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THE ENVIRONMENT
the changing needs of the community. It now provides meteorological and other geophysi- cal information, issues forecasts, warning and weather advisories to meet the multifarious requirements of the public, shipping, aviation, industry, fishing, recreation, off-shore oil prospecting and other special users.
The observatory continues to operate the official time service for Hong Kong. It also maintains a comprehensive seismological monitoring network, monitors the level of radioactivity and provides services in the fields of hydrometeorology, climatology, astronomy, physical oceanography and air pollution meteorology.
The most important function remains the operation of weather forecasting services, tropical cyclone, flood and landslip warnings. The Central Forecasting Office issues weather forecasts and warnings to the mass media, ships at sea and fishermen and yachtsmen in coastal waters. Whenever Hong Kong is threatened by tropical cyclones, frequent warnings with advice on necessary precautions are issued and widely dissemi- nated. Other warnings include thunderstorms, flooding, landslip, storm surge, fire danger, strong monsoons and frost. Specialised weather services are provided to engineering contractors, public utility companies, public transport operators and other commercial enterprises. The scope of these services covers requirements for both the operations within and around the Hong Kong territory and offshore operations in the South China Sea.
During 1987, major efforts were directed to disseminate more effectively up-to-date weather information to the public, the media and other users. The dissemination of routine weather bulletins increased from eight to 24 times per day with emphasis on the description of weather systems that were affecting or would shortly affect Hong Kong.
Two special bulletins with copies of the latest satellite picture and weather chart as illustrations were prepared for the press each day. A regular weekly weather programme presented by a forecaster of the Royal Observatory was launched on one of the Chinese television channels to provide in-depth discussion of recent weather events. When war- ranted, live interviews and briefings were given by forecasters over radio and television. For members of the public requiring instant access to weather forecasts or tropical cyclone information, the observatory has implemented a dial-a-weather service. During the year, there were six Chinese and two English dial-a-weather lines in operation. On average 3 000 calls were handled daily, and up to 430 calls per hour at times. Tailor-made weather information for special users were supplied through teletype, telex or telefax. The Royal Observatory became one of the information providers to INFOTEX and INFOFAX, which effectively made available to telex and telefax terminal holders a large variety of routine weather information, including pictorial information such as the daily weather map. Plans were in hand to automate fully the dissemination of weather information, to ensure timeliness and efficiency through the various channels.
Weather Monitoring and Prediction
To provide the range of meteorological services, the Royal Observatory monitored local weather round the clock. Weather observers at the Royal Observatory Headquarters, Hong Kong International Airport and Cheung Chau kept a continuous watch on local conditions. Additional observations were made by the Marine Department at Waglan Island and Green Island, by the Royal Navy at Tai O and by the Royal Air Force at Sek Kong.
A network of automatic weather stations, designed and built by the observatory, telemetered weather data to the Central Forecasting Office in the observatory headquarters from Ta Kwu Ling, Lau Fau Shan, Tsing Yi and Sha Tin. The automatic weather station at