Starting time of the PRENLAB project was March 1, 1996. A start-up workshop was held in The Hague, May 7, 1996, coinciding with the XXI EGS (European Geophysical Society) General Assembly there. The first steps of the project were discussed and the work schedule for the year was detailed. It was very successful to have the contractor meeting coinciding with the EGS meeting at this very start, where the contractors presented their methods and got them tested in the general discussion among the geophysicists of Europe.
The project had a good start. Some subprojects started already March 1 and all got started during 1996, well before the contractor meeting, which was coinciding with the XXV ESC General Assembly (European Seismological Commission) in Reykjavík, September 9-14, 1996. Papers reflecting the progress of all the subprojects were presented there at the various symposia of the conference. The contractors met twice formally, September 10 and 12.
A PRENLAB workshop was held during the ninth biennial EUG meeting in Strasbourg, March 23-27, 1997. Results of PRENLAB were demonstrated in several sessions of this meeting and in Union Symposium 16, about mitigation of geological hazards, the majority of the papers was about the PRENLAB project.
A two days PRENLAB workshop was held in Paris, October 24-25, 1997.
Participants in PRENLAB have attended several meetings besides those mentioned above, in some cases especially invited, to describe results of the project.
The PRENLAB project has been carried out in accordance with the workprogramme. There have been minor changes in priorities of work which are to a large extent do to unexpected increase in data collection capabilities. Thus refinement and easy access to databases lags behind the hopes expressed in the workprogramme. On the other hand much more data have been collected which is extremely significant for the progress of the PRENLAB project and its continuation PRENLAB-2.
The subprojects of PRENLAB have all been finalized in accordance with what was planned in the workprogramme. There were no significant delays in carrying out the projects except Subpart 4B, Radon related to seismicity in the South Iceland seismic zone, which was associated to Subproject 4, Borehole monitoring of fluid-rock interaction. Task 1 of Subpart 4B, Build an improved LSC apparatus to measure the radon content of water and gas samples, was funded by EC. For various reasons this work was delayed compared to what was planned in the workprogramme. It has been successfully finalized now. However, the delay caused delay in reviving the the radon sampling program in South Iceland within the time limits of PRENLAB. This part of reviving of the radon program is cost by Icelandic sources. However, it must be added that significant research work was carried out on the available old radon data for the region, and this work creates a good basis for reviving the regular sampling program, which now can start.
It is of a great significance for the project how successfully the SIL acquisition system has been expanded from the 18 stations that were available for the project at the time of application, to the 33 stations that are now in the permanent network. Although this expansion was not cost by EC funding the existence of the PRENLAB project and the powerful research planned, helped greatly in obtaining the necessary funds for the extension. This adds considerably to the database which is available for the project, and makes Iceland to a much more significant ,,laboratory`` for earthquake prediction research also for other projects. Another addition of a similar type is that 29 broad-band seismic stations are operated temporarily in Iceland during the period of the PRENLAB project and until end August 1998. This is a part of the Iceland Hotspot Project which is run in cooperation between the University of Durham, Princeton University, and the Icelandic Meteorological Office. Geographically the Iceland Hotspot stations are complementary to the permanent SIL network, so it is of a significant benefit for the PRENLAB project to have access to these data.
The PRENLAB project will be directly continued by PRENLAB-2 which started on April 1, 1998. PRENLAB-2 is based on the results of PRENLAB and is a continuation of it.