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The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, and the Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, Mr Shun Chi-ming, officiated at the opening ceremony of the Observatory's new weather radar at Tate's Cairn today (October 8).
Mr So said the Observatory has always moved with the times in pursuit of excellence and improving its services.
He said, "The new radar at Tate's Cairn, operating in tandem with another radar at Tai Mo Shan, can increase the availability of radar data and enable the Observatory to get hold of comprehensive weather information."
At a cost of $19 million, the new radar at Tate's Cairn is the first dual polarisation S-band Doppler weather radar in Hong Kong. In addition to all the functionality of traditional weather radar, the new radar can identify hail areas and raindrop sizes in air, which will be useful for monitoring hails and rainfall rates.
Addressing the ceremony, Mr Shun warned that heavy rain would occur more readily in the 21st century as a result of global warming. In this regard, the Observatory is committed to monitoring extreme weather such as rainstorms and providing timely weather information to members of the public.
In order to provide the public with updated information about rain development in Hong Kong and enable them to take appropriate action on rainy days, the Observatory is enhancing its radar webpage starting today by updating radar imagery within the range of 64 km at six-minute intervals instead of 12-minute intervals. The public can access this radar imagery at the following webpage of the Observatory: www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/radars/radar_range1.htm.
The new radar is the fifth radar installed at Tate's Cairn; the first one dates back to 1959. The new radar replaces one that had been in service for more than 20 years and that was Hong Kong's first radar with Doppler capability for detecting the moving speed of raindrops.
Ends/Thursday, October 8, 2015
Issued at HKT 12:34
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