VEDURSTOFA ISLANDS

Their core work

The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) is Iceland's national authority for monitoring earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and atmospheric hazards. They operate volcano observatories and seismic networks, providing real-time hazard assessment and early warning services. Their research spans eruption forecasting, seismic tremor analysis, and flood monitoring — all grounded in Iceland's unique position as one of the most volcanically active regions on Earth. They also contribute to pan-European research infrastructures for solid earth science and earth observation.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2015–2018), IMO focused on building and joining foundational research infrastructures — volcano observatory networks, atmospheric monitoring, and the EPOS solid earth platform. From 2019 onward, the emphasis shifted toward operational applications: real-time earthquake forecasting (RISE), eruption prediction through tremor analysis (TREMOR), exascale geohazard computing (ChEESE), and earth observation services (e-shape). The trajectory is clear — from infrastructure building to delivering actionable hazard prediction and monitoring services.

IMO is moving from infrastructure participation toward real-time, service-oriented hazard prediction — expect them to seek projects combining monitoring data with operational decision-support tools.

How they like to work

IMO primarily joins consortia as a specialist partner (7 of 9 projects), but has proven coordination capability, leading both EUROVOLC (their largest project at EUR 737K) and TREMOR. With 200 unique partners across 37 countries, they are well-connected and clearly comfortable in large European consortia. Their coordination of EUROVOLC — a network of volcano observatories — shows they can lead infrastructure-scale collaborations, not just contribute data.

IMO has collaborated with 200 unique partners across 37 countries, giving them one of the broadest networks for a national meteorological office. Their partnerships span geological surveys, universities, and research centres across nearly all of Europe, reflecting the pan-European nature of geohazard monitoring.

What sets them apart

Iceland sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, making IMO one of the few institutions in the world with continuous, direct experience monitoring both volcanic eruptions and seismic activity at a plate boundary. This gives them irreplaceable real-world data and operational expertise that simulation-only labs cannot match. For any consortium working on geohazards, eruption forecasting, or seismic early warning, IMO brings both the scientific depth and the lived operational reality of managing active geological threats.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EUROVOLC
  Their largest project (EUR 737K) and a coordinator role — built a European network connecting volcano observatories with shared data access and trans-national research visits.
• RISE
  Addresses operational earthquake forecasting and rapid impact assessment for European resilience — directly translates seismic science into civil protection tools.
• ChEESE
  Centre of Excellence applying exascale computing to geohazards — positions IMO at the intersection of HPC and earth sciences, a growing frontier.