We are excited to announce that IOC-UNESCO has just published the "Integrated Ocean Carbon Research: A Summary of Ocean Carbon Knowledge and a Vision for Coordinated Ocean Carbon Research and Observations for the Next Decade", a report which sets out to accomplish the vital task of indicating the current gaps and future directions for the integrated ocean carbon cycle research.

IOCCP was one of the five international research and coordination programmes on ocean-climate interaction, which have been working together since 2018 in the IOC Working Group on Integrated Ocean Carbon Research (IOC-R). The other organizations are: the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research Project (IMBeR), the Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS), the Climate and Ocean Variability, Predictability and Change (CLIVAR) project and the Global Carbon Project (GCP).

The report presents a synthesis of the state of knowledge about the oceans’ role in the carbon cycle and points to the way ahead. Its objective is to provide decision-makers with the knowledge needed to develop climate change mitigation and adaptation policies for the coming decade. It also emphasizes the importance of scientific knowledge to the taking of informed decisions within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and build more resilient societies. Through continued collaboration amongst IOC-R WG co-conveners, we hope to develop an innovative joint programme of medium- and long-term integrated ocean carbon research to fill the gaps in this field.

Click here to access the official press release of IOC-UNESCO.

On behalf of the U.S. Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification we would like to encourage you to participate in a community survey about your use of CO₂-in-seawater reference materials. The survey will take 5-10 minutes and will help to gain a baseline understanding of how reference materials for the quality control of measurements of seawater CO₂ system parameters are used and how to build resilience in their production and distribution. Currently, there is a single source of reference materials for total alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon, and pH in seawater and a calibrated HCl titrant for seawater alkalinity analysis (A. Dickson Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego). A recent webinar by Andrew Dickson entitled, “CO2-in-seawater reference materials: yesterday, today, and tomorrow” (see the video recording) provides the context and motivation for this larger effort.

While the survey will not close on a specific date, we request that you complete it by May 21, 2021. Individual responses to this survey are confidential. Data from this survey linked to respondents’ identities will never be released publicly. Rather, data for public release will be presented in aggregated forms.

We are happy to let you know about the publication of a new compilation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) data obtained from global ocean observations from 1994 to 2020. This compilation by Hansell et al. (2021) consists of measurements of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and other chemical and hydrographic parameters obtained during the global ocean observations from 1994-01-01 to 2019-12-31. Measurements of DOM in the open ocean have increased greatly since the late 1980's, spurred by the growth in scientific interest directed at the ocean carbon cycle. DOM data generated by many laboratories around the world are typically made available in diverse, regional data archives, making them less available than necessary for the data value to be maximized. The effort here was to make ship-collected bottle data accessible more directly and in uniform format.

On behalf of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) we would like to share information about the next presentation in the GOA-ON Webinar Series. On Wednesday, 21 April 2021 at 18:00 UTC, Dr. Kristina Barclay (Univ. Calgary, Canada) will talk about "Canada's Ocean Acidification Community of Practice." Please register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/8802503588583695629. An abstract of the talk is provided below.

If you missed any of the GOA-ON webinars, you can watch them on the GOA-ON Youtube Channel.

A virtual workshop building on the priorities of the G7 Future of the Seas and Oceans Initiative will be held to explore the applications of a global data-stream from the Biogeochemical-Argo array in fisheries, carbon budget verification, and environmental forecasting. The impetus for the workshop is the G7 Future of the Seas and Oceans Initiative for better ocean observations to ensure sustainable use by future generations; and the recent funding by the US National Science Foundation of a $53 million project, Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Array (GO-BGC), to deploy 500 Biogeochemical-Argo profiling floats throughout the world ocean is an important step in this direction.

The workshop will be held over a series of Tuesdays in May (4, 11, 18, 25) and June (1). The audience for the workshop is global, and to accommodate a global audience, the workshop sessions will be repeated twice each day at 14:00 UTC and 23:00 UTC. Many of the presentations will be pre-recorded and available a week before each session starts. A provisional agenda is available here.

For more information about the workshop and to register for any of the sessions, click here.

Save the date for the upcoming virtual workshop on the New Global Ocean Biogeochemistry (GO-BGC) Array: Building a Community of Biogeochemistry Float Data Users. The Global Ocean Biogeochemistry (GO-BGC) array is a 5-year effort funded by the US National Science Foundation to produce and deploy 500 profiling floats equipped with biogeochemical sensors in the world ocean, starting in the first quarter of 2021.

To inform and engage a broad oceanographic user community, the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry (OCB) and the US Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) Programs are working with GO-BGC leadership to plan a virtual GO-BGC Scientific Workshop from June 28-30, 2021. The objectives of the workshop are to: (i) Introduce the GO-BGC plan to the global scientific community; (ii) Discuss and innovate on scientific applications of GO-BGC data; (iii) Provide background information on the flow of data and archiving; and (iv) Deliver hands-on tutorials and computer code for accessing GO-BGC data. Presentations and discussions will be scheduled for 3-4 hours on each day. Some presentations will be prerecorded and available online prior to each day’s events for viewing, so that participants can consider discussion items before the meeting. The organizers look forward to a large online participation in the meeting as this new, multi-year program gets underway.

The Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO) and Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) are pleased to announce that the POGO-SCOR Visiting Fellowship programme for 2021 is now open for applications. The scheme is designed to promote training and capacity development, leading towards a global observation scheme for the oceans, and is aimed at scientists, technicians, graduate students (preferably PhD) and post-doctoral fellows involved in oceanographic work at centres in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Priority is given to applicants in the early stages of their career development. The fellowship offers the opportunity to visit other oceanographic centres for a short period (1 to 3 months) for training on aspects of oceanographic observations, analyses, and interpretation. It provides financial support to cover the return airfare from the fellow's home country to the host institution, and a contribution towards accommodation and subsistence for the period of the visit.

The deadline for applications is 30 April 2021. For more information and details on how to apply please see: https://pogo-ocean.org/capacity-development/pogo-scor-fellowship-programme/

We would like to inform you that you are invited to take part in a public review of the draft of the 2021 Status Report on the Global Climate Observing System. This report provides an overview of the adequacy of the observing system as a whole and considers the status of observations of each Essential Climate Variable (ECV).  It covers atmospheric, oceanic, terrestrial, cryospheric and hydrological variables.  Its publication will be followed by an implementation plan in 2022 that will address gaps and new and developing needs.  The report, aimed to be published in July 2021, will be considered by the UNFCCC, sponsors of GCOS and other international observing systems. 

The public review of the 2021 GCOS Status Report is open to all and we look forward to your comments.  Your input will help shape the global climate observing system in the next 6 years.  Follow this link if you're interested in registering as an expert reviewer: https://apps.ipcc.ch/comments/gcos/pd/register.php . The deadline for submitting comments is 2 April 2021. Comments will be considered by the GCOS expert panels (atmosphere, ocean and terrestrial as appropriate) who will adjust the document accordingly. IOCCP as GOOS Biogeochemistry Panel of Experts also contributes to the process.

We would like to let you know that the U.S. Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification is organizing a webinar "CO₂-in-seawater reference materials: yesterday, today, and tomorrow." The webinar, presented by Prof. Andrew Dickson (Scripps  Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, USA), will take place on March 16, 2021, at 16:00 UTC. To register please follow this link.

The organizers welcome all who work on ocean acidification and ocean carbonate chemistry studies to attend. This is the first community engagement in a larger effort to increase the resilience of the production and distribution of ocean carbonate chemistry reference materials.