Workshop participants at the IAEA Environment Laboratories, Monaco (Photo: Tanmay Misra, IAEA)
The IAEA Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) and the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) held a technical meeting on the management, analysis, and quality control of ocean acidification data on 22-26 October 2018 at the IAEA Environment Laboratories in Monaco. The advanced workshop included participation from 15 scientists representing 15 different countries from various regions around the world. Different data products and resources were presented, such as the GOA-ON data portal, SOCAT, GLODAP and the OA-ICC compilation of biological response data and bibliographic database. The workshop brought together both chemical oceanographers and biologists and took an interdisciplinary approach to discuss ocean acidification data analysis. The workshop emphasized the importance of chemistry for biological experimentation (proper manipulation and reporting, but also development of scenarios and interpretation of data) and biology for chemical monitoring (identification of relevant spatio-temporal scales to inform monitoring strategies etc.). Lectures were given on quality assurance and quality control techniques used in monitoring and experimental research, such as estimating uncertainties, identifying outliers and flagging data. Participants were able to apply these theories to their own data sets that they brought with them to the workshop. Participants also provided feedback on the reporting process for the UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 14.3 Indicator 1, which calls for “average marine acidity measured at an agreed suite of representative sampling stations”.
Congratulations for this sustained effort and best of success for all future endeavours!