ALBERT

Description: The uptake of dissolved oxygen from the atmosphere via air-sea gas exchange and its physical transport away from the region of uptake are crucial for supplying oxygen to the deep ocean. This process takes place in a few key regions that feature intense oxygen uptake, deep water formation, and physical oxygen export. In this study we analyze one such region, the Labrador Sea, utilizing the World Ocean Database (WOD) to construct a 65–year oxygen content time series in the Labrador Sea Water (LSW) layer (0–2200 m). The data reveal decadal variability associated with the strength of deep convection, with a maximum anomaly of 27 mol m–2 in 1992. There is no long-term trend in the time series, suggesting that the mean oxygen uptake is balanced by oxygen export out of the region. We compared the time series with output from nine models of the Ocean Model Intercomparison Project phase 1 in the Climate Model Intercomparison Project phase 6, (CMIP6-OMIP1), and constructed a “model score” to evaluate how well they match oxygen observations. Most CMIP6-OMIP1 models score around 50/100 points and the highest score is 57/100 for the ensemble mean, suggesting that improvements are needed. All of the models underestimate the maximum oxygen content anomaly in the 1990s. One possible cause for this is the representation of air-sea gas exchange for oxygen, with all models underestimating the mean uptake by a factor of two or more. Unrealistically deep convection and biased mean oxygen profiles may also contribute to the mismatch. Refining the representation of these processes in climate models could be vital for enhanced predictions of deoxygenation. In the CMIP6-OMIP1 multi-model mean, oxygen uptake has its maximum in 1980–1992, followed by a decrease in 1994–2006. There is a concurrent decrease in export, but oxygen storage also changes between the two periods, with oxygen accumulated in the first period and drained out in the second. Consequently, the change in oxygen export (5%) is much less than that in uptake (28%), suggesting that newly ventilated LSW which remains in the formation region acts to buffer the linkage between air-sea gas exchange and oxygen export.

Description: Understanding and sustainably managing complex environments such as marine ecosystems benefits from an integrated approach to ensure that information about all relevant components and their interactions at multiple and nested spatiotemporal scales are considered. This information is based on a wide range of ocean observations using different systems and approaches. An integrated approach thus requires effective collaboration between areas of expertise in order to improve coordination at each step of the ocean observing value chain, from the design and deployment of multi-platform observations to their analysis and the delivery of products, sometimes through data assimilation in numerical models. Despite significant advances over the last two decades in more cooperation across the ocean observing activities, this integrated approach has not yet been fully realized. The ocean observing system still suffers from organizational silos due to independent and often disconnected initiatives, the strong and sometimes destructive competition across disciplines and among scientists, and the absence of a well-established overall governance framework. Here, we address the need for enhanced organizational integration among all the actors of ocean observing, focusing on the occidental systems. We advocate for a major evolution in the way we collaborate, calling for transformative scientific, cultural, behavioral, and management changes. This is timely because we now have the scientific and technical capabilities as well as urgent societal and political drivers. The ambition of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) and the various efforts to grow a sustainable ocean economy and effective ocean protection efforts all require a more integrated approach to ocean observing. After analyzing the barriers that currently prevent this full integration within the occidental systems, we suggest nine approaches for breaking down the silos and promoting better coordination and sharing. These recommendations are related to the organizational framework, the ocean science culture, the system of recognition and rewards, the data management system, the ocean governance structure, and the ocean observing drivers and funding. These reflections are intended to provide food for thought for further dialogue between all parties involved and trigger concrete actions to foster a real transformational change in ocean observing

Description: The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Ocean Decade) challenges marine science to better inform and stimulate social and economic development while conserving marine ecosystems. To achieve these objectives, we must make our diverse methodologies more comparable and interoperable, expanding global participation and foster capacity development in ocean science through a new and coherent approach to best practice development. We present perspectives on this issue gleaned from the ongoing development of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS). The OBPS is collaborating with individuals and programs around the world to transform the way ocean methodologies are managed, in strong alignment with the outcomes envisioned for the Ocean Decade. However, significant challenges remain, including: (1) the haphazard management of methodologies across their lifecycle, (2) the ambiguous endorsement of what is "best" and when and where one method may be applicable vs. another, and (3) the inconsistent access to methodological knowledge across disciplines and cultures. To help address these challenges, we recommend that sponsors and leaders in ocean science and education promote consistent documentation and convergence of methodologies to: create and improve context-dependent best practices; incorporate contextualized best practices into Ocean Decade Actions; clarify who endorses which method and why; create a global network of complementary ocean practices systems; and ensure broader consistency and flexibility in international capacity development.

Description: Effective data management plays a key role in oceanographic research as cruise-based data, collected from different laboratories and expeditions, are commonly compiled to investigate regional to global oceanographic processes. Here we describe new and updated best practice data standards for discrete chemical oceanographic observations, specifically those dealing with column header abbreviations, quality control flags, missing value indicators, and standardized calculation of certain properties. These data standards have been developed with the goals of improving the current practices of the scientific community and promoting their international usage. These guidelines are intended to standardize data files for data sharing and submission into permanent archives. They will facilitate future quality control and synthesis efforts and lead to better data interpretation. In turn, this will promote research in ocean biogeochemistry, such as studies of carbon cycling and ocean acidification, on regional to global scales. These best practice standards are not mandatory. Agencies, institutes, universities, or research vessels can continue using different data standards if it is important for them to maintain historical consistency. However, it is hoped that they will be adopted as widely as possible to facilitate consistency and to achieve the goals stated above.