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At the request of the Police in late 2005, a standby weather and radiation monitoring station was constructed for their use in support of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference (HKMC) of the World Trade Organization. It enabled police to obtain on-site weather and radiation information for assessing the spread of harmful material in the event of a chemical, biological or radiological incident.
The Hong Kong Observatory had designed and fabricated an automatic weather and radiation monitoring station for the Hong Kong Police Force a few years ago.
The Assistant Director of the Observatory, Dr Lee Boon-ying, said construction of an additional standby monitoring station was completed within a very short time frame, demonstrating a high spirit of team work at the Observatory.
Apart from sensors for temperature, wind and radiation, the portable monitoring station was also equipped with a Global Positioning System for locating the measurement site. Data obtained from the station was instantly displayed at the site and also transmitted to the Observatory over the mobile wireless communication network every five minutes.
The Bomb Disposal Officer of the Police Force, Mr Jimmy Yuen, said the Observatory's prompt assistance had enabled police to obtain instant and on-site weather information during HKMC, greatly enhancing our ability in emergency response.
Ends/Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:00
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