The Observatory has successfully forecast wind shear at the airport using a new system that measures the movement of particles and dust in the air.
It says that since Chek Lap Kok airport opened in 1998, about one in 500 arriving and departing flights had reported significant wind shear.
The LIDAR Windshear Alerting System, the first of its kind in the world, can increase the rate of successful forecasts to almost 95 per cent and further improve air safety by warning pilots.
Wind shear is a sustained change in the direction or speed of wind lasting more than a few seconds. Strong wind shear poses a danger to aircraft landing or taking off. The system uses radar at the Observatory's airport weather tower, which emits a laser beam to scan the flight path of approaching or departing aircraft. Information on changes in the wind is obtained through the reflection of light by particles or dust in the air.
Wai Hon-gor, assistant director of the Observatory, said the new system could complement one of the two current wind-shear detection systems that can only make forecasts during rainstorms.
Another system, consisting of a network of weather sub-stations around the airport to gauge wind speed, provides wind-shear forecasts in dry weather.
