Finnish Meteorological Institute
Encyclopedia
The Finnish Meteorological Institute is the government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...

 data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...

 and forecasts in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport and Communications but it operates semi-autonomously.

The Institute is an impartial research and service organisation with expertise covering a wide range of atmospheric science activities other than gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts. The headquarters of the Institute is in Kumpula Campus
Kumpula Campus
The Kumpula Campus is a science campus of University of Helsinki. The campus is located some four kilometres from the centre of Helsinki, in the Kumpula district...

, Helsinki, Finland.

Staff

The number of full-time staff of the Finnish Meteorological Institute is about 540. Permanent staff members account for about 2/3 of the Institute's personnel and those with contractual posts account for the remainder. The Institute operates in on a round-the-clock basis and about 30 percent of the full-time staff work in shifts.

54 percent of the staff have university degrees and 15 percent have a licentiate or PhD degree. The average age of the staff is 43 years.

Air quality activities

The Finnish Meteorological Institute has investigated air quality processes and air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....

 prevention techniques since the early 1970s. Their staff members have comprehensive competence within the areas of meteorology
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...

, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

 and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

. Integrated work is done in cooperation with many other European research institutes and universities.

The air quality activities conducted by the Institute include:
  • Research, testing and development of air quality measuring methods and equipment.
  • Development of air pollutant emission
    Exhaust gas
    Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, gasoline/petrol, diesel fuel, fuel oil or coal. According to the type of engine, it is discharged into the atmosphere through an exhaust pipe, flue gas stack or propelling nozzle.It often disperses...

     inventories.
  • Development of air pollution dispersion models
    Atmospheric dispersion modeling
    Atmospheric dispersion modeling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. It is performed with computer programs that solve the mathematical equations and algorithms which simulate the pollutant dispersion...

  • Performing chemical analyses of air quality.
  • Study and development of air pollution
    Air pollution
    Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....

     prevention techniques.


The suite of local-scale (0 - 30 km) dispersion models available at the Institute includes:
  • An urban area, multiple-source dispersion model.
  • Vehicular pollution line-source
    Air pollution dispersion terminology
    Air pollution dispersion terminology includes the words and technical terms that have a special meaning to those who work in the field of air pollution dispersion modeling...

     dispersion models.
  • Dispersion models for hazardous materials.
  • Dispersion models for odorous compounds.


Dispersion models for larger scales (30 to 3000 km) are also available.

Space Research

The Finnish Meteorological Institute is one of the few places in Finland where space research takes place. The institute has been a part of several high-profile NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 and ESA missions, such as Phoenix, Mars Science Laboratory
Mars Science Laboratory
The Mars Science Laboratory is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission with the aim to land and operate a rover named Curiosity on the surface of Mars. The MSL was launched November 26, 2011, at 10:02 EST and is scheduled to land on Mars at Gale Crater between August 6 and 20, 2012...

, Rosetta
Rosetta (spacecraft)
Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft of the European Space Agency on a mission to study the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta consists of two main elements: the Rosetta space probe and the Philae lander. The spacecraft was launched on 2 March 2004 on an Ariane 5 rocket and will reach the comet by...

 and BepiColombo
BepiColombo
BepiColombo is a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to the planet Mercury, due to launch in 2014. The mission is still in the planning stages so changes to the current description are likely over the next few years...

, in addition to leading a lander mission of their own, MetNet
MetNet
MetNet is an atmospheric science mission to Mars, initiated and defined by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The mission includes sending several tens of MetNet landers on the Martian surface. The objective is to establish a widespread surface observation network on Mars to investigate the...

.

See also

  • Atmospheric dispersion modeling
    Atmospheric dispersion modeling
    Atmospheric dispersion modeling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. It is performed with computer programs that solve the mathematical equations and algorithms which simulate the pollutant dispersion...

  • List of atmospheric dispersion models
  • National Center for Atmospheric Research
    National Center for Atmospheric Research
    The National Center for Atmospheric Research has multiple facilities, including the I. M. Pei-designed Mesa Laboratory headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. NCAR is managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and sponsored by the National Science Foundation...

  • National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark
    National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark
    NERI, the National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark is an independent research institute under the Aarhus University. NERI undertakes scientific consultancy work and monitoring of nature and the environment as well as applied and strategic research...

  • NILU, the Norwegian Institute for Air Research
    NILU
    The Norwegian Institute for Air Research or NILU is one of the leading specialized scientific laboratories in Europe researching issues related to air pollution, climate change and health. NILU has a staff of scientists, engineers and technicians with specialized expertise for working on air...

  • Roadway air dispersion modeling
    Roadway air dispersion modeling
    Roadway air dispersion modeling is the study of air pollutant transport from a roadway or other linear emitter. Computer models are required to conduct this analysis, because of the complex variables involved, including vehicle emissions, vehicle speed, meteorology, and terrain geometry...

  • SMHI
    SMHI
    SMHI is an abbreviation for Sveriges Meteorologiska och Hydrologiska Institut, . SMHI is a government agency in Sweden and operates under the Ministry of Sustainable Development...

  • TA Luft
    TA Luft
    Germany has a well known air pollution control regulation titled "Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control" and commonly referred to as the TA Luft. The first version of the TA Luft was established in 1964. It has subsequently been revised in 1974, 1983, 1988 and 2002...

  • UK Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee
    UK Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee
    The UK Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee is composed of representatives from UK governmental departments, agencies and research organizations as well as from non-governmental organizations and groups...

  • UK Dispersion Modelling Bureau
    UK Dispersion Modelling Bureau
    The UK Dispersion Modelling Bureau is part of the Met Office which is the UK's national weather and meteorological service...

  • University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
    University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
    The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research is a nonprofit consortium of more than 75 universities offering Ph.D.s in the atmospheric and related sciences. UCAR manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research and provides additional services to strengthen and support research and...


External links

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