The Belgian climate data portal is live

The Belgian Climate Centre launches a new portal to find, share and explore climate data on Belgium, in one place.

High-resolution climate projections for Belgium, the exposure of Walloon households to flooding, forest fires and heat, measured and forecast wind power on the Belgian grid, EU greenhouse gas emissions and removals, to name but a few: the data needed to understand climate change and act on it already exists. Yet it remains scattered across regional agencies, federal institutes, universities and research projects. The Belgian climate data portal brings it together in one place.

https://youtu.be/pswfx4APqs4

More than a catalogue

The portal puts the people behind the data in the spotlight. Each dataset lists its authors with their ORCID iDs, and a tag shows who features in our catalogue of climate experts. Their publications are linked too, so users can go from a map to the research behind it, and to the people who can explain it.

The data can also be explored, not just downloaded. Users can display mini dashboards to visualise a dataset, or use interactive tables to filter the data as they wish, directly in their browser.

Harvested or hosted, and always citable

Datasets can be harvested automatically from the platforms where they already live, so they stay in sync with the original source. Data that has no home yet can be hosted by the Belgian Climate Centre. Either way, existing DOIs are displayed, and the portal can mint one for datasets that do not have one yet, so that they can be cited and tracked like any publication.

A call to the research community

The launch of the portal is an important milestone, but it is only the beginning: the portal will grow with those who contribute to it. Researchers and institutions producing data on Belgium's climate, its impacts or adaptation are warmly invited to get in touch. We will help make their data easier to find, use and cite.

Belgian Climate Data Portal