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Dr. Trevor Platt
Chair, IOCCG
The International Ocean-Colour Coordinating Group (IOCCG) was established in 1996. In 1998 the group became an Affiliated Program of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) which now provides infrastructure support and financial management for the group. In November 1999, the IOCCG became an Associate Member of CEOS.
The IOCCG consists of a committee of experts in the field of satellite ocean colour, which acts as a liaison and communication channel between users, managers and agencies in the ocean-colour arena. The aims of the IOCCG include promoting strong international cooperation and coordination in the acquisition, calibration, validation, distribution and utilization of ocean-colour data as well as broadening the user community for ocean-colour data, particularly in developing countries, through advanced training courses. Activities of the IOCCG are sponsored by several major Space Agencies and other institutes including NASA, NASDA, ESA, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, IOC, CNES and the Canadian Space Agency.
A major focus of the IOCCG has been the initiation of specialized working
groups to synthesize and summarize the state of knowledge on various aspects
of ocean-colour technology and its applications. The end product of
these working groups is the publication of a scientific report which is
used to provide
appropriate advice to Space Agencies. Two IOCCG reports have been published
in this series: the first report entitled "Minimum Requirements for an
Operational Ocean-Colour Sensor for the Open Ocean" (IOCCG Report Number
1) was published in November, 1998 and explored the feasibility of including
a minimum set of common spectral channels on all future ocean-colour sensors.
The second report entitled "Status and Plan for Satellite-Ocean-Colour
Missions: Considerations for Complementary Missions" was published in May,
1999. It dealt with the technical requirements for global-scale, operational,
remote sensing of ocean colour in both Case 1 and Case 2 waters, and also
addressed the issues of complementarity that arise when more than one sensor
with similar capabilities is in orbit at the same time. A third report,
which deals with various aspects of remote sensing in
complex Case 2 waters, including improved algorithms for retrieval
of chlorophyll, sediments and dissolved organic matter from satellite data,
is currently in draft form and should be published early in the new year.
Other IOCCG working groups in progress include "Calibration of Ocean-Colour
Sensors to Common Standards" and "Coordination of Merged Data Sets".
The IOCCG also has a commitment to training and education and has coordinated
and sponsored three major training courses on remote sensing of ocean
colour. The first took place in November, 1997 in Olmue Chile, the
second in January, 1999 in Bangalore, India (a component of a broader JGOFS
training course), and the third in November, 1999 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Course evaluations indicated that students were given a comprehensive overview
of ocean-colour remote sensing and had acquired the necessary skills for
processing and interpreting satellite ocean-colour data. The timeliness
of these training courses will be enhanced by the wealth of satellite ocean-colour
data which is currently available from the new-generation
of ocean-colour sensors.
The IOCCG also coordinates with other global scientific programmes such
as NASA's SIMBIOS Project (Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological
and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies) and the JGOFS Project (Joint Global
Ocean Flux Study). In addition, the IOCCG continues to support the CEOS
initiative for an Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) through
collaboration with GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System) and its various
Scientific
Steering Committees.
For further information please consult the IOCCG server at: http://www.ioccg.org
For further information please contact:
Helen M. Wood (chair), NOAA,
Tel: 1.301.457.5120 Fax: 1.301.457.5184, E-mail: Helen.Wood@noaa.gov
Lawrence Enomoto (secretariat),
Tel:1.301.713.2024, ext.208, Fax:1.301.713.2032, E-mail: Lawrence.Enomoto@noaa.gov;
or visit the Disaster Group Internet server at: http://disaster.ceos.org.