The KNMI Data Centre

The KNMI Data Centre (KDC) provides access to KNMI data on weather, climate and seismology.

You will find KNMI data on various topics such as: the most recent 10 minutes of observations, historical data, data on meteorological stations, modeling, earthquake data and satellite products. Not all available KNMI datasets are available in this portal. Look under "Help" if the data you are looking is not shown here.

Description of the data sets

For each dataset a description (or metadata) is available. Metadata is data about the data, e.g. Who is the person to contact or what time period do cover the data in the dataset. The metadata are displayed when you click on a dataset in the table with the search results.

Accessibility

Most datasets in this portal are free to access, some only require a registration and for some datasets you must first request access rights. Whether a registration or access right is required is indicated with an icon in the column "accessibility" of the search results.

Registration	Access right	OpenData
		

For more information on Opendata policy of the Dutch government click here.

Search and Download

In the portal you can search using three filters (what, where and when). An explanation of the operation of the filters can be found under "Help". Selected data can be downloaded from your browser either using http or ftp. It is also possible to download data with an FTP program, information about this can also be found under "Help".

Graphical display

Some of the online data can be presented as a graphic map. If this is possible for a specific dataset the link to "visualize" is activated for the data files listed in the search results table. The data is displayed via a Web service display (Web Map Service), a brief explanation of the KNMI WMS service can be found under "Help". For a detailed documentation about the viewer that is used, we refer to the website of the ADAGUC viewer (click here).

KNMI basic data

Information about the current provision of basic information from the KNMI catalog based on a Service Level Agreement can be found under "Data with Services".

KNMI Catalog of basic data

The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has many streams of actual, basic data from national and international sources. These are used by the KNMI to carry out the legally assigned public tasks. Amongst others, it includes observations on land, at sea and in the atmosphere, aerological data, data from weather radars and satellites and forecasts from atmospheric- and ocean models.

The Law "tasks meteorology and seismology" (WTMS) of September 23, 2015, holding rules concerning public care in the field of meteorology and seismology, published in the Dutch State Journal in 2015, 526 (Staatsblad, December 22nd, 2015), registers for which the Minister of Infrastructure and Environment holds care. KNMI tasks are deduced from this Law and are specified in a Ministerial Regulation. The law is in force by January 1, 2016.

Distribution of current meteorological basic information is a task of the KNMI. The distribution is performed under the Open Data Policy and on request under a Service Level Agreement (SLA). In the latter case, costs are involved for providing the data.

Current basic data of which KNMI is not the source holder, can be distributed upon request. In this case the terms and agreements of the source holder apply.

SLA data products are registered in the KNMI Catalogue of real-time data. In this Catalogue an explanation is presented on KNMI and international data, licensing, operating conditions and rates.

Consulting the catalog assumes some knowledge of meteorological concepts.

Editorial office:
licentiebureau@knmi.nl

Here you do find an explanation on:

• the filters under the tab "Home"
• visualization of data
• downloading via an FTP program (to be included)
• answers to frequently asked questions (to be included)

The use filters under "Data"

To find data that are of interest, you can use the search filters. There are three filters: the "what", "where" and "when" filter. These three filters work independently, but results are only shown if the criteria of all three filters are met (technical: the searches are combined with a logical AND operator).

The "What" filter

This filter allows you to search by (parts of) keywords in all the text fields of the metadata of the data sets. The filter searches for whole words which you specify it in the window. You can enter multiple keywords. All words must occur somewhere in the text of the description of the data set. The order does not matter. As a separation between the search words you can use either a space, comma or semi-colon (;) use. The filter searches in both the Dutch and English description of the dataset.

To search for a part of a word, you can use the special characters '*' or '?'. The question mark "?" represents exactly one character on that position in the keyword, the asterisk "*" means that there are 0 or more characters at that position. Two examples:

• keyword "r?in": result are datasets with for example in the text fields somewhere 'rain' or 'rein' ..

The "Where" filter

Of each dataset the four geographical boundaries (in latitude and longitude) of  the data area in which all of the data contained in the dataset are located. Additionally, in most databsets also the geographical boundaries for the data in the file itself are included. If you are looking for a location, enter the border (in latitude and longitude) of the area you are interested in the "Where" filter.

The filter searches first for datasets covering all or a part of the specified search area. The datasets that meet these requirements are then displayed and of these datasets only the datafiles whose area fully or partially coincide with your specified search area are listed.

The filter searches in areas rather than precise locations. For example you are looking for information about the temperature in your hometown. A dataset with temperature data from all Dutch stations will overlap with your query. But if your hometown does not coincidence with a KNMI station you will not find data on your place of birth.

A dataset that has the whole world as coverage area will always appear as a search result when using the "Where" filter.

The "When" filter

For each dataset the date and time of the oldest and most recent data record are captured. This also applies to the datafiles themselves. Some datasets are on going as data are added continuously. For these data sets the current date and time will be held as end date. If you enter a start and/or end date the filter searches first datasets that have an overlap with the given search period. Then the filter searches within the datasets found for those datafiles that have an overlap with the search period specified.

For questions about specific KDC data or the KDC in general, please fill out this form. Usually we will respond within a couple of days. The form is only available in Dutch. General contact information about KNMI is listed on this page as well. 

For weather data from the past in text or tables go to the climatology page (in Dutch only).