H.—34.

Weather information for the regular commercial air services is provided by means of special forecasts and route reports which are sent to the various aerodromes shortly before the departure of each machine. The organization involved in this work is varied from time to time to meet the requirements of the expanding services and various changes in time-table, but at the present an average of about twenty such special reports are prepared each day, including Sundays and holidays. The first is issued at 6.30 a.m. The development of aviation has involved a steady increase in the number of weather reports collected by the Meteorological Office, and between sixty and seventy New Zealand stations are now included in the network. In this organization very valuable and cordial assistance has been received from the Post and Telegraph Department, especially in the provision of new reports, often at very short notice. Regional Meteorological Conference. During recent years meteorological organizations in all parts of the world have experienced difficulty in keeping pace with the increasing demands of very rapidly expanding aviation services. It does not appear to have been generally appreciated that there is no source of ready-made meteorologists available to meet the demand as it arises, and that it is essential that adequate preparations should be made in anticipation of requirements which will obviously have to be met in the near future. The next major development to be expected in New Zealand is the introduction of regular trans-ocean flying. Pan-American Airways have already started a trans-Pacific service, which has been interrupted only temporarily by the tragic loss of the Samoan Clipper, and it is likely that a trans-Tasman service will be inaugurated in the near future. To meet the meteorological requirements of trans-ocean flying involves an extensive organization and very close co-operation between all meteorological services in the region. To enable this organization to be built up on a sound basis the Government gave permission for the calling of a Conference for the south-west Pacific region towards the close of 1937. Invitations to send representatives were issued to the Meteorological Services of Great Britain, France, Canada, the United States of America, Netherlands East Indies, Australia, and Fiji. In addition, invitations to send technical delegates were addressed to the Civil Aviation Board of Australia and to Imperial Airways and Pan-American Airways. The Conference met in Wellington from 29th November to 3rd December, 1937, and the proceedings were formally opened by the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Minister in Charge of Scientific and Industrial Research. The following is a list of the delegates and guests attending : — Major E. 11. Bowie, Principal Meteorologist, United States Weather Bureau. F. Entwistle, Esq., Head of Overseas Division, Meteorological Office, London. W. S. Watt, Esq., Commonwealth Meteorologist, Australia. E. W. Timcke, Esq., Senior Meteorologist, Melbourne. Wing-Commander A. H. Cobby, D.5.0., D.F.C., Controller of Operations, Civil Aviation Board, Australia. Captain G. B. Nasmyth, Harbourmaster and Government Meteorologist, Suva. L. V. M. Osborn, Esq., Assistant Meteorologist, Suva. Dr. E. Kidson, Director, New Zealand Meteorological Office. Dr. M. A. F. Barnett, Assistant Meteorologist, Wellington. Dr. W. A. Macky, Assistant Meteorologist, Auckland. Wing-Commander T. M. Wilkes, C.8.E., M.C., R.N.Z.A.F., Controller of Civil Aviation, New Zealand Air Department. Lieut. J. E. Smallwood, R.N., H.M.S. " Achilles," N.Z. Naval Defence Department. W. R. Newall, Esq., Principal, Telegraph Division, New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department. E. H. R. Green, Esq., Radio Engineer, New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department. H. C. Gatty, Esq., Representing Pan-American Airways. E. B. Buxton, Esq., Meteorologist, Pan-American Airways. Dr. E. Kidson was elected Chairman, and Dr. M. A. F. Barnett acted as Secretary. The general procedure followed by the Conference was similar to that of a Regional Commission of the International Meteorological Organization. All the resolutions adopted have followed as closely as possible corresponding resolutions of the International Meteorological Organization dealing with the particular problems concerned. To facilitate the work of the Conference, seven sub-committees were set up. As giving an indication of the scope of the deliberations, the sub-committees are listed below : — I. On Codes. IT. Centres from which Collective Issues are to be broadcast; stations to be included in broadcasts, nature of radio signals, &c., broadcasting of ships' reports ; areas for which different services are to be responsible. 111. Provision of Information for Aviation. IV. Co-operation with, and from Shipping. V. Uniformity of Charts. VI. Upper Wind Data and Aerological Investigations. VII. Ocean Swell. The proceedings of the Conference have been issued in the form of a 68-page cyclostyled report, and will probably be published in due course by the International Meteorological Organization. It is proposed to deal here only very briefly with some of the more important aspects of its work. Of the sub-committees listed above, the two most important and those from which most of the recommendations came were numbers II and 111. In all, the Conference passed forty-nine resolutions, many of them of the greatest importance to the development of an adequate service for trans-ocean flying.

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