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 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.

Investigating the urban heat and cool island effects during extreme heat events in high‐density cities: A case study of Hong Kong from 2000 to 2018

“…In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Observatory has made various meteorological measurements (such as temperature, rainfall, pressure, and relative humidity) at its headquarters in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, the heart of the Kowloon Peninsula, since 1884. The advent of the automatic weather station network since the mid‐1980s has further expanded the areal coverage and enhanced the temporal resolution of meteorological observations in different parts of Hong Kong (Lee, 2016; Lee et al ., 2018). In this study, among over 50 staffed and automatic weather stations with air temperature measurements (Figure 1a), 22 weather stations were selected based on the following four criteria: Have sufficiently long data records covering the whole study period from 2000; Include air temperature measurements for the quantification of UHI/UCI; They are located within 100 m of the mean sea level, so that altitude‐induced temperature variations can be avoided. They are situated on the ground and not on top of building structures, as rooftops may be subjected to different wind flow regimes and temperature gradients (WMO, 2008).…”

“…In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Observatory has made various meteorological measurements (such as temperature, rainfall, pressure, and relative humidity) at its headquarters in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, the heart of the Kowloon Peninsula, since 1884. The advent of the automatic weather station network since the mid-1980s has further expanded the areal coverage and enhanced the temporal resolution of meteorological observations in different parts of Hong Kong (Lee, 2016;Lee et al, 2018). In this study, among over 50 staffed and automatic weather stations with air temperature measurements (Figure 1a), 22 weather stations were selected based on the following four criteria:…”

Meteorological and Ancillary Data Resources for Climate Research in Urban Areas

“…In Asia, a Community Weather Information Network (CWIN) was established in Hong Kong in 2007 in order to improve the data coverage of the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) by extending meteorological measurement in schools and at community levels. Using the data provided by CWIN, HKO provides improved impact-based forecasts at multi-time scales and warnings/advisories for several natural phenomena and processes (tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, heavy rains, landslides, flooding, cold/very hot weather episodes) [43].…”