XN000022-1984-11-26 — Page 4

3.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1984

POLLUTION EFFECT ON VISIBILITY BEING STUDIED

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THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY IS STUDYING THE EFFECT OF AIR POLLUTANTS ON VISIBILITY IN HONG KONG.

AROUND THE WORLD REDUCED VISIBILITY IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTANTS. IT AFFECTS THE ENVIRONMENT AND MAY EVEN INTERFERE WITH AVIATION.

+DURING RECENT YEARS IN HONG KONG, INDUSTRIALISATION AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT HAVE MADE A CERTAIN IMPACT ON THE VISIBILITY IN OUR ENVIRONMENT,+ SAID MRS ELAINE KOO, SENIOR SCIENTIFIC OFFICER IN CHARGE OF THE OBSERVATORY'S AIR POLLUTION METEOROLOGY RESEARCH UNIT.

+VISIBILITY IS MAINLY AFFECTED BY METEOROLOGICAL FACTORS, AND THE CHARACTERISTICS AND AMOUNT OF POLLUTANTS IN THE AIR. UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, VISIBILITY SHOWS STRONG GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS IN HONG KONG, SHE ADDED.

FOR EXAMPLE, VERY OFTEN IN VICTORIA HARBOUR, THE SAME HAZE PERSISTING FOR A FEW DAYS IN THE SUMMER MAY NOT BE OBSERVED IN OTHER PARTS OF HONG KONG.

THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY HAS MADE CONTINUOUS OBSERVATIONS OF VISIBILITY SINCE THE 1940'S.

TO DETERMINE THE LONG-TERM TREND, THE PRESENT STUDY IS BASED ON A COMPREHENSIVE SET OF DATA COLLECTED BY FOUR METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS FROM 1968 TO 1982.

EXPLAINING HOW THE ANALYSIS IS DONE, MRS KOO SAID, +AFTER ALLOWING FOR NATURAL FACTORS LIKE PRECIPITATION, FOG, MIST AND HIGH HUMIDITY, THE RESULTING TREND WOULD REFLECT THE IMPACT OF LOCAL AIR POLLUTION SOURCES AND TO A LESSER EXTENT, ANY LONG-RANGE TRANSPORT EFFECTS.+

A REPORT ON THE STUDY WILL BE MADE WHEN THE RESEARCH IS COMPLETED AT THE END OF THIS YEAR.

MRS KOO SAID AN ANALYSIS OF AIRBORNE PARTICLES AND GASEOUS POLLUTANTS TRANSPORTED ACROSS LONG DISTANCES WAS ALSO BEING CONDUCTED IN CO-OPERATION WITH AN OVERSEAS SCIENTIFIC ORGANISATION.

EXTENSIVE METEOROLOGICAL DATA COLLECTED IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE FROM 1979 TO 1980 ARE BEING ANALYSED TO TRACE THE ORIGINS OF AIR MASSES ARRIVING IN HONG KONG,

AN AIR POLLUTION DISPERSION STUDY FOR JUNK BAY WAS COMPLETED EARLY THIS YEAR. MRS KOO SAID THE FINAL REPORT ON THIS 12-MONTH SURVEY AND ANALYSIS HAD BEEN SUBMITTED TO THE JUNK BAY DEVELOPMENT OFFICE FOR CONSIDERATION.

/THE REPORT