310 The Environment
The observatory plays an active role in fostering international co-operation to enhance weather services. The observatory launched a mobile application, 'MyWorldWeather' on behalf of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in 2011 to deliver the official weather forecasts of more than 1 500 cities worldwide.
The observatory also launched a WMO project for providing computer- generated city weather forecasts to developing countries in Asia. In collaboration with its counterparts in Guangdong and Macao, the observatory developed a 'Greater Pearl River Delta Weather' website to better serve users on the move in the region.
The observatory offered meteorological support to the 26th Summer Universiade, a university sporting event, held in Shenzhen. It also signed a co-operation agreement with the Shenzhen Meteorological Bureau to strengthen technical exchange in weather forecasting techniques, the first such meteorology agreement between Hong Kong and the Mainland.
The observatory provides the Hong Kong International Airport and the Hong Kong Flight Information Region with weather services. In 2011, it launched a website tailored for the aviation community to assist it in planning airport operations and reducing the risk of disruption due to weather conditions.
In 2011, the observatory collaborated with the Government Flying Service in deploying a fixed-wing aircraft to collect meteorological data for studying windshear and air turbulence and for the first time, for observing tropical cyclones.
Radiation Measurement and Assessment
The observatory monitors the ambient radiation level in Hong Kong as well as the amount of radioactivity in the environmental samples. In the unlikely event of a nuclear accident, it will step up radiation monitoring immediately, assess the radiological consequences with other concerned departments and provide advice to policy bureaux on the actions to take. The public will also be provided with relevant information on radiation and is kept abreast of the developments through various channels.
The observatory stepped up its monitoring of radioactivity in the air and collaborated with the Security Bureau and other organisations to keep Hong Kong fully informed about dangers, if any, caused by the strong earthquake that struck Fukushima in eastern Japan in March 2011.
Climate Service
The observatory provides a wide range of climatological information services to meet the needs of the general public and different sectors of society. It provides updates of climatic phenomena such as the El Nino, issues an annual outlook bulletin on rainfall and tropical cyclones, and predicts seasonal temperature and rainfall. It conducts research on past trends and future projections of temperature, rainfall, sea level and extreme conditions. In 2011, the observatory updated the 30-year climatological normals of Hong Kong from 1971-2000 to 1981-2010.
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