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KNMI (institute)
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (, ; KNMI) is the Dutch national weather forecasting service, which has its headquarters in De Bilt, in the province of Utrecht, central Netherlands. The primary tasks of KNMI are weather forecasting, monitoring of climate changes and monitoring seismic activity. KNMI is also the national research and information centre for climate, climate change and seismology. History KNMI was established by royal decree of King William III on 31 January 1854 under the title "Royal Meteorological Observatory". Professor C. H. D. Buys Ballot was appointed as the first Director. The year before Professor Ballot had moved the Utrecht University Observatory to the decommissioned fort at Sonnenborgh. It was only later, in 1897, that the headquarters of the KNMI moved to the Koelenberg estate in De Bilt. The "Royal Meteorological Observatory" originally had two divisions, the land branch under Dr. Frederik Wilhelm Christiaan Krecke and the marine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Bilt
De Bilt () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. It had a population of in . De Bilt houses the headquarters of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). It is the ancestral home and namesake for the prominent Vanderbilt family of the United States. Population centres The municipality of De Bilt consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Bilthoven, De Bilt, Groenekan, Hollandsche Rading, Maartensdijk, Westbroek. Topography ''Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of De Bilt, June 2015'' Notable people * Nicolaas van Nieuwland (1510 in Maartensdijk – 1580) Bishop of Haarlem and abbot of Egmond Abbey 1562 to 1569. * Joan Gideon Loten (1710 in Groenekan – 1789) worked in the Dutch East India Company, the 29th Governor of Zeylan * The Vanderbilt family, prominent in the USA during the Gilded Age, has its name from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planetary Boundary Layer
In meteorology, the planetary boundary layer (PBL), also known as the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) or peplosphere, is the lowest part of the atmosphere and its behaviour is directly influenced by its contact with a planetary surface. On Earth it usually responds to changes in surface radiative forcing in an hour or less. In this layer physical quantities such as flow velocity, temperature, and moisture display rapid fluctuations (turbulence) and vertical mixing is strong. Above the PBL is the "free atmosphere", where the wind is approximately geostrophic wind, geostrophic (parallel to the isobars), while within the PBL the wind is affected by surface Drag (physics), drag and turns across the Contour line#Barometric pressure, isobars (see Ekman layer for more detail). Cause of surface wind gradient Typically, due to aerodynamic drag (force), drag, there is a wind gradient in the wind flow ~100 meters above the Earth's surface—the surface layer of the planetary boundary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parameter
A parameter (), generally, is any characteristic that can help in defining or classifying a particular system (meaning an event, project, object, situation, etc.). That is, a parameter is an element of a system that is useful, or critical, when identifying the system, or when evaluating its performance, status, condition, etc. ''Parameter'' has more specific meanings within various disciplines, including mathematics, computer programming, engineering, statistics, logic, linguistics, and electronic musical composition. In addition to its technical uses, there are also extended uses, especially in non-scientific contexts, where it is used to mean defining characteristics or boundaries, as in the phrases 'test parameters' or 'game play parameters'. Modelization When a system theory, system is modeled by equations, the values that describe the system are called ''parameters''. For example, in mechanics, the masses, the dimensions and shapes (for solid bodies), the densities and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing calculations and data processing. More advanced algorithms can use Conditional (computer programming), conditionals to divert the code execution through various routes (referred to as automated decision-making) and deduce valid inferences (referred to as automated reasoning). In contrast, a Heuristic (computer science), heuristic is an approach to solving problems without well-defined correct or optimal results.David A. Grossman, Ophir Frieder, ''Information Retrieval: Algorithms and Heuristics'', 2nd edition, 2004, For example, although social media recommender systems are commonly called "algorithms", they actually rely on heuristics as there is no truly "correct" recommendation. As an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chernobyl Disaster
On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only two nuclear energy accidents rated at the maximum severity on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the other being the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. The response involved more than Chernobyl liquidators, 500,000 personnel and cost an estimated 18billion Soviet ruble, rubles (about $84.5billion USD in 2025). It remains the worst nuclear disaster and the List of disasters by cost, most expensive disaster in history, with an estimated cost of US$700 billion. The disaster occurred while running a test to simulate cooling the reactor during an accident in blackout conditions. The operators carried out the test despite an accidental drop in reactor power, and due to a design issue, attempting to shut down the reactor in those conditio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Pollution
Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles like soot and dust. It affects both outdoor air and indoor air. Natural sources of air pollution include Wildfire, wildfires, Dust storm, dust storms, and Volcanic eruption, volcanic eruptions. Indoor air pollution is often Energy poverty and cooking, caused by the use of biomass (e.g. wood) for cooking and heating. Outdoor air pollution comes from some industrial processes, the burning of Fossil fuel, fossil fuels for electricity and transport, waste management and agriculture. Many of the contributors of local air pollution, especially the burning of fossil fuels, also cause greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, global warming. Air pollution causes around 7 or 8 million deaths each year. It is a significant risk factor for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Netherlands National Institute For Public Health And The Environment
The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment ( or simply RIVM) is a Dutch research institute that is an independent agency of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. RIVM performs tasks to promote public health and a safe living Natural environment, environment by conducting research and collecting knowledge worldwide. The results are used to support the Government of the Netherlands in formulating its policy. RIVM's primary tasks are: * research * policy support * national coordination * intervention programmes * provision of reliable information to the public and to professionals working in health care about infectious diseases, the environment, nutrition and safety. RIVM is located in Bilthoven, Utrecht (province), Utrecht and employs over 1,500 people, many of whom work in multidisciplinary fields. History RIVM was founded in 1910 when the Central Laboratory for Public Health was created. The present size of the institute is the result of a merger betwee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Pollution Dispersion Terminology
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to air pollution dispersion: In environmental science, air pollution dispersion is the distribution of air pollution into the atmosphere. ''Air pollution'' is the introduction of particulates, biological molecules, or other harmful materials into Earth's atmosphere, causing disease, death to humans, damage to other living organisms such as food crops, and the natural or built environment. Air pollution may come from anthropogenic or natural sources. ''Dispersion'' refers to what happens to the pollution during and after its introduction; understanding this may help in identifying and controlling it. Air pollution dispersion has become the focus of environmental conservationists and governmental environmental protection agencies (local, state, province and national) of many countries (which have adopted and used much of the terminology of this field in their laws and regulations) regarding air pollution contr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radioactive Contamination
Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of Radioactive decay, radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirable (from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) definition). Such contamination presents a hazard because the radioactive decay of the contaminants produces ionizing radiation (namely alpha particle, alpha, beta particle, beta, gamma rays and free neutrons). The degree of hazard is determined by the concentration of the contaminants, the energy of the radiation being emitted, the type of radiation, and the proximity of the contamination to organs of the body. It is important to be clear that the contamination gives rise to the radiation hazard, and the terms "radiation" and "contamination" are not interchangeable. The sources of radioactive pollution can be classified into two groups: natural and man-made. Follo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxic
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell ( cytotoxicity) or an organ such as the liver ( hepatotoxicity). Sometimes the word is more or less synonymous with poisoning in everyday usage. A central concept of toxicology is that the effects of a toxicant are dose-dependent; even water can lead to water intoxication when taken in too high a dose, whereas for even a very toxic substance such as snake venom there is a dose below which there is no detectable toxic effect. Toxicity is species-specific, making cross-species analysis problematic. Newer paradigms and metrics are evolving to bypass animal testing, while maintaining the concept of toxicity endpoints. Etymology In Ancient Greek medical literature, the adjective ''τοξικόν'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe shares the landmass of Eurasia with Asia, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. Europe is commonly considered to be Boundaries between the continents#Asia and Europe, separated from Asia by the Drainage divide, watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural (river), Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea, and the waterway of the Bosporus, Bosporus Strait. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe ... is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles." Europe covers approx. , or 2% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface (6.8% of Earth's land area), making it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
