XN000022-1990-02-06 — Page 12

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1990

THE METEOROLOGICAL TELECOMMUNICATION LINK BETWEEN HONG KONG AND PEKING WAS FIRST SET UP IN DECEMBER 1975 AND HAS A SPEED OF 75 BITS PER SECOND ONLY.

OVER THE YEARS, THE VOLUME OF METEOROLOGICAL DATA EXCHANGED OVER THE CIRCUIT HAS INCREASED MANIFOLD AND BOTH SIDES RECOGNISE THAT THE LOW SPEED CIRCUIT IS NO LONGER ABLE TO COPE WITH OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS.

FOLLOWING THE SIGNING OF THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING, ACTIONS WILL FOLLOW IMMEDIATELY TO ESTABLISH A CIRCUIT WITH A HIGHER SPEED OF 9,600 BITS PER SECOND BETWEEN BEIJING METEOROLOGICAL CENTRE AND THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY, HONG KONG, VIA CANTON.

IN ADDITION TO THE BENEFIT OF FASTER EXCHANGE OF CONVENTIONAL DATA, THE UPGRADED CIRCUIT WILL ALLOW THE EXCHANGE OF NEW CLASSES OF METEOROLOGICAL DATA.

FIRSTLY, INFORMATION ON RAINFALL DISTRIBUTION COLLECTED BY METEOROLOGICAL RADARS IN CANTON AND HONG KONG WILL BE EXCHANGED. THIS WILL EXTEND THE RANGE OF SURVEILLANCE FOR BOTH METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES IN CANTON AND HONG KONG.

FOR HONG KONG, THIS ARRANGEMENT WILL BE PARTICULARLY USEFUL FOR THE ADVANCE DETECTION OF SEVERE SPRING-TIME THUNDERSTORMS WHICH TYPICALLY COME FROM THE NORTHWEST,

AS FOR CANTON, MORE INFORMATION CONCERNING HEAVY RAIN AND TYPHOONS COMING IN FROM THE SOUTH CHINA SEA COULD BE OBTAINED THROUGH THIS CIRCUIT. IT WILL ALSO PROVIDE A BACK-UP FACILITY IN CASE THE RADAR ON ONE SIDE FAILS.

SECONDLY, FACSIMILE WEATHER CHARTS WILL BE EXCHANGED OVER THE CIRCUIT. CURRENTLY, WEATHER CHARTS SUPPLIED TO LONG-HAUL FLIGHTS LEAVING HONG KONG FOR DESTINATIONS SUCH AS LONDON OR FRANKFURT ARE OBTAINED BY THE RECEPTION OF RADIO BROADCASTS WHICH IS NOT A FULLY RELIABLE MEANS.

THE UPGRADING OF THE HONG KONG-PEKING CIRCUIT WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO THE SUPPLY OF HIGH QUALITY WEATHER CHARTS FOR THESE LONG-HAUL FLIGHTS, THUS CONTRIBUTING TO EFFICIENCY IN FLIGHT OPERATIONS AND PASSENGER SAFETY AND COMFORT.

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