World Weather Watch Proposals

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30976, 4 February 1966, Page 14

World Weather Watch Proposals

Mr W. R. Dyer, project’manager of the global observational survey of the World Meteorological Organisation at Geneva, arrived in Christchurch last evening for talks on the new “ghost” balloon project at Harewood and to attend the Pacific regional meeting of his organisation next week in Wellington. Mr Dyer retired last year as assistant director of the New Zealand Meteorological Services.

All this was part of the “world weather watch” being promoted by the General Assembly of the United Nations as a service to mankind, Mr Dyer said. All existing services were co-operating in the new world-wide drive for best observation, best co-ordina-tion, and best use of satellites and other technological advances. The world weather watch had three broad divisions: (1) observation; (2) data processing; (3) tele-communication. Today one of the major problems was to get weather records from vast expanses of

oceans and vast tracts of desert, Mr Dyer said. It was hoped to make much more extensive use of merchant shipping at sea. At present only 15 ships from one nation were doing radiosonde work. If the shipping companies agreed to provide launching platforms and mounting for other equipment it should be possible to extend this service. One problem was the carriage of hydrogen for balloons and this was discussed at a meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee which Mr Dyer attended in London last Monday. In the deserts and other uninhabited lands automatic weather stations might be dropped but there were problems in servicing. Great hopes were held for the use of constant-level balloons in which the American pilot “ghost” project in Christchurch and a kindred French “Eol” project were “extremely important.” Mr Dyer said that when global coverage was achieved a huge job had to be done in analysing data and getting it out again to the contributing nations.