LIANG CHAO

China plans to launch three different types of meteorological satellite in the next five years, a spokesman for China Meteorological Administration disclosed yesterday in Beijing.

The launches will mean that China will be capable of reading global meteorological data and effectively monitoring major weather changes like typhoons in the entire Pacific Ocean, said the spokesman.

The three new satellites, to be launched during the 2001-05 Five-Plan period, will enable China to observe the whole territory once an hour, the official confirmed.

The nation's 60,000 weathermen and women were yesterday urged to improve forecast services by Qin Dahe, director of China Meteorological Administration (CMA), at a national conference. He said priority must be placed on improving the services within the next five years.

Qin said accurate forecasting of weather-related disasters like catastrophic droughts, floods and typhoons mean resulting damage could be minimized.

China will issue regular forecasts of air quality in 42 of its major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, starting on June 5.

The preparations for a technology programme which will actually force it to rain in China's western regions is already under way.

The programme will exploit cloud and vapour in the area's skies to produce artificial weather in areas plagued by droughts and other problems, Qin said.

Composed of advanced equipment used in aircraft and radar systems, the technology could result in an increase in rainfall, leading to fuller local reservoirs and a better capability in combating forest fires in West China.

Qin called on weathermen to intensify their monitoring of abnormal weather changes such as sandstorms, which attacked Beijing 15 times last year.

It will not be easy this year as there have already been omens of abnormal dry weather, Qin warned, urging weathermen to "maintain sharp vigilance and never take their eyes off significant weather changes."

Qin was confident that the improvement could be realized with the help of computer-based forecasting models and a more widespread adoption of technology.