG>**"/////»I
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The Royal Observatory, Hong KongJIM
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The effect of climate on human cond
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IntroductionIifc on earth is possib
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Theories had been developed: as ear
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Then came another important scienti
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thirty feet high, huge grotesque lo
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Ancient Chinese astronomical instru
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Chapter 1KSJSJOJ/ do think that, of
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work of the observatory made no pro
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its physical observations of the ph
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period. The main building was recta
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on metal pipe frames, were too ligh
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Blackhead's Hill (Signal Hill) and
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many previous storms when the wind
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coast ports and the police in fact
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European assistants, at least one o
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... Mr. da Silva has resigned. . .
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few minutes' warning of one of the
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water height by up to several metre
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I he early European traders, mercha
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the sun's rays in tropical climates
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coast; trees are broken or rooted u
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Professor S. Wells Williams, anothe
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We had a striking example in Hong K
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Hong Kong lies just within the trop
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Chapter 3OFCOTWETSEverybody talks a
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The sun's disc had a diameter on th
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Such detailed rules failed to impre
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the periods before winter droughts
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crossed into Hong Kong, followed by
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inlet of Tola Harbour in the New Te
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The war in Europe had spurred the d
Page 76: Inset: The backs of these cigarette
Page 79 and 80: It 8 am on 8 December 1941, 12 Japa
Page 81 and 82: The records are all in pencil, neat
Page 83 and 84: The civil staff was soon put to the
Page 85 and 86: The department is in fact primarily
Page 87 and 88: temperature down to 3J°C at the Ob
Page 89 and 90: moving directly towards Hong Kong,
Page 91 and 92: If the weather in 1965 was comparat
Page 93 and 94: since Typhoon Shirley in 1968. It h
Page 95 and 96: Radar observations early on 26 July
Page 97 and 98: almost as accurately as from a reco
Page 99 and 100: Waves smash over the praya at Kenne
Page 101 and 102: Chapter 5CLICKINGCCFTHEAt the prese
Page 103 and 104: November and December are normally
Page 105 and 106: move them a substantial distance in
Page 107 and 108: .. . wind blowing through the long
Page 109 and 110: for a series of fine weather and ca
Page 111 and 112: The typhoon of Saturday September 2
Page 113 and 114: Above: How the 1874 typhoon destroy
Page 115 and 116: Above: Aftermath of the 1923 blow w
Page 117 and 118: its of storm water which could be s
Page 119 and 120: he splitting of time into microscop
Page 121 and 122: The Third Congress of the World Met
Page 123 and 124: small craft. It includes 24-hour ar
Page 125: much of the Observatory's work invo
Page 129 and 130: The water shortage having become ve
Page 131 and 132: The signal was received by a helica
Page 133 and 134: The shock occurring yesterday after
Page 135 and 136: The Royal Observatory is part of tw
Page 137 and 138: acquired its own radar, which was u
Page 139 and 140: grass. Soil temperatures are read f
Page 141 and 142: * Vertical section through the atmo
Page 143: of Mineral Resources recommended a
Page 148: Much of Hong Kong's population live
Page 153 and 154: BibliographyABEL, Clarke, Narrative
Page 155 and 156: IndexAbel, Clarkevisit to Hong Kong
Page 157 and 158: Macdonnell, Governor Sir Richard, 2
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