Icelandic meteorologists have a reason to be on cloud nine:
A super-computer for weather forecasting will be arriving in Iceland, RÚV reports. This is part of an agreement between the Icelandic Met Office and the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), who have agreed to substantially increase their cooperation on research and weather-related service. The new super-computer is the property of DMI, but the Icelandic Met Office will have access to it.
The reason DMI has decided to house the computer here is that it’s ten times the size of their current computer and, therefore, requires substantially more energy, which is considerably cheaper here than in Denmark.
Hafdís Karlsdóttir, deputy director at the Icelandic Met Office, tells RÚV the arrival of the computer means the Met Office will now be able to forecast for a larger area than before and with more precision. “The weather forecasts should improve.”
The agreement will give Icelandic meteorologists access to experts at DMI and establish cooperation in research. The computer will be started by the end of next year, but then it takes time to set it up. Hafdís explains, “Having access to the calculating capacity this computer offers will increase our possibilities, not only in terms of weather, but also in geology.”
