Icelandic Meteorological Office

Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO; Icelandic: Veðurstofa Íslands) is Iceland's national weather service and as such a government agency under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.[1] It is also active in volcano monitoring,[2] esp. volcano seismology,[3] and, together with other institutions, responsible for civil protection in Iceland[4]

Vatnsskarð weather station, Skagafjörður, Iceland
IMO quake map and diagram re. 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull

Aims and functions

"The research focus of IMO is on weather and climate, atmospheric processes, glacier and avalanche studies, hydrological systems, earthquake and volcanic processes and geohazards. IMO also focuses on research in multi-parameter geophysical monitoring to develop more accurate forecasts of hazardous events. IMO has participated in several European and Nordic funded research projects, having the role of lead partner in many of them."[4]An example is the FUTUREVOLC-Project.[5]

History of the institution

IMO was founded on 1 January 1920 as a solely meteorological institute. Til in 1925, it was part of another institution (Löggildingarstofa). Since then, it is an independent institution under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

From 2009 on, the Institution for Hydrology (Vatnamælingar) was integrated into IMO.

80 years after foundation, in the year 2000, a book was published about the history of the Icelandic Met Office (Hilmar Garðarsson: Saga Veðurstofu Íslands), 100 years after foundation, in 2020, a statue was erected for IMO.

General directors

General directors of the institution are: Þorkell Þorkelsson (from 1920 to 1946), Teresía Guðmundsson (from 1946 to 1963), Hlynur Sigtryggsson (from 1963 to 1989), Páll Bergþórsson (from 1989 to 1993), Magnús Jónsson (from 1994 to 2008) and Árni Snorrason (since 2009).[6]

Equipment

From 2016, the Icelandic Veðurstofa manages a dual Cray XC30 system for the Danish Meteorological Institute as weather prediction, due to cheaper electricity and cooling.[7] One is used for development, the other for daily operations.[8]

References
  1. https://en.vedur.is/about-imo/chart/ Organisational chart of the Icelandic Met Office. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  2. Icelandic Met Office: Aviation colour code map.
  3. Icelandic Met Office: Earthquakes.
  4. Mission. About the Icelandic Meteorological Office. (28.5.2010) Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  5. Futurevolc. University of Iceland. Official website. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  6. https://en.vedur.is/about-imo/chart/ Organisational chart of the Icelandic Met Office. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  7. "Efter 31 år er supercomputeren blevet tavs i DMI's maskinstue". Version2. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  8. "DMI's it-folk står klar til at løse problemer med ny supercomputer". Version2. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.

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