Balloon-borne pollution probe set to soar up, up and away
Balloon to ascend to highest-ever altitude above city to test for pollutants and greenhouse gases
Local hobby scientists are looking to measure atmospheric pollution up to 30 kilometres above Hong Kong by sending up probes attached to a helium balloon.
It's a project designed to show people that science doesn't take place only in laboratories.
"It's so crowded in the city that most people don't think we have the space for science," said Ricky Fan Hai-tai, president of the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Association, which is conducting the experiment.
Fan is not a scientist by training, but a management professional. For the past 31/2 years, he has been learning how to get his project off the ground, meeting equipment suppliers, scientists and the Civil Aviation Department.
"The Civil Aviation Department sent us a long list of questions about what we wanted to do," Fan said.
Ching Man-Leung, an expert on carbon emissions reduction and energy management, and a friend of Fan, joked: "Getting things done through other people - this is his expertise."
Scientists have been monitoring the atmosphere since the mid-1900s after becoming concerned about the effects of chemicals released by factories. The acidification of lakes, global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer top a list of concerns for Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), a monitoring system set up by the UN's World Meteorological Organisation.