288 The Environment
also administers the official time standard for Hong Kong, provides astronomical information, monitors earthquake and operates the tsunami warning system in Hong Kong.
Weather forecast service
The observatory issues a number of forecasts and warnings to the public, which includes mariners, the aviation community as well as special users such as transport operators and container terminals:
• Weather forecasts
Ultraviolet (UV) index
• Tropical cyclone warning
• Rainstorm warning
• Other hazardous weather warnings, such as thunderstorms, landslips, fire danger, strong monsoon, cold and very hot weather as well as frost.
Objective guidance for the issuance of rainstorm and landslip warnings is provided by a computer-based Nowcasting System developed in-house which automatically analyses radar and raingauge data and forecasts the rainfall distribution within the territory in the few hours that follow. Under the World Weather Research Programme of the World Meteorological Organisation, the system was selected as one of the very short range forecasting systems for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Forecast Demonstration Project. To support the 2008 Olympic equestrian event in Hong Kong, the observatory built and operates a measuring system to monitor a horse's heat stress.
The observatory's Airport Meteorological Office provides weather services at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and for the Hong Kong Flight Information Region. In 2007, it provided about 148 000 flight documents for aircraft departing from the HKIA, an increase of 4.2 per cent compared with 2006.
Weather information is disseminated through the media, the observatory's website and its automatic Dial-a-Weather System. The observatory's website continues to be one of the most popular government websites in 2007. Over 1 071 million page hits were recorded, representing an increase of about 17 per cent compared with 2006. The observatory's meteorologists also host regular TV and radio weather programmes and conduct media briefings during adverse weather.
Radiation measurement and assessment
The
Environmental Radiation Monitoring Programme operated by the observatory monitors the ambient radiation levels in Hong Kong and radioactivity in air, soil, water and food. In case of a nuclear emergency, the observatory will immediately step up radiation monitoring, assess the radiological consequences and provide technical advice to the relevant policy bureaux on the appropriate protective actions to take.