HK Observatory officer elected Vice-president of Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology of WMO

The Hong Kong Observatory announced Friday that its Senior Scientific Officer Shun Chi-ming was elected Vice-president of the Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at the 13th session of the Commission.

The session was held in Geneva of Switzerland from Nov. 23 to Dec. 1 and was attended by representatives from 72 countries and regions.

As vice-president Shun will support the newly elected President, Carr McLeod, of Canada, to lead the expert teams established by the commission to embark on various tasks related to education and training in aeronautical meteorology, development of a new terminal weather forecast, and customer relations.

This is the first time that a Hong Kong Observatory officer has taken up such a senior position in a technical commission of WMO.

The observatory said that Shun's successful election reflected the recognition by the international community of the observatory's contributions to aeronautical meteorology. Many representatives expressed appreciation to the Hong Kong Observatory for its contributions to international aeronautical meteorology.

Deputy Administrator of the Chinese Meteorological Administration Xu Xiaofeng regarded the Observatory highly in leading the world in applying science and technology to aviation weather services.

A representative from Ethiopia said, "We fully appreciate the work of the Hong Kong Observatory in assisting developing countries, especially in providing training seminars and expert advice in the past years to build up our capabilities in the provision of weather services."

At the session, other representatives also expressed appreciation of the Observatory's work on wind shear and turbulence, especially its joint efforts with user organizations to produce educational material for pilots.

Shun joined the Observatory in 1986. He has worked in weather forecasting, radiation monitoring and numerical weather prediction. Since 1993, he has specialized in aeronautical meteorology. He set up the world's first Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) wind shear alerting system in 2005.

The Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology, one of the eight technical commissions in WMO, is responsible for co-ordinating international meteorological activities to meet the requirements of aviation for safe, economic and efficient air navigation.

Source: Xinhua