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.

We are happy to inform you that the report of the XV Session of the IOCCP Scientific Steering Group & Global Ocean Observing System Biogeochemistry Panel of Experts (IOCCP-SSG-15) has been published. You can access the report from our site HERE.

The report summarises the current status and future plans related to IOCCP's coordination activities for each of our themes, including the new "Particulate matter" and "Observations-modelling interface" themes. We hope that you will find the report informative and many of you will become involved in the activities that the SSG planned for the months to come. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions and comments.

On top of the change in leadership which we informed about recently, the 2020-2021 period is and will be marked with big changes for the IOCCP SSG. In the second part of 2020 we were lucky to be joined by two new SSG members: Emmanuel Boss (University of Maine, USA) taking responsibility for the new Particulate Matter theme; and Fei Chai (Second Institute of Oceanography, China) taking responsibility for the new Observations-Modelling Interface theme. In January 2021 we also welcomed Dariia Atamanchuk (Dalhousie University, Canada) as a new SSG member to take over the responsibility for the Instruments and Sensors theme. Please see below for more information on the themes led by our new SSG members, or visit their profiles. 

In addition, we are in the process of selecting another group of new SSG members based on many fantastic applications we received in response to the recent open call which closed on 31 January 2021. New SSG members are expected to join the Panel around April-May this year.

We are excited to let you know that since January 2021 Véronique Garçon (LEGOS, France) has joined Kim Currie (NIWA, New Zealand) at the helm of IOCCP as Co-Chair. Véronique joined IOCCP SSG in 2018 and has been engaged in several IOCCP activities related to the Oxygen theme, for which she is responsible, and beyond. We are convinced that under the combined leadership of Kim and Véronique, IOCCP will continue its gradual expansion of coordination and communication activities beyond carbon and onto all marine biogeochemistry Essential Ocean Variables, according to its mandate as GOOS Biogeochemistry Panel. 

At the same time we want to sincerely thank Masao Ishii for his long-term and outstanding commitment to IOCCP. Masao has served on IOCCP SSG for a decade, including four years as Co-Chair, first alongside Toste Tanhua and then Kim Currie. We are indebted to Masao for his guidance, devotion and hard work for the entire marine biogeochemistry community, and look forward to continued interactions in the future.

We would like to let you know that the draft Final Report of Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS) 2020 is available for community review until February 19, 2021. This draft report builds upon the First and Second Reports, released in 2016 and 2019. This will be the only round for reviewer comments. The Final Report sets the stage for future evolution of the arrays; describing remaining unresolved issues and a governance structure that will provide the necessary scientific advice and coordination among the implementing agencies. You can access the full report as PDF and download a spreadsheet template for comments from here: https://tpos2020.org/project-reports/final-report/