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THE ENVIRONMENT
Foundation for a joint project by the University of Hong Kong and the Royal Ob- servatory.
The observatory answers requests for climatological and meteorological in- formation from various government departments, firms and the general public, and issues certificates for litigation purposes and for insurance claims. The department also acts in an advisory capacity in the planning of many projects in the territory that may be affected by meteorological conditions. Many investigations are concerned with the meteorological aspects of development projects which are potential sources of pollution. Technical papers are published on various aspects of the weather of Hong Kong and on a wide variety of geophysical subjects.
Considerable effort has been made to computerise several of the department's operations this year. From January 1, 1974, all incoming meteorological messages were decoded by the computer on an operational basis and useful data was processed and archived on magnetic tapes for subsequent analyses. Charts displaying observa- tions of selected meteorological elements and their derived parameters were produced for use by forecasters at the Central Forecasting Office. With the installation of a new computer in June, meteorological messages were accepted directly from tele- communication circuits and automatically transferred to another computer for processing. During the year, statistical computations were carried out in the produc- tion of long-range rainfall forecasts for the summer months and in the preparation of various forecasting aids.
To make it easier to store and retrieve the vast amount of meteorological charts and records at the Royal Observatory, a microfilm unit was established in 1973 for transferring data onto either 35 mm aperture cards or 16 mm roll film. Readers and reader-printers have been employed to study the records.
Installation of Runway Visual Range (RVR) measuring equipment at Hong Kong International Airport was completed on June 1, 1974. Three sets of trans- missometers were installed along the south-west side of the runway. Electronic equipment in the airport meteorological office converts the signals from the trans- missometers into RVR readings which are displayed in digital form at approach control, at the precision approach radar position, at the aerodrome control and at the meteorological office briefing counter.
The Committee for Scientific Co-ordination, chaired by the Director of the Royal Observatory, was established in 1962 to advise the government on scientific and tech- nological matters and policies and to co-ordinate scientific activities in Hong Kong. A Scientific Directory of Hong Kong 1974 was compiled in August. The prime purpose of the publication was to provide information on the scientific and technological potential in Hong Kong and to enable individuals and organisations overseas to survey the local scientific scene or to contact scientists working on specific problems.
Research
Apart from carrying out numerous investigations and basic research in applied meteorology and geophysics, a considerable effort was devoted to meet the demand