Icelandic Geothermal Database; An Online Interactive Map Interface

Abstract

ISOR (Iceland GeoSurvey) and Orkustofnun together manage a database on energy research and utilization. The database includes datasets describing natural geothermal activity and utilization of geothermal energy in Iceland; a geothermal database.

The dataset describing geothermal fields includes: name, location, maximum temperature, maximum flow as well as classifications based on temperature and form of activity. Geothermal fields comprise one or many sites, wells or hot springs. The datasets for hot springs include: name, location, temperature, flow, photos, list of references and list of chemical analyses. Similarly for geothermal wells the dataset includes; name and location, year and purpose of drilling, photos, list of well measurements, chemical analyses and references.

The objective of the Gagnavefsja interactive map interface is to create a common application management system to manage the repository of the Oracle database and to serve as a data portal using ArcSDE and ArcIMS (Internet Map Server) software (ESRI webpage).

The map interface is designed with various user groups in mind; a) the scientists at Orkustofnun and Iceland GeoSurvey, to search and access the data and to perform in-depth analysis, b) the public, which is allowed to search the datasets using an interactive map of Iceland, c) the power companies and district heating services, to access and view raw data, interpretations and reports involving utilization monitoring and research of geothermal reservoirs and d) students at the United Nations University Geothermal Programme, hosted at Orkustofnun.

This paper describes the datasets including the geothermal data, the Gagnavefsja interface with tools for viewing and manipulating the map display, as well as the applications of the interface today and in the future.