geo.be Metadata Catalog
continual
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federalThemes
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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.
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The Belgian gravimetric database consists of 69,000 measurements, made using relative spring gravimeters. This database is managed by the Royal Observatory of Belgium since 1925. Two superconducting gravimeters measure elusive gravity variations at the stations of Membach and Rochefort, with a precision better than 1E-10 of gravity at the surface of the Earth (g). Since 1996, an absolute gravimeter performs repeated gravity measurements at selected sites, with an accuracy of 1E-9 g.
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Top10Vector – Constructions is the vector data set of constructions in Belgium. It includes seven classes. First class: brunnels. Second class: buildings. Third class: particular line constructions. Fourth class: particular polygonal constructions. Fifht class: particular point constructions. Sixth class: towers on buildings. Seventh class: additional polygon geometries. This data set can be bought via the corresponding hyperlink.
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The earthquake catalogue and database of the Royal Observatory of Belgium contains source parameters of earthquakes that occurred in and around Belgium since 1350. Similar to most other seismic catalogues in the world, the ROB catalogue is heterogeneous, as it is based on the analysis of two different types of data: - Historical data: concern the period from about 1350 to 1910, for which only local reports about damage and felt effects (i.e. intensity) of earthquakes are available (“macroseismic” observations); - Instrumental data: concern the period from 1911 onward, the year continuous seismic recordings in Belgium started, up to the present day. For earthquakes during this period both intensity data (from macroseismic enquiries with the local authorities and, since 2000, on the internet) and seismic recordings are available. The earthquake catalogue is a list of earthquakes with the following parameters: origin time (year, month, day, hour, minute, second), geographic coordinates of the hypocenter (latitude, longitude, focal depth), magnitude (local magnitude ML, surface-wave magnitude Ms and/or moment magnitude Mw), maximum observed intensity, and the name of the locality. The ROB catalogue is considered to be complete: - Since 1350 for earthquakes with Mw>=5.0; - Since 1905 for earthquakes with Mw>=4.0 (seismic station in Uccle and neighboring countries); - Since 1960 for earthquakes with Mw>=3.0 (4 stations in Belgium); - Since 1985 for earthquakes with Mw>=2.0 (modern digital network consisting of 20+ stations).
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Administrative units - current situation corresponds to the dataset of administrative units from the reference database for the land register data. Administrative limits are legally defined by an administrative entity or between two administrative entities. In Belgium, administrative limits as legally defined are fixed and can only be changed by a law, ordinance or decree. The General Administration of Patrimonial Documentation of the FPS Finance is named by the federal authorities as the authentic source of Belgian administrative limits. This dataset corresponds to the current situation at the time of consultation. It is composed of five geometric classes. The first class corresponds to the whole national territory. The second corresponds to the territory of the three regions, the third to the territory of the provinces, the fourth to the territory of the administrative districts, the fifth to the territory of the municipalities. The dataset is freely downloadable via the ad hoc WFS service.
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Top10Vector – Particular zones is the vector data set of portions of the Belgian territory having a particular attribution which makes them different from the objects in the other Top10Vector-themes. This data set includes only one class. This data set can be bought via the corresponding hyperlink.
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RMI operates a network of 17 automatic weather stations in Belgium. These weather stations report meteorological paramaters such as air pressure, temperature, relative humidity, precipitation (quantity, duration), wind (speed, gust, direction), sunshine duration, shortwave solar radiation and infrared radiation every 10 minutes. Hourly AWS data are computed from the 10-min observations.
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The composite is produced every 5 minutes using the reflectivit data from the Wideumont and Jabbeke weather radars. This product is not publically available yet.
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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.
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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