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Hong Kong Observatory 2019

INTRODUCTION

The three main objectives of the Hong Kong Observatory (the Observatory) are:

(1) to provide weather forecasts and warnings to meet the public’s demand for weather services, and to provide weather services for aviation and shipping in accordance with international standards;

(2) to monitor local environmental radiation levels and impacts, and to advise the Government on counter-measures that may be necessary during nuclear emergencies;

(3) to maintain the Hong Kong time standard and to provide geophysical, oceanographic, astronomical and climatological information and consultative services to the public and business sectors.

During the financial year 2019-20, the department’s total expenditure was $378.4 million and the total revenue was $124.6 million. By the end of the financial year, there were altogether 323 civil servants, 21 non-civil service contract staff and 38 T-contract staff working in the department.

The Year’s Weather

The year 2019 was the warmest in Hong Kong since records began in 1884, with the annual mean temperature reaching 24.5 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees above normal. The annual mean maximum temperature of 27.1 degrees Celsius and annual mean minimum temperature of 22.6 degrees Celsius were also the highest on record while the annual total rainfall of 2,396.2 millimetres was near the normal level.

There were 46 Hot Nights and 33 Very Hot Days

in Hong Kong in 2019, ranking the highest and one of the fourth highest on record respectively. For low temperatures, there was only one Cold Day in the year, which is 16.1 days less than the 1981-2010 normal and the fewest annual number of Cold Days since 1884. The lowest temperature recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory in the year was 11.4 degrees on 1 January, the highest annual absolute minimum temperature on record.

Long-term time series of annual mean temperature in Hong Kong (1885-2019)

Five tropical cyclones affected the territory in 2019. The No 8 Gale or Storm Signal was issued during the passage of Tropical Storm Wipha, the highest tropical cyclone warning signal issued in 2019.

WEATHER SERVICES

The Observatory provides weather forecasts and warnings to the public, special users, the shipping and aviation communities to reduce loss of life and damage to property, and to minimise disruption to economic and social activities during hazardous weather.

In 2019, the Observatory fulfilled its performance pledge of issuing at least one weather bulletin every hour of the day, disseminating 100% of the bulletins within 10 minutes after each hour,

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and attained a forecast accuracy (as verified by objective means) of 90%.

Weather information was enhanced in 2019-20 to meet the needs of the public through:

• Revamping the design of the HKO website to better support mobile users and improve user experience;

The new HKO website with responsive web design

• Enriching the regional weather information provided on the HKO website by featuring real-time wind information at North Point, Central Pier and Lamma Island as well as temperature information at Tai Lung;

HKO's Tai Lung Automatic Weather Station inside the Tai Lung Experimental Station in Sheung Shui

• Enriching the interactive webpage Earth Weather with more weather information, including tropical cyclone forecast track and sea wave and swell forecast;

The forecast track of Mangkhut is displayed using animation.

• Enriching the extended weather outlook service on the HKO website by adding probability forecast of mean-sea-level pressure;

Pressure probability forecast chart associated with the intense cold surge in January 2016

• Enriching the HKO mobile weather application “MyObservatory” with Earth Weather, location-specific heavy rain information, lightning nowcast and the trial version of the “Dr Tin” chatbot; and

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“MyObservatory” provides “Location-based Rain and Lightning Forecast”.

Trial version of “Dr Tin” chatbot on the Chinese version of “MyObservatory”

• Launching location-specific meteorologicalinformation for hikers jointly with theAgriculture, Fisheries and ConservationDepartment.

Scanning QR code on information board of country parks to obtain the weather forecast for nearby hiking routes

In 2019, total number of page views of the Observatory’s website and mobile weather application “MyObservatory” reached a record high of about 187 billion. Users can receive weather warnings and news through the Observatory’s Facebook, Twitter, Weibo and WeChat. HKO’s YouTube channel accumulated over 4.4 million views. PC users can install the “Weather Wizard” desktop application to obtain the latest weather information. A personalised website that allows users to customise the information they receive is also available. The Dial-a-Weather service (187 8200) handled a total of 6.3 million calls during the year.

Professional meteorologists of the Observatory produced and hosted television weather programmes for broadcast through major television channels in the morning and evening. The broadcast of weather program and a weekly educational feature “Cool Met Stuff” continued on television, YouTube, Facebook and the “MyObservatory” mobile application.

During the year, the Observatory continued to enhance communication and engagement with the public through social media, including crowdsourcing materials from the public for preparing social media contents. HKO’s Facebook page and Instagram account attracted around 180,000 and 23,000 followers respectively as at end-2019.

In 2019, a total of 64 government bureaux, departments and related organisations subscribed to the services of the Observatory through the Government Weather Information Server (GOWISE). Specialised weather services were also provided to utility companies, public transport operators, engineering contractors and information providers on a cost-recovery basis. A total of 109 clients subscribed to the Observatory’s specialised services in 2019, generating a revenue of about $0.7 million.

The Observatory maintains a close surveillance of the weather at and around the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and provides the aviation community with the weather information needed for its operations. “MyFlightWx”, a mobile application developed by the Observatory to offer flight crew the latest inflight weather information electronically, was put into operation by two local airlines in 2019 after obtaining approval from the Civil Aviation Department.

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Mobile application “MyFlightWx” has officially commenced operation in flights on two local airlines.

To further enhance flight safety, the Observatory commenced the operational alert of building-induced turbulence at HKIA using a short-range Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system with finer and more frequent scans.

The short-range LIDAR installed by the Observatory close to the North Runway of the Hong Kong International Airport

The Observatory issues forecasts of wind, weather, waves and swells for the marine community and container terminals. During the year, the Observatory launched a new “MyOceanWx Automatic Sea State Forecast” webpage to provide detailed four-day forecast of the wave and swell conditions over the South China Sea, western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Warnings were disseminated when tropical cyclones cause storm surges. In an ongoing collaboration with the Government Flying Service, a meteorological dropsonde system collected meteorological profile data over the South China Sea when conditions allowed, to strengthen the analysis and forecasting of tropical cyclones. During the year, the Observatory also deployed drifting buoys in the South China Sea and western North Pacific to enhance ocean observation.

“MyOceanWx – Automatic Sea State Forecast” webpage

Following the passage of Super Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, the Observatory provided meteorological support in the Government’s review of handling super typhoon co-ordinated by the Security Bureau to facilitate the formulation of the work arrangements under “extreme conditions” after cancellation of Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 for super typhoons. The Observatory also enhanced the mobile application “MyObservatory” to relay urgent and important government messages for extreme conditions in relation to super typhoons. The Observatory conducted studies on topics related to tropical cyclone activities and extreme weather events as well, including the assessment of damages and direct economic losses related to Super Typhoons Hato and Mangkhut.

Local, Regional and International Collaborations

The Observatory established the following local, regional and international collaborations in 2019:

• Launched the weather website for Greater Bay Area in collaboration with meteorological services in Guangdong and Macao to provide weather forecast and warning information for more than 60 regions in 11 cities within the Greater Bay Area;

Weather Website for Greater Bay Area

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• Collaborated with a local airline for real-time downlink of turbulence data from its B777 aircrafts;

• Recruited more ships to join the Hong Kong Voluntary Observing Ships Scheme; and

• As a Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre for Nowcasting designated by the World Meteorological Organization, shared its in-house developed severe weather nowcasting software, named Short-range Warning of Intense Rainstorms in Localized Systems (SWIRLS), with overseas weather services to foster the development and enhancement of forecast and warning services related to high-impact weather.

Public Education

The Observatory promoted awareness of hazardous weather, the impacts of climate change and the Observatory’s services through public education.

To raise the public awareness of disaster prevention, the Observatory launched a new set of TV and radio clips on storm surges in 2019, and enriched the content of the “Tidal Information” webpage on the HKO website with information on extreme water levels recorded during past extreme storm surge events.

The Observatory launched new TV clips on storm surge threats. It adopted a combination of cartoon animation and live action in its production, with the Observatory’s mascot, Dr. Tin, making his first debut.

To promote public understanding and awareness of climate change and its impacts, the Observatory released a new theme song on climate change, “Climate and Life”, jointly produced with a local singer, and created a music video. The Observatory also conducted school talks on climate change and published articles and the latest

international research findings of global climate change on its website.

The Observatory released the new song “Climate and Life” on the theme of climate change.

The Observatory worked with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department during the year to publish a book titled “Climate Change and Biodiversity in Hong Kong” and collaborated with the Ho Koon Nature Education cum Astronomical Centre to produce a curriculum-based climate change education package for secondary schools. The Observatory jointly hosted several stakeholder engagement forums on climate change in cooperation with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. The Observatory also participated as a collaborating partner in the COPE project, an international collaborative effort involving the Hong Kong Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, in the production of the COPE Disaster Book Series on earthquake and tsunami to raise children’s resilience to disaster.

The cover of “Climate Change and Biodiversity in Hong Kong”

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The cover of “Geography E-learning Package about Climate Change”

The Observatory partnered with the COPE child friendly book series to promote disaster risk reduction.

The Observatory installed more microclimate stations for a pilot study on urban weather monitoring and development of data sharing platform and related weather products. The Observatory also organised a number of educational events and outreach activities engaging young people and students through the “Science in Public Service Campaign” and the

“Community Weather Information Network”, including workshops on building community weather stations as well as various scientific and public talks. Meanwhile, the Observatory provided meteorological data to students from the School of Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong to create sculptures, movies, animations and other works that demonstrated the power of extreme weather.

RADIATION MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT

The Observatory monitors ambient radiation levels in Hong Kong and conducts radiological measurements on air, soil, water and food samples. In the event of a nuclear emergency, the Observatory will notify and advise government departments on the possible consequences in Hong Kong and recommend protective actions. Relevant information on radiation levels and the latest developments will be provided to the public. The Observatory organises training and exercises on radiation monitoring for other government departments involved in the contingency plan for nuclear emergencies in Hong Kong. The work involves:

• Operating a network of radiation monitoring stations, an aerial radiation monitoring system, two radiological survey vehicles, a radiation laboratory and an emergency radiation data management system;

• Keeping abreast of the latest development on the methodology for nuclear accident consequence assessment; and

• Planning and participating in exercise and drills in response to nuclear emergencies.

In 2019-20, all radiation monitoring and assessment work in this programme was carried out satisfactorily. All equipment was maintained in a state of readiness. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2015 certification for the provision of meteorological measurement services at King’s Park was extended to solar radiation and carbon dioxide concentration measurements, and automatic regional temperature measurement services. The radiation laboratory and the ambient gamma radiation level measurement service also successfully passed the annual surveillance audit under ISO 9001:2015

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certification, reaffirming the quality of these services meeting the latest international standards. Inter-comparisons between Hong Kong and Guangdong on radiological measurements continued. The Observatory continued to conduct exercises, drills and training on radiation monitoring and assessment. Implementation of new radiation monitoring and assessment facilities, in particular the high pressure ionization chambers of the Radiation Monitoring Network and the automatic gamma spectrometry system at Ping Chau were in steady progress.

The “Radiation Monitoring, Assessment and Protection” webpage was revamped to become mobile-friendly and enriched with more information. In-house produced video clips on radiation and nuclear emergency preparedness were shown on “Cool Met Stuff” channel on the Observatory’s website, the “MyObservatory” mobile application and YouTube. The Observatory also conducted outreach activities such as public and school talks, exhibitions and visits to radiation monitoring facilities to promote public education.

The Observatory signed Memoranda on technical co-operation with the Nuclear Safety Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment as well as the Airborne Survey and Remote Sensing Center of Nuclear Industry respectively to strengthen collaboration and exchange in various areas including aerial radiation monitoring for the

environment and nuclear emergency preparedness.

TIME STANDARD, GEOPHYSICAL AND CLIMATE SERVICES

The Observatory maintains the Hong Kong time standard, provides time signals for the public and contributes to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures for the determination of the universal standard time. It provides geophysical, oceanographic, astronomical and climatological information to meet the requirements for planning, engineering design and environmental impact assessments. It monitors earthquakes and the sea level and releases related information to the public, including the operation of the tsunami warning system. It also keeps abreast of research and development on international issues such as global climate change and advises the public and government departments on the likely implications.

Initiatives undertaken in 2019-20 included:

• Provided scientific support to studies by relevant government bureaux/departments on the mitigation, adaptation and resilience-building measures required in combating climate change and its impacts including extreme weather events;

• Conducted school talks on climate change, providing educational videos, and publishing articles and latest research findings of global climate change on the HKO website to promote public understanding and awareness of climate change and its impacts;

• Held an academic forum with the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Groups Co-chairs to discuss climate change issues with local academics and relevant government bureaux/departments, as well as updated sea-level rise projection for Hong Kong and its adjacent waters based on the latest assessment by the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate;

• Strengthened the resilience of the tide stations through additional sensors and enhanced facilities;

• Upgraded the network time service system to provide the public and other government bureaux/departments with a more stable and accessible time service; and

• Organised joint webcasts of the partial lunar eclipse in July and the partial solar eclipse in December with the Hong Kong Space Museum, the Ho Koon Nature Education cum Astronomical Centre, the Po Leung Kuk Ngan Po Ling College and the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Solar Tower, attracting over 40,000 page views in total.

PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY

In the public opinion survey conducted in 2019, the public considered that on average 78% of the weather forecasts issued by the Observatory were accurate, and gave an average score of 7.5 (out of 10) to its overall service.

AWARDS WON BY THE OBSERVATORY

The Observatory won a number of awards in 2019-20:

• The Observatory gained recognition in the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2019, winning a total of five awards, including the Gold Prize of the Departmental Service Enhancement Award (Small Department Category), Bronze Prize of Team Award (Specialised Service), Meritorious Award of Team Award (Crisis Support), Special Citation (Application of Innovation and Technology) of Departmental Service Enhancement Award (Small Department Category) and Special Citation (Application of Innovation and Technology) of Team Award (Specialised Service);

Observatory staff celebrating after the award presentation ceremony

• The Observatory’s achievements in nowcasting service were widely recognized. The nowcasting system developed in-house, named SWIRLS won the Smart Business Grand Award and the Smart Business (Solution for Business and Public Sector Enterprise) Gold Award at the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2019 in April, and two awards in the “Public Sector and Government category – Government and Citizen Services” and “Technology category – Artificial Intelligence” at the 19th Asia Pacific Information and Communications Technology Alliance Awards in November;

Observatory staff attended the presentation ceremony of the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2019.

Observatory staff in a group photo at the presentation ceremony of the 19th Asia Pacific Information and Communications Technology Alliance Awards

• The “MyFlightWx” electronic flight bag mobile application developed by the HKO was awarded a Certificate of Merit in the Smart Mobility (Smart Transportation) Award of the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2019;

Certificate of Merit in the Smart Mobility (Smart Transportation) Award of the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2019

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• The Tate’s Cairn Weather Radar Station project of the Observatory won a merit award at the Building Surveyor Awards 2019, the Best Government Project Award at the 5th International BIM Awards and the Honorable Mention under the professional category in the Autodesk Hong Kong Building Information Modelling Awards (BIM Awards) 2019;

Observatory staff receiving the award of the best Government Project Application Award at the 5th International BIM Awards

Observatory staff receiving the Honorable Mention under the professional category in the Autodesk Hong Kong Building Information Modelling Awards (BIM Awards) 2019

• The Observatory has been awarded the Certificate of Merit for the seventh time in the HKAEE 2018 under the Public Services Sector, which recognizes HKO’s contributions to environmental protection;

The Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence

OUTLOOK

The Observatory will continue to enhance its services in the following aspects:

Weather Services

• Continue to provide weather forecasts, regional weather services and extended weather outlook, and conduct research and enhance forecasting and warning services on high-impact weather;

• Strengthen efforts in public communication of high-impact weather, outreach and public educational activities to enhance public awareness of and preparedness for natural disasters and impact of climate change;

• Enhance the provision of probability forecast of tropical cyclones over a larger area in the western North Pacific;

• Take forward the project of replacing the Tai Mo Shan storm-detecting weather radar;

• Continue to promote the use and continuous improvement of “MyFlightWx” in collaboration with airlines to provide the latest inflight weather information to flight crew electronically;

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• Continue to take forward the implementation of meteorological facilities in support of the Three-Runway System project for the HKIA;

• Continue to implement urban-scale weather monitoring (including the implementation of microclimate stations) and develop forecasting products in support of initiatives under the Smart City Blueprint;

• Continue to develop nowcasting services and products on high-impact weather for local and regional applications;

• Continue to take forward a meteorological study for Government Flying Service’s new Forward Base at Kai Tak;

• Continue to enhance marine meteorological observations and the provision of weather information to the marine community;

• Continue to develop social media services for enhancing communication to the public of weather information, forecasts and warnings, and awareness of the impacts of climate change, by means of short educational videos and social media posts;

• Continue to enrich the content of the ”MyObservatory” mobile application;

• Continue to enhance the Earth Weather service with more weather information;

• Continue to enhance the automatic weather station network for the provision of more weather information; and

• Conduct trial to enhance observation of inclement weather and special weather phenomena (such as hail) via crowdsourcing from public.

Radiation Monitoring and Assessment

• Implement the agreed arrangements between Hong Kong and Guangdong on radiation monitoring and assessment;

• Conduct drills and exercises on emergency response in conjunction with other government

departments as well as the relevant Guangdong counterparts;

• Organise training on radiation monitoring and assessment;

• Take forward the enhancement of radiation monitoring and assessment facilities; and

• Further promote public education on radiation via school community education programme.

Time Standard, Geophysical and Climate Services

• Undertake and support monitoring and assessment of earthquake, tsunami risk and sea level in the region;

• Continue to strengthen the resilience of the tide stations to better cope with extreme sea level conditions;

• Monitor and study climate change issues, provide relevant government bureau / departments with latest information and assessment of climate change and its impacts to support their studies, and develop new methodology for the projection of likely impacts on Hong Kong;

• Upgrade relevant hardware of the timing system to meet the growing demand for HKO’s Internet time service;

• Engage various stakeholders in promoting the effective use of climate information and in developing climate-related services in support of the emerging needs of different sectors and government bureaux/departments; and

• Conduct outreach activities to promote the understanding of the mitigation, adaptation and resilience-building measures required in combating climate change impacts.

© Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government 2020

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