 In 1956, the RMI inaugurates the Geophysical Center of Dourbes, which studies magnetism and atmospheric electricity among other fields of research.In the 1990s and under the directorate of Henri Malcorps, the RMI started using several new technologies such as the installation in 1992 of a lightning detection system by radio interferometry (SAFIR).It is able to localize every impact of lightning throughout Belgium in real time, with an accuracy of about 1 km.