6
-
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1980
ROYAL OBSERVATORY ACQUIRES SATELLITE RECEIVING STATION
******
A NEW GEOSTATIONARY METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE RECEIVING STATION AT THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY HEADQUARTERS WAS OPENED TODAY (THURSDAY) BY MR CHEN SHOU-LUM, UNOFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
THE STATION IS PART OF THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY'S ON-GOING PROGRAMME TO IMPROVE HONG KONG'S WEATHER AND TYPHOON WARNING SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC.
IT WILL BE REGULARLY RECEIVING CLOUD IMAGERY INFORMATION FROM THE GEOSTATIONARY METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE (GMS) WHICH WAS LAUNCHED BY JAPAN IN JULY 1977.
THE JAPANESE WEATHER SATELLITE, NOW STATIONARY AT 35 800 KILOMETRES ABOVE THE EQUATOR AT LONGITUDE 140 DEGREE EAST, CONTINUOUSLY MONITORS THE WEATHER CONDITIONS OVER SOUTHEAST ASIA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN AND THE WESTERN PACIFIC AND TRANSMITS CLOUD PICTURES TO GROUND RECEIVING STATIONS EIGHT TIMES A DAY.
WITH THE SATELLITE INFORMATION RECEIVED BY THE NEW STATION THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY WILL BE ABLE TO FOLLOW IN DETAIL THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE WEATHER SYSTEMS AND THE FORMATION AND MOVEMENT OF TROPICAL CYCLONES AFFECTING HONG KONG.
THE MOST NOTABLE FEATURE OF THE RECEIVING EQUIPMENT IS A FIVE- METRE DIAMETER DISH-SHAPE ANTENNA ERECTED WITHIN THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY COMPOUND IN TSIM SHA TSUI. IN ADDITION, THERE IS A NETWORK OF RECEIVERS, DEDICATED MICRO-PROCESSORS, IMAGE PROCESSING AND DATA DISSEMINATING DEVICES.
THE EQUIPMENT RECEIVES CLOUD IMAGERY INFORMATION FROM THE SATELLITE AND REPRODUCES THE INFORMATION IN BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS. IT CAN ALSO DISPLAY THE INFORMATION ON A VIDEO COLOUR MONITOR.
ALSO A SEQUENCE OF CONSECUTIVE SATELLITE PICTURES CAN BE DISPLAYED IN AN ANIMATED FASHION ON A TELEVISION SCREEN FOR OBSERVING THE MOVEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF WEATHER SYSTEMS DURING THE PRECEDING 24 TO 48 HOURS. THIS PARTICULAR FACILITY IS EXTREMELY USEFUL FOR TRACKING TROPICAL CYCLONES. IT IS PLANNED THAT ANIMATED SATELLITE PICTURES WILL BE SUPPLIED TO THE SPACE MUSEUM FOR VIEWING BY THE PUBLIC.
SINCE THE EARLY 1960S, THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY HAS BEEN MONITORING WEATHER SATELLITE TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES POLAR ORBITING SATELLITES WHICH PROVIDE CLOUD PICTURES ONLY TWICE A DAY WHEN THEY PASS OVER HONG KONG. THE JAPANESE SATELLITE, BEING STATIONARY, PROVIDES MORE FREQUENT PICTURES.
ALTHOUGH THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY WAS AMONG THE FIRST FEW ORGANISATIONS IN THE WORLD TO RECEIVE SATELLITE PICTURES. PREVIOUS EQUIPMENT WAS MAINLY HOME MADE. THIS IS THE FIRST COMPLETE SATELLITE SYSTEM TO BE PURCHASED AND TOGETHER WITH ITS COMPUTER COST $1.9 MILL JON.
INDONESIA NOW OPERATES A SYSTEM BY THE SAME MANUFACTURER COSTING ABOUT TWICE AS MUCH, AS IT HAS THE ADDITIONAL FACILITY TO FOLLOW ORBITING SATELLITES. MALAYSIA WILL OPERATE A SIMILAR SYSTEM TO INDONESIA LATER THIS YEAR. OTHER METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES IN THE REGION INCLUDING THOSE IN TAIWAN AND THE PHILIPPINES ARE IN THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING SIMILAR ADVANCED EQUIPMENT.
17