The Environment 289
Climatological service
The observatory provides climatological information to meet the needs of users and activities ranging from recreation to engineering design, environmental impact analysis and litigation. It also carries out studies on climate change and the impact of weather and climate on health. The observatory contributed to and reviewed the 4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - one of the two laureates of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. The observatory issues annual outlooks on the rainfall and the number of tropical cyclones likely to affect Hong Kong, as well as seasonal forecasts on the temperature and the rainfall in Hong Kong.
Oceanographic service
The observatory produces an annual tide table for Hong Kong. It also provides assessments of the probabilities of occurrence of extreme storm surges and advice on oceanographic matters to other government departments and the engineering community.
Geophysical service
To monitor earthquake movements in the vicinity of Hong Kong, the observatory operates a network of eight short-period seismograph stations. Long-period seismographs at the observatory's headquarters detect tremors worldwide and information on significant tremors is made public through the media. In case of severe submarine earthquakes, a tsunami warning or bulletin, depending on the expected tsunami height, would be issued if necessary.
Official time standard
The Hong Kong Time Standard is provided by a caesium beam atomic clock, which is accurate to within fractions of a microsecond per day. The observatory contributes to the determination of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by supplying signals of its atomic clock to the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) in France. Time checking services are available to the public through the observatory's Dial-a-Weather System, the Internet and local radio stations. The Internet Network Time Service handled more than 453 million checks in 2007, a rise of 15 per cent compared with 2006.
Public education
To promote public education and awareness about hazardous weather and climate change, the observatory continues to run a programme of meteorological courses for members of the public and government personnel, exhibitions, scientific lectures, open days and guided tours of the observatory. An educational package on climate change for primary and secondary schools is also available to promote schoolchildren's awareness and understanding of the topic.
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290 The Environment