TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1982
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HONG KONG IN TYPHOON OPERATIONAL EXPERIMENT
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THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY IS PARTICIPATING IN A TYPHOON OPERATIONAL EXPERIMENT (TOPEX) IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIA AND PACIFIC AREA.
THE FIRST OPERATIONAL EXPERIMENT OF TOPEX WILL BE IMPLEMENTED FROM AUGUST 1 TO OCTOBER 15, 1982 AND A SCIENTIFIC OFFICER OF THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY HONG KONG HAS BEEN SENT TO TOKYO TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EXPERIMENT.
EACH YEAR ABOUT THIRTY TROPICAL CYCLONES DEVELOP IN THE NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC AND ABOUT HALF OF THEM INTENSIFY INTO TYPHOONS. THESE TYPHOONS CAN CAUSE HEAVY LOSSES BOTH IN LIFE AND PROPERTY. IN 1979 FOR EXAMPLE TWENTY-TWO TROPICAL CYCLONES IN THE PHILIPPINES CAUSED 137 DEATHS, 73 PEOPLE INJURED AND A TOTAL DAMAGE EQUIVALENT TO 280 MILLION HONG KONG DOLLARS WHILE IN JAPAN THREE TROPICAL CYCLONES RESULTED IN 131 PEOPLE DEAD OR MISSING AND DAMAGE AMOUNTING TO 7 700 MILLION HONG KONG DOLLARS.
IN THE SAME YEAR IN HONG KONG 12 PEOPLE WERE KILLED DURING TYPHOON HOPE AND THE COST OF DAMAGE WAS IN EXCESS OF 17 MILLION HONG KONG DOLLARS.
IN ORDER TO MITIGATE THESE LOSSES, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC (ESCAP) AND THE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATION (WMO) HAVE LAUNCHED THE TYPHOON OPERATIONAL EXPERIMENT FOR 1982 AND 1983. WMO MEMBERS PARTICIPATING IN THIS EXPERIMENT INCLUDE CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, MALAYSIA, PHILIPPINES, REPUBLIC OF KOREA, THAILAND AND VIETNAM.
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DURING THE EXPERIMENT, AN EXPERIMENT SUB-CENTRE (ESC) WILL BE SET UP BY EACH PARTICIPATING MEMBER, IN ADDITION, AN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENT CENTRE (IEC) WILL BE ORGANISED IN TOKYO BY SCIENTISTS SECONDED FROM THESE COUNTRIES OR TERRITORIES.
TESTS ON THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS FOR TYPHOON ANALYSIS, FORECASTING AND WARNING IN THE REGIONS WILL BE CONDUCTED AT THE IEC AS WELL AS THE ESCS DURING ACTUAL TYPHOON CONDITIONS TO IDENTIFY DEFICIENCIES IN THESE SYSTEMS AND IMPROVE THE CAPABILITIES OF COUNTRIES IN THE REGION.
MORE OBSERVATIONAL DATA WILL ALSO BE COLLECTED TO STUDY THE GENERATION, DEVELOPMENT AND DECAY OF TYPHOONS IN THE AREA,
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