geo.be Metadata Catalog
geo.be Metadata Catalog (National Geographic Institute)
https://publish.geo.be:/geonetwork/srv/eng/thesaurus.download?ref=external.theme.httpinspireeceuropaeumetadatacodelistSpatialScope-SpatialScope (2)
Continents, countries, sea regions of the world.
The data consists in tables of estimated extreme precipitation quantities for precipitation durations ranging from 10 minutes to 30 days and return periods ranging from 2 to 200 years for each Belgian municipality.
rainfall intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) analysis
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) This is a human-readable summary of (and not a substitute for) the license. You are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. Under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Extreme precipitation are derived from a spatial regression model fitted on rainfall observations in Belgium from 1951 to 2010. More details can be found in the following references: Van de Vyver, H. (2012) Spatial regression models for extreme precipitation in Belgium, Water Resour. Res., 48, W09549, doi :10.1029/2011WR011707. Van de Vyver, H. (2013) Practical return level mapping for extreme precipitation in Belgium, RMI scientific and technical publication 062, 30 pages.
Localized unemployment rates of 15-64 year olds in the ILO sense - Belgium
The localised unemployment rate calibrated on the labour force survey (LFS), by administrative unit (region, province, district and municipality) for Belgium.
•The custodian of the resource holds the rights of property (including the rights of intellectual property) to the geographic files •The custodian grants the user the right to use the data for his internal use. •Commercial use of the data under any form is strictly forbidden •Custodian’s name must be mentioned each time the data are being used publically.
In order to allow international comparisons, in particular within the European Union, Eurostat has set up the Labour Force Survey. By combining a set of questions, it makes it possible to measure aggregates such as the active population, employment and unemployment in the same way in all countries and in accordance with the ILO recommendations. This survey has been carried out continuously in Belgium since 1999 (previously only in spring). However, it only provides reliable data at the level of the regions (Wallonia, Flanders, Brussels). Therefore, in order to be able to compare the Belgian districts and municipalities with other areas at international level, IWEPS calculates data calibrated to the Labour Force Survey. The totals, by gender, age and region, correspond exactly to those published by Statbel, the Belgian National Statistical Institute. These data may differ slightly from the data published by Eurostat, which revises the whole series every year.
Bird density profiles derived from weather radar measurements
Bird density profiles are derived from weather radar volume data in real time, by the vol2bird algorithm as described in Dokter et al. (2011, 2019). The vol2bird algorithm exploits the radar reflectivity characteristics of different scatterers in the atmosphere, in order to distinguish biological from non-biological radar echoes. Once biological scatterers are isolated in the volume files, the reflectivity of these scatterers is converted in an estimate of the bird density per vertical layer of 200m, using a mean cross section of 11 cm2. The vbird profiles are provided for the following radars, with the radar owner in parentheses: Jabbeke (RMI), Wideumont (RMI), Helchteren (VMM), Zaventem (Skeyes), Herwijnen (KNMI), Den Helder (KNMI), Neuheilenbach (DWD), Essen (DWD), Abbeville (Météo-France) and Avesnois (Météo-France). References: - Dokter A.M., Liechti F., Stark H., Delobbe L., Tabary P., Holleman I., Bird migration flight altitudes studied by a network of operational weather radars, J. R. Soc. Interface, 8, 30–43, 2011, DOI 10.1098/rsif.2010.0116 - Dokter A.M., Desmet P., Spaaks J.H., van Hoey S., Veen L., Verlinden L., Nilsson C., Haase G., Leijnse H., Farnsworth A., Bouten W., Shamoun-Baranes J., bioRad: biological analysis and visualization of weather radar data, Ecography, 42, 852-860, 2019, DOI 10.1111/ecog.04028
Bird density profiles are generated for every individual radar volume scan, and hence inherit the time resolution from the originating radar scan cycle. All radars used in this data repository operate in a five minute scan cycle. The produced output file is a plain text file, and contains a concatenation of subsequent vertical profile outputs (vpts = vertical profile time series). It contains the following columns: - date: Date (UTC) - time: Time (UTC) - HGHT: Height bin (lower bound) in m above ground level. - u: Speed component west to east in m/s. - v: Speed component north to south in m/s. - w: Vertical speed (unreliable!) in m/s. - ff: Horizontal speed in m/s. - dd: Direction in degrees clockwise from north. - sd_vvp: VVP radial velocity standard deviation in m/s. - gap: Angular data gap detected in T/F. - dbz: Animal reflectivity factor in dBZ. - eta: Animal reflectivity in cm2/km3. - dens: Animal density in animals/km3. - DBZH: Total reflectivity factor (bio + meteo scattering) in dBZ. - n: Number of data points used for the ground speed estimates (quantities u, v, w, ff, dd). - n_all: Number of data points used for the radial velocity standard deviation estimate (quantity sd_vvp). - n_dbz: Number of data points used for reflectivity-based estimates (quantities dbz, eta, dens). - n_dbz_all: Number of data points used for the total reflectivity estimate (quantity DBZH). The bird density profiles are provided as is, without any manual or automatic quality control.
UV Index derived from spectral measurements with a Brewer UV spectrophotometer. This product is not publically available yet.
Every two year the spectrophotometers are calibrated by an external company. A 1000W NIST-traceable reference lamp is used to make an absolute calibration. For the absolute UV calibration small 50W lamps are used once a month to verify the calibration level.
INSPIRE compliant discovery service for geographic information made available by the Belgian Federal Government.
Top10Vector – Local topography is the dataset of the Belgian orography. This dataset consists of eight classes. First class: earth banks. Second class: additional geometry of the slope surface. Third class: dune zone. Fourth class: historic mounds. Fifth class: cave entrances. Sixth class: cone-shaped slag heap. Seventh class: steeps. Eight class: embankments. This dataset can be downloaded via the link in 'Access'.
For this data set, the NGI aims at an update cycle of 1 year for the road network, 3 years for the constructions and 6 years for all the other themes, The update processes vary according to the theme. The road network and the constructions are updated by means of photogrammetric restitution and field surveys. The geometry of these data is updated in stereoscopy (3D), using recent aerial color photographs. Moreover, some topological rules which apply to this dataset are checked. Next, these data are passed on to the field survey service which will update the attribute data. The update of all the other themes is done by interpretation on orthophotographs and field surveys.First, the geometry and the attribute data are updated in monoscopy (2D), using recent orthophotographs. Next, these data are checked on the field and completed. The NGI collaborates with other organizations for the update of certain themes (re-use of existing data). In order to respect the update cycles whenever it is possible, we sometimes work with subcontractors.
View service - Digital surface model Meuse, Vesdre and Demer
This webservice allows viewing a digital surface model. It is a homogeneous and regular points grid which indicates the height above the surface of the earth, either the soil or any other permanent and visible element in the landscape (vegetation, construction,…). These data represent the situation of the landscape resulting from the July 2021 floods in het areas of the Vesdre, of part of the Meuse downstream from Liège and of the Demer. The heights are given relative to the Belgian zero level (fictitious zero of Uccle). The data have a resolution (size of the meshes of the regular grid) of 20 cm.
This web service allows viewing the NGI data which comply with the INSPIRE specifications. It gives an overview of the INSPIRE data which are for sale.
Hail products are derived from the observed vertical profiles of radar reflectivity and the NWP vertical profiles of temperature. Three types of products are generated. poh : probability of hail of any size (larger than 0.5 cm diameter)expressed in %. posh : probability of severe hail(larger than 2cm)expressed in %. mesh : maximum expected size of hailexpressed in mm of hailstone diameter. All products are generated every 5 minutes. This product is not publically available yet.
Hail detection module is an implementation of two hail detection algorithms: of Witt and of Waldvogel (Waldvogelet al., 1979). The module takes radar observations and temperature information and estimates probability of hail (POH, %), probability of severe hail (POSH, %) and maximum expected size of hail (MESH, mm). The implementation of the Waldvogel algorithm is based on the Holleman's equation (I. Holleman, 2001), which was verified for Belgium by Delobbe et al. (2003). The POH is derived in the algorithm from the presence of a substantial updraft detected above the freezing level (0º-isoterm). The implementation of the Witt algorithm is based on the weighted integration of the reflectivity values between the heights of 0º-isoterm and -20º-isotherm (Witt et al., 1998). This algorithm provides POSH and MESH estimates.
National wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance of SARS-CoV-2
The national wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 monitors the SARS-CoV-2 presence in several wastewater treatment plants across Belgium. This dataset contains the results per treatment plant since the beginning of the surveillance in September 2020. The results consist of the SARS-CoV-2 concentrations over time as well as other data needed for the interpretations such as the flow rates of the treatment plants and the population covered.
Wastewater, Epidemiological surveillance, Epidemiology, Infectious diseases, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, Coronavirus
Environmental Health Determinant Measure
The surveillance started in mid-September 2020 for the whole country. Samples are collected every week at each selected wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) using 24-hour volume proportional or time proportional auto-samplers. Samples are stored at 4°C and analyzed within 24 hours. The samples from Wallonia were analyzed by E-BIOM until December 2023, after which the Foodborne Pathogens Unit of Sciensano took over the analyses. Samples from the Brussels-Capital Region and the provinces of West-Vlanderen, Oost-Vlanderen and Vlaams-Brabant are analyzed by the Foodborne pathogens unit of Sciensano while samples from the provinces of Antwerpen and Limburg are analyzed by the Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene Laboratory of the University of Antwerp. The three laboratories use a harmonized protocol. After concentration and RNA extraction, the samples were analyzed by RT-qPCR until June 2023 and later on by RT-dPCR. Three target sequences located in two regions of SARS-Cov-2 genome are analyzed. The gene fragments are the N1 and N2 sequences targeting the N gene encoding for the nucleoprotein, and the E gene encoding for the viral envelope protein. Since June 2023 only N2 and E sequences are analyzed. Until June 2023, analyses were performed in duplicates for the three genes (in triplicates until mid-September 2022 in Wallonia, then in duplicates) but since June 2023, each analysis is conducted only once. The quality of the results is checked and validated at the laboratory level. If the quality is insufficient, additional analyzes are performed. Once received by the data manager, the laboratory results undergo a second validation before being integrated in the database. The 24 hours-representative flow rates of each WWTP are collected using flowmeters and are provided by the wastewater agencies (Hydria and Aquiris for the WWTPs of Brussels, Société Publique de Gestion de l'Eau (SPGE) for the WWTPs of Wallonia and Aquafin for the WWTPs of Flanders). Domestic inhabitant equivalents (IE) are used to estimate the population coverage of each WWTP. IE are based on several data sources (population data, building type data, connection to the network and WWTPs geographical coverage data). IE are provided by SPGE in Wallonia and by the Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij (VMM) in Flanders. In Brussels the population is estimated based on the data provided by Statbel. The data provided by the wastewater agencies and VMM are validated by the data manager before being integrated in the database.
Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium
Walloon Institute for Evaluation, Foresight and Statistics (IWEPS)