Weathermen Ready for Games

What kind of weather will await spectators and athletes at the Games in Beijing in August 2008?

Based on the analysis of weather records in recent years, Beijing will have a 50 percent possibility of rain during the Opening Ceremony on August 8, 2008. To counter this possibility, weathermen have been experimenting with the many ways, including firing rockets and spreading catalysts, to bring the weather under control.

Zhang Qiang, deputy director of the Beijing Weather Modification Office, said there are 26 weather modification test sites around Beijing being used to test the Artificial Rain Dispersal Process before 2008 Olympic Games.

One day in May 2006, technicians with the Beijing Weather Modification Office fired seven rocket shells containing 163 cigarette-size sticks of silver iodide into clouds over city.

The reaction that occurred brought as much as four-tenths of an inch of rain, the heaviest rainfall for the year, helping alleviate drought, and remove dust from the air.

“Rockets will spread silver iodine or liquid nitrogen as catalysts high into the air, targeting rain-heavy cumulonimbus clouds and inducing rainfall before the clouds reach the Olympic venues. Silver iodide and liquid nitrogen will not pollute the environment; rocket shells are safer than using airplanes,” Zhang said.  

“Our experiments and research have shown that we can only artificially reduce the level of rainfall on a comparatively small scale,” says Wang Yubin, deputy chief engineer of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau (BMB).

Around the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) where the Opening Ceremony will be held, three lines of defence have been set up, with respective radiuses of 1520 kilometres (km), 45–60 km and 90–120 km, said Zhang Qiang.

Thanks to a comprehensive service provided by BMB and academic sectors, accurate, timely and venue-specific weather forecasts will be readily available during the Games.

The Beijing Meteorological Bureau has pulled together a team of more than 30 experts from all over the country to serve on its weather-forecasting group.

In addition, a Fengyun-2D (FY-2D), a satellite launched last year, will help the weathermen provide quality services for the Olympic Games. The satellite is in service and is functioning properly.

The FY-2D can observe weather changes around the clock. It is capable of carrying out analyses on the form and structure of clouds and can also analyze data in daylight hours.

Sun Jisong, chief forecaster of BMB, said weather reports will be provided to 15 million residents as well as to an estimated 260,000–320,000 foreign visitors expected to come to the Games. The weather service will also be available for public safety, aviation operations, security and emergency management.

“The weather service should help ensure the safety of all athletes, residents and visitors during the Olympic Games. We will continually provide the latest reports on weather, water and climate,” said Sun.

Beijing has is a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate, characterized by hot, humid summers resulting from East Asian monsoons.

“Bad summer weather always happens in July and August. We’ll be under big pressures in these two months,”Sun said.

“As we saw during this summer in Beijing, the weather changed a lot and had a big effect on daily life. We’re confident the weather specialists we’ve assembled will help make the venues safe and comfortable in 2008.”

Sun says the weather services will cover the Olympic Torch Relay, the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies, and sports events during the Games.

BMB will issue at least four weather forecasts each day during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Daily weather forecasts will begin at 4 a.m., providing weather information for various periods of time, including one day, three days and one week.

“We will also provide venue-specific weather forecasts,” Sun said.

At each venue, a weather service team will brief officials, venue managers, coaches and athletes, on weather conditions.

“We will detect temperature, wind, humidity and precipitation at each of the venues, all these bits of information will influence the competition calendar.”