Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong Kong

Abstract Under the relentless pace of population growth and urban development, weather and climate services provided by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) since its establishment in 1883 have been evolving continuously with an increasing focus on the delivery of tailored information to meet the needs o...

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Main Authors:	Tsz-cheung Lee, Wai-kin Wong, Kwong-hung Tam
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Springer 2018-08-01
Series:	Geoscience Letters
Subjects:	Hong Kong Observatory Urban weather and climate Co-WIN Big Data
Online Access:	http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40562-018-0119-6

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spelling	doaj-art-ed34c52879534e2f9c9b435fb81fd3912018-08-15T23:08:57ZengSpringerGeoscience Letters2196-40922018-08-015111710.1186/s40562-018-0119-6Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong KongTsz-cheung Lee0Wai-kin Wong1Kwong-hung Tam2Hong Kong ObservatoryHong Kong ObservatoryHong Kong ObservatoryAbstract Under the relentless pace of population growth and urban development, weather and climate services provided by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) since its establishment in 1883 have been evolving continuously with an increasing focus on the delivery of tailored information to meet the needs of special users and various stakeholders in the community. With meteorological observations at the headquarters of the Observatory dating back more than 130 years to 1884, the advent of automatic weather station network in the mid-1980s has significantly expanded the data coverage both in terms of spatial and temporal resolution. The establishment of the Community Weather Information Network in 2007 further extended the meteorological measurement to the school and community levels. Regular upper air soundings and the increasing availability of remote-sensing observations also enable the monitoring of meteorological parameters beyond the near-surface levels through the depth of the atmosphere. By integrating comprehensive weather observations and numerical weather prediction products, HKO now provides a wide range of forecasts covering multi-time scales and warnings and advisories for high-impact weather such as tropical cyclone, thunderstorm, heavy rain, landslide, flooding, and cold and very hot weather. Riding on the advances in communication technology in recent decades, members of the public have gained improved access to the latest weather warnings, advisories, weather information, and forecast for the next couple of hours to 9 days ahead, as well as forecasts near users’ locations through HKO’s website and mobile app. In addition to information for public consumption, HKO’s services and products have been tailored in support of weather-sensitive operations such as those provided to users in the aviation and marine communities. In the process of such diversified development, HKO has successfully cultivated close partnerships with various stakeholders to enhance its weather and climate services by embracing the spirit of the Big Data and smart city concept in recent years, in particular in areas related to energy, water, health, and disaster risk reduction. In this paper, a review of the weather and climate services focusing on the urban aspects in Hong Kong will be presented, with examples illustrating specific applications in different sectors. Future thrusts in enhancing and integrating the urban weather and climate services for Hong Kong in the Big Data era under the Climate Friendly Demonstration City initiative and impact-based forecast approach promulgated by the World Meteorological Organization will also be discussed.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40562-018-0119-6Hong Kong ObservatoryUrban weather and climateCo-WINBig Data
institution	Open Data Bank
collection	Open Access Journals
building	Directory of Open Access Journals
language	English
format	Article
author	Tsz-cheung Lee Wai-kin Wong Kwong-hung Tam
spellingShingle	Tsz-cheung Lee Wai-kin Wong Kwong-hung Tam Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong Kong Geoscience Letters Hong Kong Observatory Urban weather and climate Co-WIN Big Data
author_facet	Tsz-cheung Lee Wai-kin Wong Kwong-hung Tam
author_sort	Tsz-cheung Lee
title	Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong Kong
title_short	Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong Kong
title_full	Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong Kong
title_fullStr	Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong Kong
title_full_unstemmed	Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong Kong
title_sort	urban-focused weather and climate services in hong kong
publisher	Springer
series	Geoscience Letters
issn	2196-4092
publishDate	2018-08-01
description	Abstract Under the relentless pace of population growth and urban development, weather and climate services provided by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) since its establishment in 1883 have been evolving continuously with an increasing focus on the delivery of tailored information to meet the needs of special users and various stakeholders in the community. With meteorological observations at the headquarters of the Observatory dating back more than 130 years to 1884, the advent of automatic weather station network in the mid-1980s has significantly expanded the data coverage both in terms of spatial and temporal resolution. The establishment of the Community Weather Information Network in 2007 further extended the meteorological measurement to the school and community levels. Regular upper air soundings and the increasing availability of remote-sensing observations also enable the monitoring of meteorological parameters beyond the near-surface levels through the depth of the atmosphere. By integrating comprehensive weather observations and numerical weather prediction products, HKO now provides a wide range of forecasts covering multi-time scales and warnings and advisories for high-impact weather such as tropical cyclone, thunderstorm, heavy rain, landslide, flooding, and cold and very hot weather. Riding on the advances in communication technology in recent decades, members of the public have gained improved access to the latest weather warnings, advisories, weather information, and forecast for the next couple of hours to 9 days ahead, as well as forecasts near users’ locations through HKO’s website and mobile app. In addition to information for public consumption, HKO’s services and products have been tailored in support of weather-sensitive operations such as those provided to users in the aviation and marine communities. In the process of such diversified development, HKO has successfully cultivated close partnerships with various stakeholders to enhance its weather and climate services by embracing the spirit of the Big Data and smart city concept in recent years, in particular in areas related to energy, water, health, and disaster risk reduction. In this paper, a review of the weather and climate services focusing on the urban aspects in Hong Kong will be presented, with examples illustrating specific applications in different sectors. Future thrusts in enhancing and integrating the urban weather and climate services for Hong Kong in the Big Data era under the Climate Friendly Demonstration City initiative and impact-based forecast approach promulgated by the World Meteorological Organization will also be discussed.
topic	Hong Kong Observatory Urban weather and climate Co-WIN Big Data
url	http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40562-018-0119-6
_version_	1612701717186478080

Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong Kong

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