Monitoring flow

The purpose of flow monitoring network is to watch, measure and warn against danger from floods originating in sub-glacial volcano and geothermal systems, or melt water, heavy rain and ice blockage of river-flow. The development of the network began in 1996, following jökulhlaup in Skeiðará, and has in the last decade been extended to the areas south and north of Vatnajökull, south of Mýrdalsjökull, the South Iceland lowland and to Borgarfjörður.

Each monitoring station has electronic registration equipment, pressure sensor to measure the water level, sensors for the conductivity and temperature in the water, solar-panel which provides energy for the station, a telephone and a modem for the transfer of data. An alarm goes off when conductivity or the water level reaches a given limit and alerts Neyðarlínan (the Emergency Watch), bringing in specialists who decide on an action.

The data information continuously transferred to the Icelandic Meteorological Office server, can be viewed here on the website. NB: Real time data may be wrong or misinterpreted. The IMO does not take responsibility for the use of the data.