Every year the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) forms new Working Groups (WG). The SCOR WG are usually formed of no more than ten members to deliberate on a narrowly focused topic and develop a publication for the primary scientific literature. Their work is intended to be completed in four years or less. The following WGs are relevant to SOLAS science.

 

SCOR Working Group 155 on Eastern boundary upwelling systems (EBUS): diversity, coupled dynamics and sensitivity to climate change

Co-chairs: Ruben Escribano (Chile) and Ivonne Montes (Peru)

SCOR webpage

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SCOR Working Group 154 on Integration of Plankton-Observing Sensor Systems to Existing Global Sampling Programs (P-OBS)

Co-chairs: Emmanuel Boss (USA) and Anya Waite (Germany)

Other Full Members: Silvia Acinas (Spain), Ilana Berman-Frank (Israel), Marcela Cornejo (Chile), Katja Fennel (Canada), Heidi Sosik (USA), Sandy Thomalla (South Africa), Julia Uitz (France), and Hidekatsu Yamazaki (Japan)

Associate Members: Sonia Batten (Canada and PICES), Jørgen Berge (Norway), Herve Claustre (France), Gérald Grégori (France), Johannes Karstensen (Germany), Frank Muller-Karger (USA), Anthony Richardson (Australia), Bernadette Sloyan (Australia), and Rik Wanninkhof (USA)

Terms of Reference

General: To identify best practices (technologies and sampling protocols) and technical feasibility to incorporate plankton measurements into global ocean observing platforms (initially GO-SHIP and for expansion into the mooring array of OceanSITES).

Specific:

  1. Identify current technologies (sensors as well as water sample analysis) that can be integrated into existing observing infrastructure to provide input and guide studies of plankton for marine ecosystem and biogeochemistry studies.
  2. Provide the necessary details associated with every technology/measurement proposed (e.g., power, cost, and human effort).
  3. Document potential applications, including science case studies and lists of publications, and document measurement protocols. Develop adequate protocols when these are not available.
  4. Identify synergies with specific measurements done from other observing programs (e.g., BGC-Argo, space-based measurements, Continuous Plankton Recorder surveys) to provide cross-calibration and a better representation of the 4-D distribution of the parameter measured.
  5. Identify technological limitations and/or gaps, and identify areas of priority investments to develop and implement the required observation technologies and tools for specific needs.
  6. Increase awareness of the availability of biological oceanographic datasets internationally and identify barriers to their access and use, particularly in developing nations.

Approved: September 2017

Financial Sponsors: SCOR, NSF

Website: http://www.scor-int.org/SCOR_WGs_WG154.htm

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SCOR Working Group 153 on Floating Litter and its Oceanic TranSport Analysis and Modelling (FLOTSAM)

Chairs: Stefano Aliani (Italy)

Vice-Chairs: Nikolai Maximenko (USA), Kara Lavender Law (USA), and Erik van Sebille (Netherlands)

Other Full Members: Bertrand Chapron (France), Irina Chubarenko (Russia), Atsuhiko Isobe (Japan), Victor Martinez-Vicente (UK), Peter Ryan (South Africa), Won Joon Shim (South Korea), and Martin Thiel (Chile)

Associate Members: Melanie Bergmann (Germany), Yi Chao (USA), Baylor Fox-Kemper (USA), Denise Hardesty (Australia), Tobias Kukulka (USA), Laurent Lebreton (New Zealand), Christophe Maes (France), and Miguel Morales Maqueda (UK)

Terms of Reference

  1. Identify gaps in our knowledge of the near-surface ocean dynamics that may affect litter distribution and transport.
  2. Improve future marine litter modelling capabilities.
  3. Evaluate existing and emerging remote sensing technologies that can be applied to marine litter in the open ocean.
  4. Improve awareness of the scientific understanding of marine debris, based on better observations and modelling results.

Approved: September 2017

Financial Sponsors: SCOR, NSF

Website: http://www.scor-int.org/SCOR_WGs_WG153.htm

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SCOR Working Group 152 on Measuring Essential Climate Variables in Sea Ice (ECVice)

Co-chairs: Daiki Nomura (Japan), François Fripiat (Belgium) and Brent Else (Canada)

Other Full Members: Bruno Delille (Belgium), Mar Fernandez-Méndez (Norway), Lisa Miller (Canada), Ilka Peeken (Germany), Janne Markus Rintala (Finland), Maria van Leeuwe (Netherlands), and Fan Zhang (China-Beijing).

Associate Members: Katarina Abrahamsson (Sweden), Jeff Bowman (USA), James France (UK), Agneta Fransson (Norway), Delphine Lannuzel (Australia), Brice Loose (USA), Klaus Meiners (Australia), Christopher J. Mundy (Canada), Hyoung Chul Shin (Korea), Jean-Louis Tison (Belgium), and Marcello Vichi (South Africa)

Terms of Reference

  1. Publish synthetic reviews compiled from measurements demonstrating large, unresolved discrepancies, with a special emphasis on primary production, gas concentrations and fluxes. These detailed reviews will draw on both the literature and unpublished studies to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses related to each methodology.
  2. Design and coordinate intercalibration experiments to evaluate different methods for key parameters. In addition to organizing field experiments, we will pursue use of ice tank facilities and stimulate and support applications for funding, at both national and international levels, to further facilitate the experiments. If successful, manuscripts will be written and the outcomes will be presented in the guide of best practice to support the recommendations.
  3. Design intercomparison studies to facilitate validation and adoption of new technologies for assessing the complexity and heterogeneity of sea ice at various spatial and temporal scales.
  4. Create a guide of best practices for biological and biogeochemical studies in the sea-ice environment. This will be accomplished using a web-based forum for compiling and disseminating the outcomes of past and new intercomparison studies.

Approved: September 2016

Financial Sponsors: SCOR, NSF

Website: http://www.scor-int.org/SCOR_WGs_WG152.htm

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SCOR Working Group 151 on Iron Model Intercomparison Project (FeMIP)

Co-chairs: Alessandro Tagliabue (UK) and Stephanie Dutkiewicz (USA)

Other Full Members: Tatiana Ilyina (Germany), Kazuhiro Misumi (Japan), Fanny Monteiro (UK), J. Keith Moore (USA), Yeala Shaked (Israel), Marcello Vichi (South Africa), Christoph Völker (Germany), Mustafa Yücel (Turkey)

Associate Members: Olivier Aumont (France), Alex Baker (UK), Philip Boyd (Australia), Fei Chai (China-Beijing), Peter Croot (Ireland), Christel Hassler (Switzerland), Eun Young Kwon (Korea), Jun Nishioka (Japan), Maite Maldonado (Canada), Mark Moore (UK), Andy Ridgwell (USA), Benjamin Twining (USA)

Terms of Reference

  1. To identify best practices for minimum complexity representations of the iron cycle in models , with options given for more advanced aspects, and publish the guidance in a peer-reviewed paper.
  2. To develop tools for a wide variety of platforms to validate global model results in a standardised way and make these available via a peer-reviewed publication and a website.
  3. To facilitate a focussed intercomparison of iron models to constrain the impact of varying residence times and a consensus dust deposition scheme and publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal.
  4. To review how to represent biological interactions in the iron cycle, the linkages to key phytoplankton species and the interactions with zooplankton and bacteria, as well as broader connections with other biogeochemical cycles and publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal.

Approved: September 2016

Financial Sponsors: SCOR, NSF

Website: http://www.scor-int.org/SCOR_WGs_WG151.htm

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SCOR Working Group 149 on Changing Ocean Biological Systems (COBS): How will biota respond to a changing ocean?

Chair: Philip Boyd (Australia)

Other Full Members: Aurea Ciotti (Brazil), Sinead Collins (UK), Kunshan Gao (China-Beijing), Jean-Pierre Gattuso (France), Marion Gehlen (France), David Hutchins (USA), Christina McGraw (Australia), Jorge Navarro (Chile), and Ulf Riebesell (Germany)

Associate Members: Haimanti Biswas (India), Sam Dupont (Sweden), Katharina Fabricius (Australia), Jonathan Havenhand (Sweden), Catriona Hurd (Australia), Haruko Kurihara (Japan), Gorann Nilsson (Norway), Uta Passow (USA), Hans-Otto Pörtner (Germany), and Marcello Vichi (Italy)

Terms of Reference

  1. Assess the current status of emerging research themes 1-3 by reviewing the literature to assess the dominant research foci, their relative coverage, and identify any major gaps and/or limitations. Publish this review in an open-access peer-reviewed journal.
  2. Raise awareness across different scientific communities (evolutionary experimental biologists, ecologists, physiologists, chemists, modelers) to initiate better alignment and integration of research efforts.
  3. Co-ordinate thematic transdisciplinary sessions to attract and assemble experts from other fields such as paleoceanography and marine ecotoxicology to learn from the successful approaches their fields have developed to address multiple drivers.
  4. Develop a multi-driver Best-Practice Guide (BPG, or other tools) as one potentially valuable way to help this research field move forward in a cohesive manner.
  5. Mentor early career scientists in the design process for complex multiple driver manipulation experiments, familiarize them with BPG, and teach them practical methodologies for the analysis of their experimental findings.
  6. Publish a series of short articles in both the scientific media and with scientific journalists to disseminate the challenges and opportunities surrounding multiple drivers and ecosystems.
  7. Engage with policy-makers and science communication experts to produce a glossary of terms and an implementation guide for policy-makers to better understand the role of multiple drivers in altering marine living resources and ecosystem services.

Approved: December 2015

Financial Sponsors: SCOR, NSF, PICES

Website: https://scor149-ocean.com/

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SCOR Working Group 144 on Microbial Community Responses to Ocean Deoxygenation

Leadership Coordinator: Bess Ward (USA)

Other Full Members: Sean Crowe (Canada), Virginia Edgcomb (USA), Veronique Garcon (France), Steven Hallam (Canada), Klaus Juergens (Germany), Elsabe Julies (Namibia), Phyllis Lam (UK), Nagappa Ramaiah (India), and Osvaldo Ulloa (Chile)

Associate Members: Mark Altabet (USA), Annie Bourbonnais (Canada), Karen Casciotti (USA), Francis Chan (USA), David Conley (Sweden), Robinson (Wally) Fulweiler (USA), Jung-Ho Hyun (Korea), David Karl (USA), John Kaye (USA), SWA Naqvi (India), Nancy Rabalais (USA), Mak Saito (USA), Frank Stewart (USA), Matt Sullivan (USA), and Jody Wright (Canada)

Terms of Reference

  1. Convene a practical workshop in Saanich Inlet, a seasonally anoxic fjord off the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, to ground truth common standards for process rate and molecular measurements and identify model ecosystems for future cross-scale comparative analyses.
  2. Convene a meeting at the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde, Germany to codify standards of best practice, and compose a white paper describing said standards and opportunities.
  3. Sponsor a workshop at the marine lab of the University of Concepcion, Chile, to disseminate the best practices described in the white paper, and to provide hands-on experience to international participants, and local students and scientists, with those practices.
  4. Convene a meeting at the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa, India, engaging local students and scientists in the project. The goal of this meeting is to compile a peer-reviewed monograph, which will be published as an electronic book in an open-access journal such as Frontiers or PLoS to ensure both visibility and long-term access.

Approved: November 2013

Financial Sponsors: NSF, SCOR

Final Symposium: Flyer and Schedule of Sessions

Website: http://omz.microbiology.ubc.ca/index.html

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SCOR WG 143 on Dissolved N2O and CH4 measurements: Working towards a global network of ocean time series measurements of N2O and CH4

Co-chairs: Herman Bange (Germany) and Sam Wilson (USA)

Other Full Members: Mercedes de la Paz Arándiga (Spain), Laura Farias (Chile), Cliff Law (New Zealand), Wajih Naqvi (India), Gregor Rehder (Germany), Philippe Tortell (Canada), Rob Upstill-Goddard (UK), and Guiling Zhang (China-Beijing)

Associate Members: John Bullister (USA), Jan Kaiser (UK), Annette Kock (Germany), Sunyoung Park (Korea), Andy Rees (UK), and Alyson Santoro (USA)

Terms of Reference

  1. Establish the analytical reporting procedures to be used for N2O and CH4
  2. Adopt an appropriate standard to be used by the scientific community
  3. Conduct an intercalibration exercise between the time series programs
  4. Host at least two international meetings
  5. Establish framework for an N2O/CH4 ocean time series network
  6. Write a global oceanic N2O/CH4 summary paper for publication in Annual Review of Marine Science or an equivalent journal.

Approved: November 2013

Financial Sponsors: NSF, SCOR

Meetings:
#1: 21 February 2014, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Website: https://portal.geomar.de/web/scor-wg-143/home

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SCOR WG 142 on Quality Control Procedures for Oxygen and Other Biogeochemical Sensors on Floats and Glider

Co-chairs: Arne Körtzinger (Germany) and Ken Johnson (USA)

Other Full Members: Herve Claustre (France), Denis Gilbert (Canada), Wajih Naqvi (India), Steven Riser (USA), VirginieThierry (France), Bronte Tilbrook (Australia), Hiroshi Uchida (Japan), and Xiaogang Xing (China-Beijing)

Associate Members: Steve Emerson (USA), Katja Fennel (Canada), Hernan Garcia (USA), Nicolas Gruber (Switzerland), Dong-Jin Kang (Korea), Satya Prakash (India), and Osvaldo Ulloa (Chile)

Terms of Reference

  1. Summarize and assess the current status of biogeochemical sensor technology with particular emphasis on float-/glider-readiness (pressure and temperature dependence, long-term stability, calibration accuracy, measurements time constant, etc.).
  2. Develop pre- and post-deployment quality control metrics and procedures for oxygen and other biogeochemical sensors deployed on floats and gliders providing a research-quality synthesis data product.
  3. Collaborate with Argo and other data centers to implement these procedures in their standard routines.
  4. Disseminate procedures widely to ensure rapid adoption in the community. Develop ideas for capacity building in this context.

Approved: October 2012

Financial Sponsors: NSF, SCOR

Website: http://www.scor-int.org/SCOR_WGs_WG142.htm

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SCOR WG 141 on Sea-Surface Microlayers

This SCOR WG contributes to the SOLAS Mid-Term Strategy initiative on Ocean-derived aerosols: production, evolution and impacts

Co-chairs: Michael Cunliffe (UK) and Oliver Wurl (Germany)

Other Full Members: Anja Engel (Germany), Sanja Frka (Croatia), Sonia Giasenella (Brazil), Bill Landing (USA), Mohd T. Latif (Malaysia), Caroline Leck (Sweden), Gui-Peng Yang (China-Beijing), and Christopher Zappa (USA)

Associate Members: David Carlson (UK), Alina Ebling (USA), Werner Ekau (Germany), Blaženka Gašparović (Croatia), Karstan Laß (Germany), Miguel Leal (USA), Anna Lindroos (Finland), Kenneth Mopper (USA), Alexander Soloviev (USA), Christian Stolle (Germany), Robert Upstill-Goddard (UK), and Svein Vagle (Canada)

Terms of Reference

  1. Review sampling techniques and provide best practice sampling protocols. Such protocols will support new scientists entering the field of SML research to produce reliable and comparable data among different research groups/oceanic regions. The best practice sampling document will be made freely available online.  
  2. Create a consensus definition of the SML in terms of physical, chemical and biological perspectives for a better understanding within the ocean science community, and discuss the SML’s role in a changing ocean. This will be delivered as an opinion/position paper in a peer-reviewed journal and will support future international projects concerning the SML and ocean change. 
  3. Initiate sessions on SML research during major meetings (e.g., Ocean Sciences Meetings), to increase the awareness of the importance of the SML within the general ocean science community. 
  4. Summarize and publish the latest advances in microlayer research in a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal, including consolidation of existing sea surface microlayer datasets among different disciplines (chemistry, biology, atmospheric, physics). The publication will promote new research ideas and projects at an interdisciplinary level.

Approved: October 2012

Financial Sponsors: NSF, SCOR

Website: http://www.scor-int.org/SCOR_WGs_WG141.htm

Publications: M. Cunliffe and O. Wurl. 2014. Guide to Best Practices to Study The Ocean's Surface

R/V Falkor Cruise Log

- last update January 2018 -