The application window is now open for the next Nippon Foundation-POGO Centre of Excellence (NF-POGO CofE), which provides world class education and training in the field of observational oceanography. This is an intensive training course for young professionals at the post-graduate level, ten months in duration, with an intake of ten trainees per year. The course is sponsored by the Nippon Foundation and hosted by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. It is conducted at AWI’s site on the offshore island of Helgoland with focus on open-ocean sciences and also at AWI’s site on the UNESCO reserve Waddensea island of Sylt where shelf/basin interactions are topics of study.

The call for applications will be open until the 15 March 2020. Successful candidates will be informed by end of June 2020, with training scheduled to begin in the second half of October. You can read more about what the training involves and submit an application here: https://www.awi.de/en/about-us/sites/helgoland/visiting-scientists/centre-of-excellence-nf-pogo.html 

We would like to draw your attention to the recent IUCN review report on "Ocean deoxygenation: Everyone's problem." This report is the largest peer-reviewed study so far into the causes, impacts and possible solutions to ocean deoxygenation. Ocean regions with low oxygen concentrations are expanding, with around 700 sites worldwide now affected by low oxygen conditions – up from only 45 in the 1960s. In the same period, the volume of anoxic waters – areas completely depleted of oxygen – in the global ocean has quadrupled, according to the report. The ocean is expected to lose 3–4% of its oxygen inventory globally by the year 2100 under a business-as-usual scenario, but the global average masks local changes that are predicted to be, for example, more severe in mid to high latitudes. Most of the losses are predicted to be concentrated in the upper 1000 m of the water column, which is richest in marine biodiversity. The full report and summary for policy makers are available from: https://www.iucn.org/theme/marine-and-polar/our-work/climate-change-and-oceans/ocean-deoxygenation

At the same time we would like to inform you about a related OceanObs'19 Community White Paper on "Multidisciplinary Observing in the World Ocean’s Oxygen Minimum Zone Regions: From Climate to Fish — The VOICE Initiative." The Variability of the Oxycline and its ImpaCt on the Ecosystem (VOICE; http://www.ioccp.org/voice) initiative, supported by IOCCP since its beginning in 2017, aims to demonstrate how societal benefits drive the need for integration and optimization of biological, biogeochemical, and physical components of regional ocean observing related to eastern boundary systems (EBSs). VOICE chose to focus on the upper oxycline (transition between high and low oxygen waters) which is fundamentally important for the ecosystem structure and can be a useful proxy for multiple observing objectives connected to EBSs that neighbour oxygen minimum zones. In this paper, we present a first readiness level assessment for ocean observing of the oxycline in EBS around the globe. The paper can be accessed openly and freely at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00722/full 

This is to let you know that a new version of the AtlantOS Ocean Data QC software is available. The highlighted new features of this version include: (i) export current plot images in a single PDF, (ii) if Octave path is not detected automatically, it can be set manually. You can download the installer from the GitHub repository here or you can just upgrade the app if you already have it installed in the system.

We would like to let you know that the Global Carbon Budget 2019 has now been published. Please see the Global Carbon Project website (http://www.globalcarbonproject.org) to access the highlights, paper, data, and a number of figures, infographics and videos related to the annual update of the global carbon budget and trends for the year 2018, and projections for 2019. You may also want to visit the Global Carbon Atlas http://www.globalcarbonatlas.org to explore in detail global and national CO₂ emissions.

We would like to let you know that the call for abstracts is open for the 5th Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO₂ World which will take place in Lima, Peru from 7-10 September 2020. The Symposium is the place to share cutting-edge science in a rapidly developing frontier of research dealing with the science of ocean acidification and other drivers of change. The Symposium will feature keynote talks by some of the leading experts in the field, as well as special events on ocean acidification and aquaculture, carbonate chemistry, and the Latin American Ocean Acidification Network (LAOCA).

Abstract submission deadline: 6 March 2020. For more information on the Symposium themes, abstract submissions and meeting details, please visit the Symposium website at http://www.highco2-lima.org.

We are excited to share with you an online version of the IOCCP - BONUS INTEGRAL Training Course on a Suite of Biogeochemical Sensors. Thanks to the Ocean Teacher Global Academy (OTGA), a project of IOC/IODE (International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO), we have uploaded slides and many hours of video recordings covering the entire theoretical part of the course. The online materials are available freely and openly via the professional education platform of OTGA here: https://classroom.oceanteacher.org/course/view.php?id=394. Use the 'login as guest' option to access without registration.

We encourage you to send us feedback on the course materials so that we know if these are useful to you, and also how we can improve the course in the future. Please spread the news among your networks, and if you're on Twitter, use the hashtag #SensorsTraining2019 along with @ioccp_org and @BonusIntegral.

At the same time, we are happy to share with you the just published Eos article on "Training the next generation of marine biogeochemists" in which the course organizers share their perspectives on the experience and anticipated impact of the training course held in June in Sweden. If you're keen on learning more about this technical capacity building initiative, check out the course website at: http://www.ioccp.org/2019-training-course

We would like to let you know that the various presentations and recommendations of the 8^th Biogeochemical Argo Data Management meeting (Villefranche-sur-Mer, October 14-15, 2019) are now available to view and download from the website here: http://biogeochemical-argo.org/past-meetings-2019-admt20.php

We would like to let you know that the first near-real time data streams from time-series stations in South America are now available online on the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) Data Portal. Biogeochemical (oxygen, pH) and associated hydrographic data are available from two Chilean stations: Tongoy Balsa mooring in the Coquimbo region, managed by the Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones (CEAZA); and the Seno del Reloncaví mooring in northern Patagonia near Puerto Montt, managed by the University of Los Lagos i-mar Center. Data access was facilitated by the CEAZA Met regional system. GOA-ON is working with Chilean partners to integrate data from other stations in the upcoming months. If you are interested in having your ocean acidification data visualized on the GOA-ON Data Portal, please contact the GOA-ON Secretariat at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

You can read about other OA-related news in the most recent October issue of the GOA-ON newsletter.

We would like to inform you that SCOR WG 154 on Integration of Plankton-Observing Sensor Systems to Existing Global Sampling Programs (P-OBS) is seeking comments on a draft report on "Recommendations for plankton measurements on the GO-SHIP program with relevance to other sea-going expeditions." The report can be found at https://sites.google.com/maine.edu/p-obs/final-draft-report and comments should be sent to Emmanuel Boss (emmanuel.boss[at]maine.edu) by 30 November 2019.

We are excited to let you know that the EU Research Infrastructure Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) - Ocean Thematic Centre (OTC) is inviting interested parties to join the 1^st ICOS OTC pCO₂ instrument inter-comparison. The exercise will take place between 24 August and 4 September 2020 at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) in Oostende, Belgium. The aim is not only to compare different instrumentation, but also to improve the handling of instrumentation and of data, in order to achieve the best possible measurement quality being delivered. The results will be published preferably in a data paper with actual instrumentation names mentioned.

If you are interested in the inter-comparison, please sign up to the e-mail list here. For details and a tentative timetable of activities see below or on the OTC site here. For further inquiries please contact Tobias Steinhoff from ICOS-OTC (e-mail: tost[at]norceresearch.no).