100 Years of the Royal Meteorological Institute

At the centre, the numeral 100, with the first zero enclosing the abbreviations 'KMI' and 'IRM', and the second zero representing the sun. Isobars, raindrops and snowflakes appear to the left of the sun. The year 2013 appears in the upper rays of the sun; the country code 'BE' in the lower rays. The mint director's mark and the Brussels mint mark, the helmeted head of Archangel Michael, are placed below the '1' of 100.

The Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, known by its Dutch acronym KMI or its French acronym IRM, was founded in 1913 in Uccle near Brussels and is among the oldest state weather services in Europe. From the outset, it took on the systematic recording of atmospheric data: air pressure, temperature, precipitation and wind conditions were recorded at a growing network of measuring stations and compiled into weather forecasts. Over the course of the 20th century, the institute significantly expanded its remit - from climate research and aviation meteorology to seismic monitoring, for which a dedicated seismological observatory is operated in Uccle.

Today the KMI is a federal agency under the supervision of the Belgian Federal Public Service Mobility and is embedded internationally in networks such as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Its long-term data series, recorded without interruption in Uccle for over a century, are of considerable scientific value for Belgian and European climate research. To mark the institute's centenary, Belgium issued a 2-euro commemorative coin in 2013, honouring the anniversary of an institution whose daily work remains largely invisible, yet whose data underpins infrastructure, agriculture and disaster protection.