KNMI Open Data newsletter July 2023

An important update to the Actuele10mindataKNMIstations dataset recently went live. Our goal with this was to make this dataset as complete as possible in terms of the available variables and the locations of KNMI automatic weather stations. As a result, the 10-minute data will now better match KNMI's old license products.  

As part of this update, the number of variables has been significantly expanded, including wind parameters and solar radiation, for example. The complete overview of variables can be found in the documentation. In addition, some variables have also been removed from the dataset that is delivered via FTP (note that no variables have been removed from the dataset that is available via the Data Platform). These removed variables have no meteorological value or were intended for internal use. By making these adjustments to the variables, we have made the dataset more efficient and clearer. See also the full news item about this update. 

We distribute the collection of weather stations as completely as possible. For example, the three automatic weather stations in the Caribbean Netherlands - on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba - will remain available and the new stations in the North Sea will be included when they are connected to our measurement network. The files in this dataset remain in NetCDF format as this is a common format within the meteorology domain. ECMWF has a manual available on how to convert NetCDF to CSV. 

In addition to the expansion of the data provided by the stations, an update has also taken place regarding the metadata of the stations. This data can be found on the dataset page on KDP. The list of stations has been expanded and errors have been corrected. The changes in the station metadata are now actively updated in this dataset. 

Following the KNMI API day, a KNMI Data Community was set up in collaboration with Alliander, Van de Bron and KWR Water. This community provides a platform for internal and external developers to collaborate. Its aim is to help users apply KNMI data, share knowledge and contribute to improving the technologies that are used. You can join this community via Slack and share the code via GitHub. 

KNMI participates in this community and will publish updates in the community channel regarding the availability of new datasets and functionalities, and request input for the development of upcoming features. Recently, for example, input was requested regarding a pilot for notifications when new data is available. It is important to note that this community is still in its early stages, so there will be teething problems. We hope that this community will contribute to the development of new and innovative technologies that can be used to meet the challenges of the future, both technological and climatic. We encourage everyone to participate and contribute to this community.

Since June 1, a new anonymous API key is available on our developer portal. It is important to know that since July 1, the old anonymous API key no longer works. The reason for this is that the use of old scripts that accidentally keep running no longer cause unnecessary load and the fair use policy is guaranteed. 

If you do not want to be affected by these changes, we recommend creating an account on the developer portal so that you can request a registered API key. These registered API keys do not change and therefore offer more stability. So, if you have a registered key, such as the Open Api Key, you do not need to take any action. If you use an anonymous key and want a registered key, you can find the manual on the developer portal. If you have any questions or need help registering for an API key, please feel free to contact us. 

The popular weather forecast model HARMONIE will get a major upgrade this summer thanks to the use of the new powerful supercomputer. This update provides for a higher resolution and the addition of new parameters, resulting in a more detailed and accurate forecasting model. The tests are currently in progress, and the new version is expected to be published on KDP by the end of this year. The renewed version will run parallel to the current version for three months to ensure a smooth transition. Meteorologists and users of HARMONIE can count on even more reliable and accurate weather forecasts with the new and improved version of the model. Follow the newsletter to learn more about the specific changes and release date of the updated model.

The KDP is continuously updated, and new datasets and new versions of datasets have been published during this period.