Pillar 1: Innovation in Ocean Observing

The International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE), sponsored by SCOR and POGO, published the Ocean Sound Essential Ocean Variable (EOV) Implementation Plan, providing a framework for passive acoustic observations that will advance our use of sound to understand the ocean.

Case studies conducted by POGO members in different parts of the world demonstrate real examples of various socio-economic benefits of ocean observing. In the second phase of the project (2022 & 2023), we added stories on Climate-critical observing and Geohazards.

Case studies conducted by POGO members in different parts of the world demonstrate real examples of various socio-economic benefits of ocean observing. In the first phase of the project (2021), five case studies focused on different approaches to Coastal Water Quality Monitoring in Malaysia, Nigeria, Portugal, China and Mexico.

The COLLECT project, which stands for Citizen Observation of Local Litter in Coastal ECosysTems, is a citizen science study funded by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation (USA). The goal is to actively involve the local community in raising awareness of the consequences of plastic pollution, which can not only damage the environment, but can also have

In June, the IOC announced that POGO’s Ocean Biomolecular Observing Network (OBON) was endorsed as a Decade Programme for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. OBON was formed as a result of the International Virtual Conference on the use of Environmental DNA (eDNA) in Marine Environments: Opportunities and Challenges, held virtually in December 2020.

NANO Global Project “A Global Study of Coastal Productivity, Deoxygenation and Ocean Acidification”– Workshop Between 2012 and 2017, with the support of NF and POGO, NANO members successfully conducted joint regional research projects that tackled coastal monitoring related to different subjects (e.g., HABs, tides and currents, invasive species) ultimately, applying ocean observations for societal benefit.

SAFARI (Societal Applications in Fisheries and Aquaculture using Remotely-Sensed Imagery), the global initiative to co-ordinate activities on global fisheries and aquaculture research and management using satellite remote sensing imagery, was established in 2007, and in due course entered into scientific interactions with ChloroGIN, IOCCG, POGO and GEO. Initially a task within the GEO Work Plan,

An Open Science Meeting was convened at the IOC headquarters in Paris in 2011 to gather ideas and input from the broader community of scientists, navies, industries and others. A Writing Group was put together to distil the discussions at that meeting into a Science Plan, which was subsequently reviewed and approved by SCOR and

Beginning of 4 NANO regional research projects (Latin America, North West Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia) (Read introductions to the projects in NANO News Issue 2)

The International Quiet Ocean Experiment is a project jointly sponsored by POGO and SCOR. An Open Science Meeting was convened from 30 Aug to 1 Sept 2011 at IOC-UNESCO in Paris, to gather input for a Science Plan to guide the project over the next ten years or so. Read more about how the IQOE

IOC held a workshop to discuss the plans for the formation of a World Association of Marine Stations. POGO was on the steering committee. Read more…

The first Census of Marine Life reported findings of its ten-year investigation of diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life on October 4, 2010. First Census Shows Life in Planet Ocean is Richer, More Connected, More Impacted than Expected “Culminating a 10-year exploration, 2,700 scientists from 80 nations report first Census of Marine Life, revealing

Initial results were published in Science (12 May, 2006). In this paper, authored by Heather Bouman and others, the bio-optical properties of the phytoplankton are related to the molecular genetic structure of the populations. The global-scale variations in population structure are accounted for by the global-scale variability in vertical mixing. Reports from selected trainees are

ChloroGIN was created in 2006 during a workshop sponsored by POGO, GOOS, GEO, IOCCG and PML, and was inspired by the Latin American Network Antares. It aims to promote in situ chlorophyll measurements in combination with satellite-derived estimates. ChloroGIN was funded by the Canadian Space Agency, and was included as a Task within the first

On 13 December 2005, a one-day workshop took place at NOAA, with the objective, “To improve access to information on past and future research cruises by establishing a comprehensive and user-friendly database and searchable website with information on cruise tracks, types of observations, chief scientist contact information, metadata (for past cruises), project identifier, and berths

From the onset, POGO focused strongly on the need for improved monitoring of marine life and their interactions with their physical and chemical environment.  To address the lack of a system for sustained, long-term, monitoring of marine biota and biological processes at the global scale, POGO convened a Biology Meeting to explore the requirements of

Early on, POGO established a WG focusing on fixed point time-series stations, and on the establishment of a network of open-ocean, fixed-point, time-series observations. This was very much seen as a complement to the Argo programme, and the POGO members agreed to collectively support the network of deep-ocean time-series stations that would later become known

The concept for the Census of Marine was being developed around the same time as the concept for POGO (see Jesse Ausubel’s recollections). It was envisaged from the outset that “an organization like POGO will be absolutely essential for the success of the Census of Marine Life” in the words of Jesse Ausubel, who was