ROB Seismic and Accelerometric Stations

The Belgian seismic network of the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), with about 45 permanent stations, is mainly dedicated to the monitoring and the scientific study of the seismic activity in Belgium. The ROB is also managing 3 stations in the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg (in cooperation with the European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology). Earthquakes worldwide with magnitude greater than 4.5 – 5.0 are routinely recorded by the Belgian seismic network. The measurements on these recordings are sent to international seismological centers (EMSC and ISC) where data from stations worldwide are analyzed to furnish a global catalogue of earthquakes and phase arrival time models. We also provide real-time seismic signals from some Belgian stations to data exchange centers like ORFEUS (Observatories and Research Facilities for European Seismology) and IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology).To complement the seismic network, the Belgian accelerometric network was installed early in the 2000ies to furnish reliable data when strong ground motions saturate traditional seismometers. This network consists of 19 stations, is sensitive to accelerations of 1E-5 g (g is gravity at the Earth’s surface) and is an important tool for professionals in the field of earthquake engineering and engineering seismology (seismic hazard assessment). Currently, since 2014 the service is installing another network (“AcceleROB“) of 90 low-cost accelerometers. These sensors are calibrated to be sensitive to accelerations of 1E-3 g, which should be observed during any earthquake of local magnitude ML=3 or larger.

Temperature - 2085

Annual, summer and winter mean temperature given in °C. The temperature fields are available for the future target year 2085, which corresponds to the middle of the 30-year period 2071-2100, and for mean and high impact scenarios corresponding respectively to the 50th and 95th percentiles of the change factors.

Real estate property dynamics

Real estate property dynamics corresponds to the dataset describing changes in ownership in Belgium as recorded by the FPS Finance. This dataset comprises seven classes. The first class includes, at national level, for each cadastral nature, the total number of parcels, the number of parcels that have changed ownership at different time intervals, the median and mean duration since the last change of ownership, the 25 and 75 percentiles of the duration since the last change of ownership, and the mean duration of ownership rotation over the entire existence of the parcels. The second class uses this information for all three regions. The following classes do the same for provinces, arrondissements, communes, cadastral divisions and statistical sectors. The dataset is freely downloadable as zipped CSV files.

Owners' origin - Legal persons

Owners' origin - Legal persons corresponds to the dataset describing the origin of the legal persons holders of real rights over immovable properties located in Belgium according to the municipality of their headquarters for legal persons settled in Belgium and according to the country or territory of their headquarters for foreign legal persons. This dataset is made up of seven classes. The first class shows, at national level, for each type of property, the total number of parcels, the number of parcels held by holders from each Belgian municipality and the number of parcels held by holders from each country or territory. The number of parcels takes into account the shares actually held. The second class shows this information at the level of the three regions. The following classes do the same at the level of provinces, arrondissements, municipalities, land register divisions and statistical sectors. The dataset is freely downloadable, in the form of zipped CSV files.

Average private household size - Flanders

The average household size of private households, by administrative unit (region, province, arrondissement and municipality) for Flanders

Hillshade DTM 5m

An hillshade is a homogeneous and regular points grid, indicating the grey tone deriving from their orientation relative to the chosen fictitious light source. The Hillshade DTM 5m is a representation of the hillshading of the DTM 5m.

Temperature extremes - 1975

Annual temperature extremes given in number of days: 1/ Total number of heatwaves occurring once in 20 years; 2/ Maximum length of the heatwaves occurring once in 20 years; 3/ Hot days: Mean annual number of days with maximum temperature > 25°C; 4/ Tropical days: Mean annual number of days with maximum temperature > 30°C; 5/ Frost days: Mean annual number of days with minimum temperature < 0°C. Heatwaves are defined according to the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium when the maximum temperature in Uccle is >= 25°C during at least 5 consecutive days, during which at least 3 days the maximum temperature is >= 30°C. The temperature extremes are available for the present target year 1975, which corresponds to the middle of the 30-year period 1961-1990.

Climate projections for Belgium

The climate projections for Belgium are available as different data types: 1/ Daily climate model simulations and projections at a high spatial resolution of 0.025° or 2.8km for 3 Regional Climate Models (download service with NetCDF files): - ALARO-0 forced with the Global Climate Model ‘CNRM-CERFACS-CNRM-CM5’, calculated by RMIB-UGent; - COSMO-CLM5.0-TERRA-URB forced with the Global Climate model ‘ICHEC-EC-EARTH’, calculated by KULeuven; - COSMO-CLM5.0 forced with the Global Climate Model ‘MPI-M-MPI-ESM-LR’, calculated by UCLouvain. 2/ Climate indicators for a present (1975) and future (2085) target year under a mean and high impact scenario (view and download service with raster files). The climate indicators for Belgium were obtained by a statistical downscaling based on the high-resolution Belgian climate model projections, as well as on a large set of both Global Climate Model runs (CMIP5) and Regional Climate Model runs for Europe (EURO-CORDEX).

Temperature - 1975

Summer and winter mean temperature given in °C. The temperature fields are available for the present target year 1975, which corresponds to the middle of the 30-year period 1961-1990.

Precipitation indices - 1975

Annual and seasonal precipitation indices given in number of days: 1/ Wet days: Number of days with precipitation > 0.1 mm/day for winter, autumn, spring, summer; 2/ Dry days: Number of days with precipitation < 0.1 mm/day for winter, autumn, spring, summer; 3/ Average length of dry spells: Mean duration of minimum three consecutive days with precipitation < 0.1 mm/day; 4/ Maximum length of dry spells: Longest period of minimum three consecutive days with precipitation < 0.1 mm/day, occurring once in 20 years. The precipitation indices are available for the present target year 1975, which corresponds to the middle of the 30-year period 1961-1990.