"Canterbury Project" Gives Valuable Data

Chronicle (Levin), 1 April 1949, Page 5

"Canterbury Project" Gives Valuable Data

'•-Rseeived Thursday, 8.50 p.m. LONDON, March 31. Important data on the use of radio short waves in forecasting weather ant radar eonditions which was o'otainei in New Zealand as a result of the oper ation of what was known "as the "Can : tfe'rbtfry project" will* shortly be pub ! lished in Britain 'by the Physica Society. The' use of these short wave. | will make it possible to predict the de j gree of sensitivitv of radar screens with eonsiderhble accnraey, both in the easc of a defending foree hnd of any possible attaeking force. It will also make it possible to forecast both the extent anc intensity qf Canterbury north westers. These winds the observat^ions taken dur ing the Canterbury project reveal, re sult in an average excess temperature of 15 degrees Eahrenheit in winter and of 30 degrees in summer and cause a very marked decrease in humidity. The project, which was organised anii carried out jointlv by the New Zealand and British Departments of Scientific and Industrial Research, commenced in 1946 and concluded about a year ago. It was used to study the use of radi« short waves under the special atmo spheric eonditions created on the Can terburv Plains by the proximity of the Southern Alps. A network of observation points based upon Ashburton was set up along a seetion of the Canter bury coastline, and both ships and air craft were used to supplement the records of these shore stations. The sec tion of the report which has an iraport ant bearing upon the-operation of radai defeneeS in wartime will be secret.