CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
which is described in detail in Chapter III (paragraphs 32
to 34 ). The loss of the major civil ports in Cyprus and the lack
of alternative port facilities made it necessary to ship all Service
sea freight in Service Landing Ships Logistics (LSLs) unloading
directly into the Sovereign Base Areas.
53.
METEOROLOGY
Meteorological teams on board the hydrographic survey ship
HMS Hecla and two specially chartered ships took part in a major
international experiment (GATE) to study weather systems in the
tropical Atlantic. The Hercules aircraft of the Meteorological
Research Flight, with its wide range of instruments, also played
an outstanding role in collecting observations. A small team of
meteorologists at Bracknell is collecting, co-ordinating and
analysing the data relevant to larger-scale weather systems and is
carrying out numerical calculations to study the predictability
of tropical weather patterns.
54. Preparations for establishing a European Centre for medium-
range weather forecasts at Bracknell have begun. The Centre, which
is a joint venture with a number of European countries, will
undertake intensive research into the dynamics of the atmosphere
and into techniques of preparing, by numerical methods, weather
forecasts for four to ten days ahead. It will ultimately issue
these forecasts for use by meteorological services throughout Europe:
and is expected to acquire its own computing facilities in due
course.
VI-17
CONFIDENT I AL
CONFIDENTIAL