Hong Kong Observatory's 5-year Strategic Plan (2022 - 2026)

Task: Research on and enhance the technologies in forecasting and warning of weather events, particularly those with high impact. Improve the accuracy, timeliness and duration of forecasts. Enhance the timeliness and update frequency of warning information dissemination. Continue to develop and improve the forecasting systems, including nowcasting systems, numerical prediction models and Artificial Intelligence (AI) models. Launch more services related to the impacts of extreme weather and natural disasters, including probabilistic forecast, regional forecast and risk assessment. Develop multi-hazard warning services and enhance alerting services for earthquake and tsunami.

Task: Actively monitor and study topics related to climate change. Provide the latest information and assessment of climate change and its impact, including the update of climate projections for Hong Kong based on the computer climate model data provided in the latest assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Continue to promote public education on climate change. Participate actively in the research and the development of new services to cope with the increasingly frequent extreme weather events caused by global warming.

Task: Apply AI to automate the work of the Observatory, and enhance the operational efficiency and service quality. Employ Big Data analytics and cloud computing, in combination with new generation communication and virtual reality technologies, to enhance and develop new public services as well as smart-city weather and climate services for the Greater Bay Area. Develop cutting-edge 3D visualisation powered by Geographic Information System technology to integrate weather and other information to support decision making by specialised users and inform the public more effectively.

Task: Explore the application of drone, robotic and remote sensing technologies as new quality productive forces in meteorological, marine, geophysical and radiological monitoring. Incorporate machine learning in strengthening the techniques in monitoring and forecasting, as well as enhancing weather information service and common situational awareness. Publish scientific papers on the achievements in research and application.

Task: Implement the construction of Annex Building designed to support the future development of the Observatory. Continue to enhance the Observatory’s systems and facilities, including the expansion of the network of land, marine and aerial observing systems, installation of new instrument for monitoring space weather, as well as the enhancement of information systems, to provide more diversified services to different users. Continue to enhance aviation meteorological facilities to support the Three-Runway System operations of the Hong Kong International Airport. Further enhance the Observatory’s computing resources to handle the ever-increasing data volume, support the weather nowcasting systems, numerical prediction and AI models in enhancing the meteorological services under the Meteorological Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (2020-2035).

Task: Strengthen the professional training and knowledge transfer of the Observatory team. Continue to extend the scope of quality management of the Observatory’s operations. Strive to set higher quality objectives for providing better services. Offer internships and training opportunities to students of tertiary institutions to aid intake of talents required by the Observatory.

Task: Collaborate with different government departments as well as public and private organisations. Engage with key stakeholders to develop tailored and high-resolution weather information services for operations such as aviation and low-altitude economy. Open and integrate more weather related data for development of new public and personalised weather services. Actively participate in international and regional cooperation and take a leadership role in driving related developments for operational applications and service transformation. Broaden and deepen cooperation with tertiary institutions in scientific research and training. Operate the virtual Meteorological Training Centre for Belt and Road Countries to promote international meteorological cooperation.

Task: Promote public education on an ongoing basis in schools and communities through various channels, and open up more outreach activities. Enhance social media services, and improve the content and frequency of message communication in weather forecast and warning.