Net CO₂ absorption by the world’s oceans is known to benefit human-kind by reducing the concentration of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, but the increase in ocean carbon also causes ocean acidification endangering marine organisms. Knowledge of year-to-year and decadal changes in oceanic CO₂ uptake are essential for assessing the feedbacks between climate change and the ocean carbon cycle.
 
In 2007 the international ocean carbon community led by the IOCCP, SOLAS and IMBER initiated the Surface Ocean CO₂ Atlas (SOCAT) project to ensure long-term access to high quality, regularly updated surface ocean CO₂ data. First public release of SOCAT dataset took place on 14 September 2011 providing unrestricted access to 6.3 million surface water fCO₂ (fugacity of carbon dioxide) measurements taken on 1851 cruises from 1968 to 2007.
 
Both the raw input data and the recalculated output data are publicly available and the methods used are fully documented on the SOCAT website. The unique aspect of this dataset is that the observations have been combined into a single uniform format and were quality controlled. To make the dataset user-friendly, it is available on the web through a sophisticated online data visualisation and manipulation tool called the Live Access Server. The LAS provides interactive maps that enable users to interrogate the data. Gridded monthly data are also available. Potential applications include carbon budgets, studies of seasonal, year-to-year and decadal variation in oceanic CO₂ uptake, and research into the processes driving these. For a complete list of SOCAT impacts see here.
 
Regular updates to SOCAT are planned. The IOCCP continues to strongly support SOCAT efforts to further improve and streamline data submission, quality control and access procedures. The latest version 6 of SOCAT is available from www.socat.info.

It is our great pleasure to announce the release of a new interior ocean carbon relevant data product: GLobal Ocean Data Analysis Project version 2, GLODAPv2!

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GLODAPv2 includes all data from the original GLODAP, data from CARINA and PACIFICA, and data from 168 new cruises – all in all data from 724 cruises covering 1972 to 2013.

All data included in GLODAPv2 have been evaluated for measurement bias and adjusted appropriately, using a consistent method. The end result is the most comprehensive and rigorously quality controlled ocean interior data product for marine biogeochemistry studies.

GLODAPv2 consist of three elements:

• a data base with original cruise data, as submitted by individual data providers but updated to WOCE Exchange format,
• a merged data product, with measurement biases removed for key biogeochemical variables, and
• a mapped climatology of (ii) consisting of global 3D fields of the seawater distribution of CO₂ chemistry and other parameters.

Analysis of GLODAPv2 parameters will allow for quantitative assessment of biogeochemical changes and feedbacks between climate change and the ocean system. GLODAPv2 is the result of a multi-year global team effort funded by EU-IP CARBOCHANGE, US NSF, US-NASA, US DOE, the SCOR-IOC International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) and many other projects, programs and organisations.

The procedures and results are extensively documented in:

Olsen, A., R. M. Key, S. van Heuven, S. K. Lauvset, A. Velo, X. Lin, C. Schirnick, A. Kozyr, T. Tanhua, M. Hoppema, S. Jutterström, R. Steinfeldt, E. Jeansson, M. Ishii, F. F. Pérez & T. Suzuki: An internally consistent data product for the world ocean: the Global Ocean Data Analysis Project, version 2 (GLODAPv2), Earth System Science Data Discussions, doi:10.5194/essd-2015-42, in review, 2016

Lauvset, S. K, R. M. Key, A. Olsen, S. van Heuven, A. Velo, X. Lin, C. Schirnick, A. Kozyr, T. Tanhua, M. Hoppema, S. Jutterström, R. Steinfeldt, E. Jeansson, M. Ishii, F. F. Pérez, T. Suzuki & S. Watelet: A new global interior ocean mapped climatology: the 1°x1° GLODAP version 2, Earth System Science Data Discussions, doi:10.5194/essd-2015-43, in review, 2016

Key, R. M, A. Olsen, S. van Heuven, S. K. Lauvset, A. Velo, X. Lin, C. Schirnick, A. Kozyr, T. Tanhua, M. Hoppema, S. Jutterström, R. Steinfeldt, E. Jeansson, M. Ishii, F. F. Perez, and T. Suzuki, 2015, Global Ocean Data Analysis Project, version 2 (GLODAPv2), ORNL/CDIAC-162, NDP-093, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, US.

BACKGROUND ON OCEAN INTERIOR DATA EFFORTS

Synthesis of ocean interior carbon and carbon-relevant data has been supported by IOCCP since the beginning of the project. Such data are of fundamental importance for accurate assessments of oceanic carbon inventories and uptake rates and for model validation. Over time, three efforts were initiated: GLODAP(v1.1), CARINA and PACIFICA.

All follow rigorous and ever-improving data quality control (QC) procedures to assure the highest possible internal data quality and consistency with other efforts. Key members of the international marine CO₂ community over the past 4 years were assembling the new global carbon data product, Global Ocean Data Analysis v2 (GLODAPv2). This product assembles all past carbon and carbon-relevant data products covering interior ocean into one harmonized data package. Specifically the data from the previously assembled products CARINA, GLODAP v1.1 and PACIFICA. Additionally data from almost two hundred ”new” cruises were added to this collection. IOCCP continues to support this challenging effort.

Biogeochemical time-series programs were established to study long-term processes such as climate-driven changes in biogeochemistry, community structure, ecosystem changes and natural or anthropogenic changes in the ocean carbon cycle. They provide the oceanographic community with the multi-year, high-quality data needed for characterizing ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystem variability, and represent one of the most valuable tools scientists have to characterize and quantify ocean carbon fluxes and their associated links to changing climate.

Time-series sites, especially those that require significant ship-time, are expensive and require long-term national and international commitments. Showing that these time-series sites contribute to a larger international network can help justify the investments that nations are making in these projects. It is also critical to maintain and improve synergies among sites, to facilitate research proposals utilizing the established facilities and to maximize the use of these platforms and the information they produce. The IOCCP, together with partner programs and organizations, works to develop a global network of biogeochemical time-series  with community best practices and regular data products that inform global and regional assessments. It also provides resources, coordination and a communication forum for the time-series community.

From: Discover Ocean Time Series (2015) by IGMETS (https://igmets.net) (IOC/BRO/2015/13)

A key recommendation from the OceanObs’09 Conferenceheld in Venice in September 2009 was for international integration and coordination of interdisciplinary ocean observations. Based on impressive agreement among the many groups present and their strong desire to work collectively, the sponsors commissioned a Task Team to develop an Integrated Framework for Sustained Ocean Observing (hereafter referred to as the FOO). The FOO was published in May 2012 and the implementation process started shortly after.

One of the initial tasks set by the FOO was for the three Ocean Observing System Panels (Physics & Climate, Biology & Ecosystems and Biogeochemistry), interacting through virtual and in-person meetings and workshops, to propose and advocate for a set of Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) as fundamental measurements needed to address the current scientific and societal ocean-related issues. This list would enable funding of the interdisciplinary, integrated global ocean observing network (the improved, multidisciplinary GOOS). Each panel is tasked to consult the community and create a consortium of relevant and interested experts and/or organizations, helping to justify and negotiate the inclusion of certain parameters in the final list of EOVs.

As the community is gearing up for the forthcoming OceanObs'19 Conference, there is a set of EOVs spanning all three disciplinary panels already established (www.goosocean.org/eov). An overview article documenting the multi-stage process of selecting the final list of EOVs is currently being drafted by the GOOS Expert Panels. Moreover, strong efforts to harmonize the work of three panels have been made to ensure that the vision of a truly multidisciplinary GOOS is gradually being realized. 

Below you can find the current (August 2017) version of the Biogeochemistry EOVs. While these documents are being continuously improved, public release of updated versions is planned no more frequently than on an annual basis. 

Comments, inputs, edits and any other types of interaction are welcome! Please direct your communications to the IOCCP Chairs and Project Office at ioccp[at]ioccp.org.

In 2017, the IOCCP Scientific Steering Group announced its position with regards to the Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Data Management (accessible as PDF from  here). Since then, we have been working hard on realizing the vision for a Global Data Assembly Centre for Marine Biogeochemistry (BGC GDAC). Developments are ongoing after funding was secured in Europe and in the US for future GDAC partners. NOAA PMEL and BCDC at the University of Bergen signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2018, and pending their approval as IODE Associated Data Units (ADU), a formal GDAC application is anticipated in the near future.

While operational data flow including NRT (Near Real-Time data) data distribution has been established for decades for mainly physical oceanographic parameters like temperature and salinity – the entire field of operational data flow is relatively new to many of the parameters in the field of marine biogeochemistry. In recent years, IOCCP has worked towards not only making NRT data available to portals (e.g. GOA-ON) but also to ensure it is quality controlled and integrated in global/regional NRT data products.

IOCCP also continues to support the development of existing (SOCAT, GLODAP) or new (Oxygen Atlas, Ship-based Time-Series) data products, e.g. through automatization of data reduction, submission or quality control procedures. IOCCP also supports efforts to increase submission of data to inform relevant SDG targets.

In order to document the status and progress of ocean acidification in open-ocean and coastal environments, a coordinated multidisciplinary approach of chemical and biological observations is required. The IOCCP collaborates with the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) and other institutional and programmatic partners worldwide to enhance capability to observe and predict present-day and future responses of marine biota, ecosystem processes, biogeochemistry, and climate change feedbacks.

Sustainable Development Goal 14.3 specifically addresses ocean acidification, and provides guidance and resources to assist countries to meet their commitments to report against the indicator “ Average marine acidity (pH) measured at agreed suite of representative sampling stations.”

www.goa-on.org		SDG Target 14.3

Oxygen (O₂) is essential for nearly all multicellular life. Subsurface oxygen concentrations reflect a balance between supply through circulation and ventilation and consumption by respiratory processes. Changes in either of these processes is susceptible to lead to changes in O₂ distribution. A global ocean O₂ observing network will act as a sensitive early warning system for trends that climate change is causing. Ocean deoxygenation (decline in O₂ concentration) is under way in part because of ocean warming and increased stratification, but also because of increased nutrient loads in the coastal ocean. Deoxygenation has been largely under the radar to most people including policy advisers and decision makers. Yet it is deoxygenation that will have profound implications not just for ecosystems but also for communities and economies that depend on a healthy ocean. It is one of the prices we are now paying for the fact that the ocean has been shielding us from the worst effects of climate change which would otherwise have resulted from the continuing excessive emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. 

To find out about IOCCP's role in coordinating global ocean O₂ observations, click on the Current IOCCP Activities tab below.

Changes in ocean oxygen content

(left) Global map showing coastal sites (purple dots) and open ocean sites (red to yellow, at 300 m of depth) where O₂ levels are below 2 mg-L^-1 (Adapted from Breitburg et al., 2018). (right) Change in oxygen content of the global ocean in mol-O₂ m^-2-decade^-1. (From Breitburg et al., 2018)