Meteorologists from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau met at a seminar the Hong Kong Observatory from 24 to 26 January to discuss further strengthening of co-operation and share results of research work.

Significant achievements have been accomplished over the years through seamless co-operation among the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau meteorological authorities. One example is the setting up of six automatic weather stations (AWSs) on offshore islands. These stations served as frontier posts to monitor inclement weather moving in from the South China Sea and contributed significantly to the weather warning services in the region. A new station was set up in Guangdong last year to further expand the joint lightning location network over the Pearl River Estuary. This will enable the coverage of a larger area in the region and a higher accuracy in lightning detection, thus better safeguarding the public against lightning damage.

Director of the Hong Kong Observatory Mr Lam Chiu-ying said co-operation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau meteorological authorities had enhanced weather services to the public in the Pearl River Estuary area. "We will work closer together in a number of areas in the coming year, such as optimisation of lightning location information, upgrade of communication links as well as study of relationship between weather, climate and health," Mr Lam said.

This year's seminar is the 21st in the series. The first was 1985 in Shenzhen under the theme of typhoons, when research results were presented and exchanged. Macau joined in 1988, and the ensuing seminars were held alternatively in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau every year. The Hong Kong Observatory is the host this year. More than 200 papers on a number of different topics including typhoons, weather forecasting, severe convective weather, climate, atmospheric research and applied technology have been presented. The seminars have enriched knowledge in many subjects, ranging from the understanding of severe weather affecting the Pearl River Estuary to the fostering of young meteorologists.

For more details on the seminar, please have a look at the corresponding press release
(http://www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/news/2007/pre0124e.htm).

Mr. Yu Yong, Director of the Guangdong Meteorological Bureau (centre), Mr. Antonio Viseu, Deputy Director of the Macau Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (left) and Mr Lam Chiu-ying, Director of the Hong Kong Observatory (right) put puzzle pieces together, indicating close cooperation among the three meteorological authorities.