aurora observatory

December 3, 2015

Chinese-Icelandic aurora observatory should start observing auroras next fall

The Chinese-Icelandic aurora observatory (CIAO), a joint Chinese-Icelandic project located at the Kárhóll farm in Reykjadalur, near Akureyri, is reportedly already under construction after local company SS Byggir won the contract for the main building. That, together with a recent visit to the area by the Chinese ambassador, augurs well for the project, that was already supposed to be ready more than a year ago.

Observation activities should begin in autumn 2016.

More on the observatory and the people and organisations behind it in my previous posts on the subject.

August 24, 2015

Chinese ambassador to Iceland visits aurora observatory site

Zhang Weidong 张卫东, China’s ambassador to Iceland, visited the site of the aurora observatory under construction in Reykjadalur, near Akureyri, during a tour of northern Iceland last week, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The aurora observatory is a joint Chinese-Icelandic project being built in a farm called Kárhóll, where land was secured in 2013 by a foundation that featured Reinhard Reynisson, who as mayor of Húsavík had proposed to use crocodiles for waste disposal, and Halldór Jóhannsson, at the time Huang Nubo’s Icelandic spokesman.

On the Chinese side, the project is led by the PRIC, the Polar Research Institute of China (中国极地研究中心). It’s still ‘under construction’, despite announcements that it would be ready by October last year.