Starting the first of January in 2021, the Spanish ICOS consortium consists of AEMET, the Spanish meteorological institute, and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), both bringing in one station. The ULPGC station is actually a commercial ship, with measurement equipment onboard. The ship travels from the Canary Islands on the Atlantic Ocean to Barcelona at the Mediterranean Sea and back, gathering water samples during the journey.
The AEMET Izaña atmosphere station is also on the Canary Islands, where it provides important background information on the concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane in the subtropical atmosphere, as well as other greenhouse gases.
Within the next few years, different institutes will join the consortium: the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean Center for Environmental Studies and the National Institute for Aerospace Technology. The partners have a leading role in climate modeling and research, and in regional greenhouse gas measurements in Spain.