1. COUNTRY Iceland

2. PRINCIPAL NATIONAL CONTACT FOR GOOS ACTIVITIES

Dr Olafur S. Astthorsson,

Deputy Director - Research,

Marine Research Institute,

Skulagata 4, P.O. Box 1390,

Reykjavik

Phone: + 354-5520240

Fax: + 354-5623790

email:osa@hafro.is

3. MECHANISM FOR NATIONAL CO-ORDINATION OF GOOS

The Marine Research Institute (MRI) in Reykjavik is the national center for fisheries and oceanographic research. National GOOS-related activities are coordinated by and through the hydrographic section of the MRI.

4. MEMBERSHIP OF AND CONTRIBUTION TO REGIONAL BODIES

Member/contributor to ICES and through that organization to GOOS.

5.1 CONTRIBUTION TO GOOS INITIAL OBSERVING SYSTEM

The MRI maintains a monitoring net of about 100 hydrobiological stations on 12 standard sections around Iceland. These stations are monitored 4 times per year for physical and chemical observations (phosphate, nitrate, silicate) and one a year for biological observations (phytoplankton, zooplankton). Some of these stations have been monitored since around 1950. The zoopankton biomass monitoring has demonstrated fluctuations which in some extent appear to be linked to climate and circulation changes.

At selected stations carbon dioxide has been monitored for about 20 years.

The MRI also maintains a grid of about 10 continuous sea surface temperature meters at coastal stations all around the country.

The hydrographic data are regularly processed and sent to the ICES hydrographic data bank.

5.2 CONTRIBUTION TO GOOS PILOT PROJECTS

5.3 CONTRIBUTION TO GOOS RELATED RESEARCH

The MRI has in recent years participated in several GOOS related pilot projects. These include e.g. the EU supported VEINS (Variability in the exchanges of the Northern Seas) which aims at understanding the movement of water from the Arctic and into the Atlantic Ocean. Another EU project, named ANIMATE (Atlantic network of interdisciplinary mooring and time-series for Europe) started in 2002 and it will provide an initial network of sustained moored stations for ocean CO₂ and carbon cycle measurements in the eastern North Atlantic. The moored station serviced by Iceland is the Irminger Sea, deep south-west of the country.

5.4 OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS TO GOOS

The Icelandic Meteorological Office receives reports from ships within its sector and transmits them to both users and other meteorological centers.

6. CAPACITY BUILDING

7. IMPROVING GOOS

8.1 CAPACITY BUILDING

8.2 INVESTMENT IN NATIONAL COORDINATION

8.3 INVESTMENT IN INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION