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REVIEW article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Global Change and the Future Ocean
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1363863
This article is part of the Research Topic ICYMARE - Early Career Researchers in Marine Science View all 31 articles

Navigating the Current Landscape of Ocean Observations: An Overview From Platform Infrastructures to Networks related to Ocean Time Series

Provisionally accepted
  • UMR7621 Laboratoire d'ocĂ©anographie microbienne (LOMIC), Banyuls Sur Mer, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Increasing global temperatures, biodiversity loss, and pollution are among the major transformative changes affecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems. The marine biome can be observed and monitored using ocean observations with satellite-based platforms, tagging of animals, autonomous platforms and vehicles, and ship-based measurements. Sustaining ocean observations at a given location over time are known as ocean time series. For example, stationary platforms like moorings record data autonomously at one location over time, while ship-based time series stations are sampled using discrete measurements at varying sampling frequencies throughout a given year. Ocean observations feed into networks that either focus on obtaining data, e.g., similar instruments, or a social focus that aims to connect participants, e.g., early career or science-policy interface. These platforms and associated networks feed into the Framework for Ocean Observing (FOO) with a set of Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) and the Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS) developed by the global ocean observing community. The range of ocean observing activities around the world creates a complex landscape, which can be particularly difficult to navigate for early career ocean professionals (ECOPs). ECOPs face higher barriers to entering the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development ("UN Ocean Decade") than others despite actively contributing to ocean observations and playing the most significant role in the success of sustainability transformations. The review aims to provide an overview of the organizations and networks associated with ocean observations, motivate ECOPs to actively get involved in the ongoing UN Ocean Decade (2021-2030), and join or create new initiatives within the existing landscape. Ocean observations harbor an extraordinary benefit for a large diversity of end-users far beyond the scientific community, and there is a need to engage the next generation of ocean leaders as we transition to live and manage this blue planet sustainably.

    Keywords: Climate Change, ocean observations, time series, human well-being, policy-making, Early-career

    Received: 31 Dec 2023; Accepted: 22 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 von Jackowski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Anabel von Jackowski, UMR7621 Laboratoire d'océanographie microbienne (LOMIC), Banyuls Sur Mer, France

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.