KNMI data can be downloaded via the KNMI Data Platform. Most of the data you will find here is freely available. KNMI can also provide advice and services in making meteorological data available from and on behalf of European meteorological organizations.
Within KNMI Data Platform you can search in the catalog for specific datasets. Here you can find the metadata of a dataset and more information on access to the dataset via the API (Application Programming Interface). The Developer Portal provides further explanation on how to download data with our APIs and how to get started.
Open Data
The Government wants to make as much information publicly available via open data and open standards. In this way, information could be more easily transferred. Governmental information is available as open data for reuse. Making open data available for reuse means actively making data available as free downloadable files.
The provision of these open data takes place in accordance with the CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons license, which means, among other things, that the user of the data must state that they originate from KNMI.
Legislation and regulations regarding open data
There are several laws and guidelines that promote the sharing of open data. In 2024, the Law on the implementation of the open data directive (Wet implementatie open data richtlijn) came into effect. The European Open Data Directive has been implemented into the revised Law on the reuse of public sector information (Wet hergebruik van overheidsinformatie, Who). In this law, reuse refers to the use of public data held by a government organization for a purpose other than the one for which the data was originally produced or collected. The aim of the Who is to create economic added value from public sector information, make public information more accessible, and promote digital innovation.
Since the implementation of the Open Data Directive, a European-established list of High-Value Datasets has also become available. These datasets must be made available in machine-readable format and free of charge through APIs. A list of thematic categories of datasets that can be classified as High-Value Datasets has been compiled, including the categories relevant to KNMI such as 'Earth Observation and Environment' (e.g., geology) and 'Meteorological Data'.
Since 2007, the European INSPIRE (The Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) Directive applies to geographical data. This directive obliges governments to share environmental data in the spatial domain. In the Netherlands, all links to INSPIRE datasets are collected and shared in the National Georegistery. The INSPIRE data of all EU member states are collected on the European INSPIRE Geoportal. KNMI High-value datasets are published through the KNMI Data Platform in the National Georegistry. High-value datasets are tagged 'HVD' in the KNMI data catalog.
Another law related to public disclosure of information is the Government Information (Public Access) Act (Wet open overheid, Woo). This law regulates which government information is public and how someone can request it. One of the duties for governments under the Woo is the active disclosure obligation.
Market and government
The relationship between the market and the government is regulated, among other things, by the Dutch Competition Act (Mededingingswet), which includes the Market and Government conduct rules (gedragsregels Markt en Overheid).
When it comes to making operational, weather related products and services available outside the government, the policy principle is that the existing market conditions are not affected. What products and services are provided in the field of weather is largely determined by the demand of clients or buyers. Of course within the legal framework and KNMI’s statutory tasks.
KNMI's statutory tasks include, for example, scientific research (into geophysical phenomena such as weather, climate, seismology and space weather and their impact on society), general weather reports, weather warnings, information about earthquakes, the national climate scenarios and maintaining the national monitoring network.
Meteorology and seismology
Below we refer to the law and regulation of tasks Meteorology and Seismology that came into force on January 1st, 2016: