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The live version of this SOP is on the Ocean Gliders community in GITHUB. The home repository of this publication is in the Ocean Best Practices Repository. This standard operating procedure (SOP) document for dissolved oxygen (DO) aims to guide the user through the steps necessary to collect good quality dissolved oxygen data using ocean gliders for both real time and post deployment data streams.

LabSTAF is the first of a new generation of research-grade active fluorometers being developed by Chelsea Technologies Ltd (CTL) in collaboration with The University of Southampton (UoS), the National Oceanographic Centre (NOC) and The University of Essex (UoE) as part of the STAFES-APP project within the NERC-funded OCEANIDS programme (NE/P020844/1). The STAFES-APP acronym expands to Single Turnover Active Fluorometry of Enclosed Samples – for Autonomous Phytoplankton Productivity. The aim of the project is to develop highly sensitive benchtop and deployable systems that can be used to improve our understanding of the global carbon cycle and aquatic ecosystem function. Meaningful assessment of the global carbon cycle must incorporate Phytoplankton Primary Productivity (PhytoPP) which forms the base of the marine food chain and represents approximately half of the carbon fixed by photosynthesis on a planetary scale. It follows that measurement of PhytoPP on wide spatial and temporal scales has enormous potential for developing our understanding of ocean productivity and verifying climate change models. Arguably the most important way in which this target can be achieved is through the validation and development of satellite remote sensing, which operates on the widest possible spatial scales, but which currently has large errors for the estimation of PhytoPP. Most of the current methods used to measure PhytoPP directly are laboratory-based. As a consequence, these methods can only be applied on Page 8 of 116 scales that fall well short of those required. The end result is extreme undersampling of the oceanic environment for PhytoPP (e.g., Lee et al. 2015). Global assessment of PhytoPP falls within the remit of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) which defines and prioritises a range of Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs). The fundamental criteria employed for defining EOVs are impact and feasibility: to make it on to the GOOS list, an EOV must have high impact and be measurable on meaningful scales using cost effective technology. Although PhytoPP clearly satisfies the impact criterion, the limitations of existing methods means it currently scores very low on the feasibility scale. PhytoPP responds to multiple, highly dynamic environmental drivers including light, temperature and nutrients. It follows that PhytoPP needs to be assessed at spatial and temporal scales that are at least as high as for existing EOVs and that new technologies and methodologies are required achieve this. Clearly, PhytoPP cannot be considered as a potential EOV while measurement scales are largely tied to land-based laboratories and the availability of research ships. In this context, autonomous platforms such as buoys, moorings, autonomous surface vehicles, gliders and Argo floats, provide opportunities to greatly increase both spatial and temporal scales for PhytoPP assessment. The challenge is to develop systems that can be deployed on these platforms and generate meaningful parameters with acceptably low errors. This challenge is central to the STAFES-APP project and LabSTAF is the first product. It is a highly portable benchtop system incorporating a range of options for both manual and highly automated operation. Although LabSTAF is limited to deployment on buoys, moorings and surface vessels, a 600 m deployable version (AutoSTAF) will be available by Late 2021. A Digital Control Unit (DCU) will be released at the same time as AutoSTAF. The deployable DCU will provide control of a Sea-Bird pump for sample exchange, provide COM-based inputs for one or two Spectral Photosynthetically Active Radiation (SPAR) sensors and either fully autonomous system control using an embedded Windows PC or remote control through an RS232 or RS422 interface. The DCU will also power the AutoSTAF unit. The DCU power input will be 9 to 36 V DC. Published Refereed Current 14.A Phytoplankton biomass and diversity Pilot and Demonstrated Multi-organisational Method Specification of criteria Reports with methodological relevance

Coral reefs are exceptionally biodiverse and human dependence on their ecosystem services is high. Reefs experience significant direct and indirect anthropogenic pressures, and provide a sensitive indicator of coastal ocean health, climate change, and ocean acidification, with associated implications for society. Monitoring coral reef status and trends is essential to better inform science, management and policy, but the projected collapse of reef systems within a few decades makes the provision of accurate and actionable monitoring data urgent. The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network has been the foundation for global reporting on coral reefs for two decades, and is entering into a new phase with improved operational and data standards incorporating the Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) (www.goosocean.org/eov) and Framework for Ocean Observing developed by the Global Ocean Observing System. Three EOVs provide a robust description of reef health: hard coral cover and composition, macro-algal canopy cover, and fish diversity and abundance. A data quality model based on comprehensive metadata has been designed to facilitate maximum global coverage of coral reef data, and tangible steps to track capacity building. Improved monitoring of events such as mass bleaching and disease outbreaks, citizen science, and socio-economic monitoring have the potential to greatly improve the relevance of monitoring to managers and stakeholders, and to address the complex and multi-dimensional interactions between reefs and people. A new generation of autonomous vehicles (underwater, surface, and aerial) and satellites are set to revolutionize and vastly expand our understanding of coral reefs. Promising approaches include Structure from Motion image processing, and acoustic techniques. Across all systems, curation of data in linked and open online databases, with an open data culture to maximize benefits from data integration, and empowering users to take action, are priorities. Action in the next decade will be essential to mitigate the impacts on coral reefs from warming temperatures, through local management and informing national and international obligations, particularly in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, climate action, and the role of coral reefs as a global indicator. Mobilizing data to help drive the needed behavior change is a top priority for coral reef observing systems. This paper benefited from the financial support to the authors provided by their institutions and the grants for research, monitoring and/or coordination they have secured. The development of this manuscript has been supported through ongoing work of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and the Global Ocean Observing System�s Biology and Ecosystems Panel, supported by the International Coral Reef Initiative, United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization�s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and Future Earth among others. Scopus

Development of global ocean observing capacity for the biological EOVs is on the cusp of a step-change. Current capacity to automate data collection and processing and to integrate the resulting data streams with complementary data, openly available as FAIR data, is certain to dramatically increase the amount and quality of information and knowledge available to scientists and decision makers into the future. There is little doubt that scientists will continue to expand their understanding of what lives in the ocean, where it lives and how it is changing. However, whether this expanding information stream will inform policy and management or be incorporated into indicators for national reporting is more uncertain. Coordinated data collection including open sharing of data will help produce the consistent evidence-based messages that are valued by managers. The GOOS Biology and Ecosystems Panel is working with other global initiatives to assist this coordination by defining and implementing Essential Ocean Variables. The biological EOVs have been defined, are being updated following community feedback, and their implementation is underway. In 2019, the coverage and precision of a global ocean observing system capable of addressing key questions for the next decade will be quantified, and its potential to support the goals of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development identified. Developing a global ocean observing system for biology and ecosystems requires parallel efforts in improving evidence-based monitoring of progress against international agreements and the open data, reporting and governance structures that would facilitate the uptake of improved information by decision makers. Publisher PDF

Advancing our understanding of ocean biogeochemistry, biology, and ecosystems relies on the ability to make observations both in the ocean and at the critical boundaries between the ocean and other earth systems at relevant spatial and temporal scales. After decades of advancement in ocean observing technologies, one of the key remaining challenges is how to cost-effectively make measurements at the increased resolution necessary for illuminating complex system processes and rapidly evolving changes. In recent years, biogeochemical in situ sensors have been emerging that are threefold or more lower in cost than established technologies; the cost reduction for many biological in situ sensors has also been significant, although the absolute costs are still relatively high. Cost savings in these advancements has been driven by miniaturization, new methods of packaging, and lower-cost massproduced components such as electronics and materials. Recently, field projects have demonstrated the potential for science-quality data collection via large-scale deployments using cost-effective sensors and deployment strategies. In the coming decade, it is envisioned that ocean biogeochemistry and biology observations will be revolutionized by continued innovation in sensors with increasingly low price points and the scale-up of deployments of these in situ sensor technologies. The goal of this study is therefore to: (1) provide a review of existing sensor technologies that are already achieving cost-effectiveness compared with traditional instrumentation, (2) present case studies of cost-effective in situ deployments that can provide insight into methods for bridging observational gaps, (3) identify key challenge areas where progress in cost reduction is lagging, and (4) present a number of potentially transformative directions for future ocean biogeochemical and biological studies using cost-effective technologies and deployment strategies.