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The field of oceanography is transitioning from data-poor to data-rich, thanks in part to increased deployment of in-situ platforms and sensors, such as those that instrument the US-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). However, generating science-ready data products from these sensors, particularly those making biogeochemical measurements, often requires extensive end-user calibration and validation procedures, which can present a significant barrier. Openly available community-developed and -vetted Best Practices contribute to overcoming such barriers, but collaboratively developing user-friendly Best Practices can be challenging. Here we describe the process undertaken by the NSF-funded OOI Biogeochemical Sensor Data Working Group to develop Best Practices for creating science-ready biogeochemical data products from OOI data, culminating in the publication of the GOOS-endorsed OOI Biogeochemical Sensor Data Best Practices and User Guide. For Best Practices related to ocean observatories, engaging observatory staff is crucial, but having a “user-defined” process ensures the final product addresses user needs. Our process prioritized bringing together a diverse team and creating an inclusive environment where all participants could effectively contribute. Incorporating the perspectives of a wide range of experts and prospective end users through an iterative review process that included “Beta Testers’’ enabled us to produce a final product that combines technical information with a user-friendly structure that illustrates data analysis pipelines via flowcharts and worked examples accompanied by pseudo-code. Our process and its impact on improving the accessibility and utility of the end product provides a roadmap for other groups undertaking similar community-driven activities to develop and disseminate new Ocean Best Practices.

Accurate and traceable measurements are required to understand ocean processes, to address pressing societal challenges, such as climate change and to sustainably manage marine resources. Although scientific and engineering research has resulted in advanced methods to measure Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) there is a need for cross comparison of the techniques and traceability to recognized standards. Metrological laboratories are experienced in accredited methods and assessment of methodology. An EU INFRAIA-02-2020: Integrating Activities for Starting Communities project MINKE (Metrology for Integrated marine maNagement and Knowledge-transfer nEtwork https://minke.eu) brings European marine science and metrology Research Infrastructures together to identify synergies and create an innovative approach to Quality Assurance of oceanographic data. Quality depends both on the accuracy (that can be provided through the metrology component) and the completeness of the data sets. The collaboration between different Marine Research Infrastructures (RIs) places a fundamental role on assuring the completeness of the datasets, particularly at global scales. The MINKE project encourages enhancement through collaboration of national metrology laboratories and the oceanographic community. Metrological assessment of the accuracy and uncertainties within multidisciplinary ocean observations will provide data that are key to delivering policy information. Objectives across all the RIs are to facilitate ocean observation and build wider synergies. MINKE will investigate these synergies, then introduce metrology to the core of various EOV measurements. Currently the marine RIs cover laboratory and field operations, from the surface seafloor, coastal waters to deep sea, fixed ocean stations to ship and autonomous vehicle operations to ships of opportunity, and flux stations focusing on carbonate system variables. The nexus of these operations is the focal point for coordinated improv

Accurate and traceable measurements are required to understand ocean processes, to address pressing societal challenges, such as climate change and to sustainably manage marine resources. Although scientific and engineering research has resulted in advanced methods to measure Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) there is a need for cross comparison of the techniques and traceability to recognized standards. Metrological laboratories are experienced in accredited methods and assessment of methodology. An EU INFRAIA-02-2020: Integrating Activities for Starting Communities project MINKE (Metrology for Integrated marine maNagement and Knowledge-transfer nEtwork https://minke.eu) brings European marine science and metrology Research Infrastructures together to identify synergies and create an innovative approach to Quality Assurance of oceanographic data. Quality depends both on the accuracy (that can be provided through the metrology component) and the completeness of the data sets. The collaboration between different Marine Research Infrastructures (RIs) places a fundamental role on assuring the completeness of the datasets, particularly at global scales. The MINKE project encourages enhancement through collaboration of national metrology laboratories and the oceanographic community. Metrological assessment of the accuracy and uncertainties within multidisciplinary ocean observations will provide data that are key to delivering policy information. Objectives across all the RIs are to facilitate ocean observation and build wider synergies. MINKE will investigate these synergies, then introduce metrology to the core of various EOV measurements. Currently the marine RIs cover laboratory and field operations, from the surface seafloor, coastal waters to deep sea, fixed ocean stations to ship and autonomous vehicle operations to ships of opportunity, and flux stations focusing on carbonate system variables. The nexus of these operations is the focal point for coordinated improv

The concentration of chlorophyll a (Chla), a proxy for phytoplankton biomass, is used as indicator for several criteria of three Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) descriptors (D1C6, the biodiversity of pelagic habitats; D4, food webs; and D5, eutrophication). Satellite Earth observation utilises algorithms that link the satellite observations of waterleaving radiance and the in-water Chla. Among the main sources of variability around this regression to define algorithms are the uncertainties in the in situ measurements due to the lack of consistency in the approaches employed in monitoring programs and research cruises. For example, global analyses based on measurements of Chla by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), considered the reference technique for Chla, are usually derived from studies of independent investigators, so methodological differences between laboratories can introduce significant uncertainties. In addition, since HPLC is a relatively expensive and expertise-demanding technique, Chla concentration have been customarily determined in long-term oceanographic time-series programs by alternative techniques, such as spectrofluorometry (e.g., in RADIALES (Spain)) and fluorometry (e.g., in Plymouth Station L4, Western Channel Observatory (UK)). However, the agreement in the results obtained with these techniques has only been compared in a few ancient studies. The cooperation among Member States required by the MSFD for methodological harmonization has triggered a transnational collaboration involving some partners of the Interreg Atlantic Area project iFADO (Innovation in the framework of the Atlantic deep ocean) for a joint monitorization of Chla in the North East Atlantic Ocean (NEA) region. In situ data have been obtained in 21 research cruises and sampling sites, from coastal to offshore environments, by using standardized sampling and analytical methods. We will report on the results obtained from this operational demonstration an

The oceans are a fundamental source for climate balance, sustainability of resources and life on Earth, therefore society has a strong and pressing interest in maintaining and, where possible, restoring the health of the marine ecosystems. Effective, integrated ocean observation is key to suggesting actions to reduce anthropogenic impact from coastal to deep-sea environments and address the main challenges of the 21st century, which are summarized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Blue Growth strategies. The European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory (EMSO), is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), with the aim of providing long-term observations via fixed-point ocean observatories in key environmental locations across European seas from the Arctic to the Black Sea. These may be supported by ship-based observations and autonomous systems such as gliders. In this paper, we present the EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM), a deployment ready multi-sensor instrumentation module, designed to measure physical, biogeochemical, biological and ecosystem variables consistently, in a range of marine environments, over long periods of time. Here, we describe the system, features, configuration, operation and data management. We demonstrate, through a series of coastal and oceanic pilot experiments that the EGIM is a valuable standard ocean observation module, which can significantly improve the capacity of existing ocean observatories and provides the basis for new observatories. The diverse examples of use included the monitoring of fish activity response upon oceanographic variability, hydrothermal vent fluids and particle dispersion, passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals and time series of environmental variation in the water column. With the EGIM available to all the EMSO Regional Facilities, EMSO will be reaching a milestone in standardization and interoperability, marking a key capability advancement in addressing

RRS Discovery cruise 130 departed Southampton 25th March 2021, operated in the Whittard Canyon (28th-29th March) and the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory area (30th March – 11th April 2021), returning to Southampton 15th April 2021. The goal of the cruise was to continue time-series observations of the surface ocean, water column, and seafloor at the site, as first studied by NOC (then the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences) in 1985. Additional goals were to service a mooring at Whittard Canyon and start the EXPORTS programme by deployment of a UK (iFADO) and 2 USA (EXPORTS) gliders. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic limited to operations to some extent with reduced staff on board but DY130 was a more complete cruise than DY116. The main aims were to recover data and infrastructure and deploy replacement moorings at PAP and in the Whittard Canyon, to continue time series sampling at PAP-SO and collaborate with the USA EXPORTS programme. The new Met Office Mobilis buoy was successfully recovered and it was redeployed with a sensor frame at 30m, restarting the time series of subsurface measurements. The sediment traps were successfully turned around at both PAP and the Whittard canyon. A series of water column observation and sampling operations were successfully carried out with a CTD instrument package. The CTD deployments included pre-and post-deployment calibrations of PAP1 and PAP3 sensors. The benthic time series was continued with a series of seafloor photographic surveys, sediment core sampling, amphipod traps and trawling. A series of zooplankton nets were collected en route at PAP-SO. Underway data were collected and a Met Office Biogeochemistry Argo float was deployed. We deployed two gliders for the NASA led USA EXPORTS and a UK glider (GOCART, iFADO projects). The 3 gliders surveyed nearby features to the north west, north east and south of PAP. All three gliders were validated at sea, with additional sampling from the CTD rosettes following EXP

The European Multidisciplinary Seafoor and water Column Observatory (EMSO, www.emso.eu) is a distributed research infrastructure (RI), composed of fxed-point deep-sea observatories and shallow water test sites at strategic environmental locations from the southern entrance of the Arctic Ocean all the way through the North Atlantic through the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. Working as a single powerful system, it is a valuable new tool for researchers and engineers looking for long time series of high-quality and high-resolution data to study and continuously monitor complex processes interactions among the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, as well as to test, validate and demonstrate new marine technologies

Ocean acidification (OA), the anthropogenic carbon dioxide-induced changes in seawater carbonate chemistry, is likely to have a significant impact on calcifying plankton. Most planktonic studies on OA are based on “one-off” cruises focused on offshore areas while observations from inshore waters are scarce. This study presents the first analysis on the shell integrity of pelagic gastropods (holoplanktonic pteropods and planktonic larvae of otherwise benthic species) at the Scottish Coastal Observatory monitoring site at Stonehaven on the east coast of Scotland. The shell integrity of archived pelagic gastropods specimens from 2011 to 2013 was examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy and the relationship with OA (pH and aragonite saturation, Ωarg) and other environmental parameters was investigated. Evidence of shell dissolution was detected in all analysed taxa even though the seawater was supersaturated with respect to aragonite. The shell condition matched the temporal pattern observed in Ωarg, with higher proportion of dissolution associated with decreasing Ωarg, suggesting that the seasonality component of carbonate chemistry might affect the shell integrity of pelagic gastropods. The proportion of shell dissolution differed significantly between larvae and adult stages of pteropods, supporting the hypothesis that early-life stages would be more vulnerable to OA-induced changes. Our data also suggest that sensitivity to OA may differ even between closely related taxonomic groups. The strong interannual variability revealed by the year-to-year shell dissolution and Ωarg illustrates the difficulty in assessing the plankton response to OA in the field and the value of time series studies.

Seawater Mg:Ca and Sr:Ca ratios are biogeochemical parameters reflecting the Earth–ocean–atmosphere dynamic exchange of elements. The ratios’ dependence on the environment and organisms' biology facilitates their application in marine sciences. Here, we present a measured single-laboratory dataset, combined with previous data, to test the assumption of limited seawater Mg:Ca and Sr:Ca variability across marine environments globally. High variability was found in open-ocean upwelling and polar regions, shelves/neritic and river-influenced areas, where seawater Mg:Ca and Sr:Ca ratios range from ∼4.40 to 6.40 mmol:mol and ∼6.95 to 9.80 mmol:mol, respectively. Open-ocean seawater Mg:Ca is semiconservative (∼4.90 to 5.30 mol:mol), while Sr:Ca is more variable and nonconservative (∼7.70 to 8.80 mmol:mol); both ratios are nonconservative in coastal seas. Further, the Ca, Mg, and Sr elemental fluxes are connected to large total alkalinity deviations from International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) standard values. Because there is significant modern seawater Mg:Ca and Sr:Ca ratios variability across marine environments we cannot absolutely assume that fossil archives using taxa-specific proxies reflect true global seawater chemistry but rather taxa- and process-specific ecosystem variations, reflecting regional conditions. This variability could reconcile secular seawater Mg:Ca and Sr:Ca ratio reconstructions using different taxa and techniques by assuming an error of 1 to 1.50 mol:mol, and 1 to 1.90 mmol:mol, respectively. The modern ratios’ variability is similar to the reconstructed rise over 20 Ma (Neogene Period), nurturing the question of seminonconservative behavior of Ca, Mg, and Sr over modern Earth geological history with an overlooked environmental effect

Continental shelf seas may have a significant role in oceanic uptake and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, through a ‘continental shelf pump’ mechanism. The northwest European continental shelf, in particular the Celtic Sea (50°N 8°W), was the target of extensive biogeochemical sampling from March 2014 to September 2015, as part of the UK Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry research programme (UK-SSB). Here, we use the UK-SSB carbonate chemistry and macronutrient measurements to investigate the biogeochemical seasonality in this temperate, seasonally stratified system. Following the onset of stratification, near-surface biological primary production during spring and summer removed dissolved inorganic carbon and nutrients, and a fraction of the sinking particulate organic matter was subsequently remineralised beneath the thermocline. Water column inventories of these variables throughout 1.5 seasonal cycles, corrected for air-sea CO2 exchange and sedimentary denitrification and anammox, isolated the combined effect of net community production (NCP) and remineralisation on the inorganic macronutrient inventories. Overall inorganic inventory changes suggested that a significant fraction (>50%) of the annual NCP of around 3 mol-C m–2 yr–1 appeared to be stored within a long-lived organic matter (OM) pool with a lifetime of several months or more. Moreover, transfers into and out of this pool appeared not to be in steady state over the one full seasonal cycle sampled. Accumulation of such a long-lived and potentially C-rich OM pool is suggested to be at least partially responsible for the estimated net air-to-sea CO2 flux of ∼1.3 mol-C m–2 yr–1 at our study site, while providing a mechanism through which a nutrient-conserving continental shelf pump for CO2 could potentially operate in this and other similar regions.

A key challenge in oceanography is to capture and quantify processes that happen on short time scales, seasonal changes and inter-annual variations. To address this problem the P&O European Ferries Ltd. Ship MV Pride of Bilbao was fitted with a FerryBox from 2002 to 2010 and data returned to NOC in real time providing near continuous measurements between UK (Portsmouth) and Spain (Bilbao) of temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-fluorescence and oxygen. Additional monthly samples were collected on manned crossings. Over 6000 samples were analysed for nitrate (nitrate and nitrite) concentrations. The timing of nitrate concentration increases (with winter mixing) and decreases (with the spring bloom) are different on and off shelf and in autumn nitrate concentrations remain high on the shelf. Off shelf in the Bay of Biscay, the mixed layer depth assessed using Argo floats, was found to vary from 212 m in relatively mild winters (such as 2007/2008) to 476 m in cold winters (2009/2010). Years with deeper mixing were associated with an increase in nitrate concentrations in the surface waters (~3 μmol l−1) and the increased vertical nutrient supply resulted in higher productivity the following spring. Bloom progression could be seen through the increase in oxygen anomaly and decrease in nitrate concentrations off shelf prior to changes further north on the shelf and phytoplankton growth was initiated as shoaling begins. The full dataset demonstrates that ships of opportunity, particularly ferries with consistently repeated routes, can deliver high quality in situ measurements over large time and space scales that currently cannot be delivered in any other way.

The variability of total alkalinity (TA) and its relationship with salinity in the tropical and subtropical surface ocean were examined using data collected in various marine environments from a ship of opportunity. In the open ocean regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, sea surface TA variability was observed to be mainly controlled by the simple dilution or concentration (SDC) effect of precipitation and evaporation, and the measured concentrations of TA agreed well with those predicted from salinity and temperature. Non-SDC changes in alkalinity in ocean margins and inland seas were examined by comparing the salinity-normalized alkalinity with that of the open ocean end-member. Non-SDC alkalinity additions to the western North Atlantic margin, eastern North Pacific margin, and Mediterranean Sea were identified, which mainly resulted from river inputs and shelf currents. In contrast, removal of TA through formation and sedimentation of calcium carbonate was observed to be an important control in the Red Sea. The concentration of the river end-member can only be reliably derived from the y intercept of TA-S regression (TA(S0)) in river-dominated systems such as estuaries and river plumes. In coastal regions where other processes (evaporation, shelf currents, upwelling, calcification, etc.) are more influential, TAS0 can significantly deviate from the river water concentration and hence be an unreliable indicator of it. Negative values of TAS0 can result from non-SDC TA removal at the low salinity end (relative to the salinity of the oceanic end-member) and/or non-SDC TA addition at high salinities (as occurs in the Mediterranean Sea).

Biogeochemical variations of surface water in the Northeast Atlantic (Bay of Biscay) were examined using high-frequency underway measurements combined with monthly sampling of carbon-related variables. The mechanisms controlling seasonal CO2 variability were investigated by distinguishing the contributions of biological and physical processes to the monthly changes in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2). The seasonality of DIC (47–81 µmol kg−1) had a single peak with a winter maximum primarily driven by vertical mixing and a summer minimum driven by spring biological removal. Non-Redfield C:N uptake was observed in the nutrient-depleted summer but not during the spring bloom. In the North Atlantic, pCO2 seasonality shows a latitudinal transition: from the temperature-dominated oligotrophic subtropical gyre to the subpolar region where pCO2 is dominated by changing concentrations of DIC. In the midlatitude Bay of Biscay, the annual cycle of pCO2 (61–75 µatm) showed a double-peak distribution. The summer pCO2 peak was mainly driven by temperature increase, while the winter peak resulted from the dominant effect of entrainment of subsurface water. Interannual variations of DIC were more pronounced in winter and were driven by the changes in the strength of winter mixing. Higher wintertime concentrations and seasonal amplitudes of DIC were observed in cold years when the mixed-layer depths were deeper, which appears to be associated with negative phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation. The Bay of Biscay shows a decrease of CO2 uptake in 2008–2010 (−0.97 and −0.75 mol m−2 yr−1) compared to 2002–2004 (−1.47 and −1.68 mol m−2 yr−1).