Launched as an aurora observatory, the facility already has plans to incorporate other areas of study.

It began as an aurora observatory — a place to improve atmospheric observations and space science in northern Iceland, at a rural outpost an hour or so from Akureyri. But it soon became a much more ambitious Arctic research facility.

In invitations to the recent grand opening, the facility was called the China-Iceland Joint Aurora Observatory. But by the time Chinese and Icelandic officials unveiled the three-story facility last week in a public ceremony, its name had morphed into the China-Iceland Joint Arctic Science Observatory (though the acronym remained CIAO).

The facility will expand its focus to climate change, satellite remote sensing, geosciences, oceanography, fisheries and more, officials said. Read more at ArcticToday.