Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute

Geschiedenis

The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute is the Dutch national weather forecasting service, which has its headquarters in De Bilt, in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands.The primary tasks of KNMI are weather forecasting, monitoring of climate changes and monitoring seismic activity. KNMI is also the national research and information centre for climate, climate change and seismology.Research at KNMIApplied research at KNMI is focused on three areas: Research aimed at improving the quality, usefulness and accessibility of meteorological and oceanographical data in support of operational weather forecasting and other applications of such data. Climate-related research on oceanography; atmospheric boundary layer processes, clouds and radiation; the chemical composition of the atmosphere (e.g. ozone); climate variability research; the analysis of climate, climate variability and climatic change; modelling support and policy support to the Dutch Government with respect to climate and climatic change. Seismological research as well as monitoring of seismic activity (earthquakes).KNMI's development of atmospheric dispersion modelsKNMI's applied research also encompasses the development and operational use of atmospheric dispersion models.