The goal of the IOCS meeting is to foster exchange between the research community and space agency representatives. The aim of many of the splinter sessions or breakout workshops is to develop concrete outputs that represent a synthesis of what our community needs in order to carry out state-of-the-art research and applications using ocean colour remote sensing. Recommendations emerging from these sessions are the result of discussion and consensus within the session.

The following is a synthesis of all the recommendations that have emerged from these discussions since the IOCS meeting began in 2013. Recommendations are displayed by topic. Each recommendation shows who was selected to execute the recommendation (the space agencies, the community, or the IOCCG) and whether the recommendation was acknowledged and actioned by the executor (actioned), or is still open for action (open).

Click here to view the full table of recommendations from all IOCS meetings.

IOCS Recommendations by Topic

2013.02.1 Cloud screening should be linked to atmospheric correction Community Actioned Some studies are in development to better detect clouds for OCLI. ACIX-II and CMIX round-robin comparison for Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8; Cloud screening is included in the AC module for SGLI
2013.02.2 Absorption by hydrosols in the NIR needs to be determined for very turbid waters. Better bio-optical models are needed in the NIR. Community Actioned
2013.02.3 Planned sensors should complement spectral measurements from UV to SWIR with multi-angular and multi-polarized instruments Agency Actioned PACE will have multi-angular and multi-polarized instruments; SGLI has 380nm channel and 2-channel (red, NIR) polarimetry (0,+60,-60)
2013.02.4 Efforts should be made by space agencies to make the new techniques more visible and accessible, e.g., via inter-comparison activities, implementation in SeaDAS etc. Agency Actioned NASA is committed to supporting Open Science (e.g. TOPS. https://science.nasa.gov/open-science/transform-to-open-science) as well as Open-source Science: https://science.nasa.gov/open-science-overview; SGLI Level-3 data are copied to GEE. JAXA and SGLI PIs are workng on the intercomparison and implementation to the common system. ESA: International ACIX and CMIX collaborative initiatives have been implemented (2016-2017) to inter-compare a set of atmospheric correction (AC) and cloud masking (CM) algorithms for high-spatial resolution optical sensors.
2013.02.5 Parallel processing lines with standard and improved schemes may help users understand advantages and limitations of individual techniques, define the quality of final products, and allow for continuity. Agency Actioned JAXA: Some products are made by research systems but the processing volume is limited due to the resources.
2013.02.6 Synergy between instruments/missions should be considered, in particular OLCI (visible NIR) and SLSTR (SWIR) (1b or 1c co-registered). Agency Actioned JAXA: Cross calibration among SGLI, AHI, MODIS etc. has been conducted for the synthetic use. EUMETSAT has now also started work on this.
2013.02.7 New techniques suggest sensors should not saturate over Sun glint and clouds, and that it may not be necessary to tilt them, but strategy should keep continuity while allowing improvements based on gained knowledge. Agency Actioned Will be investigated for future JAXA missions
2013.02.8 Aerosol altitude is an essential variable to compute atmospheric effects at ocean colour wavelengths, especially in the presence of absorbing aerosols, and efforts should be made to determine this variable in future ocean colour missions. Measuring NO2 is definitely needed to perform accurate atmospheric correction in the coastal zone Agency Actioned This has now been done with the PACE mission. Aerosol model data assimilating EarthCARE will be available in the future.
2013.02.9 Aerosol model determination (size distribution, index of refraction) is useful to at least constrain the ill-posed inverse ocean-colour problem, but errors may be too large to compute the perturbing signal with sufficient accuracy, i.e., it is desirable to estimate the perturbing signal more directly. Yet aerosol information is required for studies of aerosol/ocean interactions (e.g., iron fertilization) Agency Actioned No progress made in the OC processing. But in the atmospheric aerosol retrievals, an optimal estimation of aerosol using predicted aerosol properties from the assilimation model has been operated.
2019.09.1 Better understand the performance of existing algorithms with respect to their physical assumptions, modeling, and inversion techniques Community Actioned Some work has been done in ACIX-II for L8 and S2 and in IOCCG WG on AC for turbid waters
2019.09.2 Encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between the modeling, atmospheric and the OC communities:  numerical models, UV, LIDAR and multi-angle polarimetry to constrain the atmospheric correction Community Actioned
2019.09.3 Deriving uncertainties should be a requirement when developing algorithms. This includes characterizing the input L1b uncertainties. Agency Actioned Some algorithms consider this, but not all. Consideration for future missions as well. Noted by agencies in the IOCCG-28 Meeting.
2013.10.1 Agencies should support PFT algorithm development, validation and intercomparisons as well as activities to merge different techniques and multi-mission data sets, in order to develop a new “standard product” of ocean colour. Agency Actioned CMEMS has PFT as standard product; others have invested in this. SGLI project has a PI team investigating the theme. ESA supported the S5p-OC project (2019-2022) which included the development of PFT algorithm
2013.10.2 The development of PFT methods (including radiative transfer modelling to hyperspectral data sets) should be supported with relevant in situ measurements from ships, gliders and buoys. Community Actioned A lot of campaigns took place since 2013 and a lot of in-situ PFT data collections have been published, individually and also as combined data sets; still mainly HPLC
2013.10.3 Simultaneous collection of in situ HPLC pigments, other PFT parameters which identify size, groups and functions (e.g. size-fractionated Chla, particle size distribution etc.) and optical data are essential for validating PFTs from current and upcoming satellite missions. Community Actioned Has been emphasized in many campaigns: EXPORT, NAMES, BOSSOULE, FRAM, … must be continued
2013.10.4 The validation of HPLC-PFT data sets should be supported by all agencies: a single method may not be globally applicable. Agency Actioned Individual efforts; SGLI project partially supports PIs measurements. Agencies continue to support HPLC datasets.
2013.10.5 Optical and pigment methods used to discriminate PFTs should be linked for a better understanding of actual community structure using imaging flow cytometry and genetics. Better methods to allocate cellular carbon across the PFT categories should be defined. Community Actioned A lot improvements have been made – adding imaging flow cytometry, I think not much progress has made by including genetic information.
2015.01.1 Coordination of existing time series sites with AOPs, IOPs, and phytoplankton composition Community Actioned Has been enhanced still needs further expansion.
2015.01.2 Investment in additional phytoplankton composition observations Agency Actioned A lot of efforts have been taken
2015.01.3 Develop unified protocols and data repository for phytoplankton composition observations Community Actioned Protocols have focused on the core data: PP, AOP, IOP – HPLC-PFT is now approved by IOCCG and will be developed.
2015.01.4 Coordinate use of identical independent datasets in the development and validation of algorithms Community Actioned Kostadinov et al. 2017 and Mouw et al. 2017. No others since then.
2015.01.5 Exploit current hyperspectral satellite data as synergistic use to multispectral satellite data Community Actioned See Losa et al. (2017), but certainly this should be continued.
2015.01.6 Enhanced efforts of algorithm development on regional scales surrounding prioritized areas of user needs Community Actioned See e.g. Vishnu et al. 2022
2023.07.1 Review and gap analysis of sensors/products available to monitor aquatic biodiversity, and translation into indicators relevant for the scientific community and the Convention for Biodiversity/ Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 1.5 years. Paper should serve as basis for roadmap for space agencies to support over the next 5 years. Community OPEN Being led by Breakout Workshop chairs & participants
2023.07.2 Space agencies should support cross-agency work to engage with stakeholders to refine needs/requirements (including spatial, vertical and temporal resolution) for essential biodiversity variables (EBV) and essential ocean variables (EOV) Agency OPEN
2023.07.3 Space agencies and the community should ensure mission continuity and climate relevant datasets for biodiversity Agency OPEN
2013.09.1 Calculation of uncertainties, including bias, in the time series of ocean-colour products is vitally important. Space agencies should ensure resources are made available to support these developments. Agency Actioned SGLI project has a PI team investigating the validaton and uncertainties. Addressed in the ESA OC-CCI initiative. IOCCG Report 18 on Uncertainties (2019)
2013.09.2 Interactions between climate modellers and ocean-colour scientists are essential to ensure that the ocean-colour time-series and models are appropriately used in describing and understanding the optical properties and signatures within the oceans. IOCCG Actioned IOCCG Report 19 (2020)
2017.09.1 Establish an IOCCG Task Force on Carbon IOCCG Actioned Ocean Carbon Task Force established in 202
2017.09.2 Implement quasi / pre operational Rrs products on open-ocean POC, coastal SPM with clear indication of uncertainty. Agency Actioned Pre-operational POC products are available. Coastal SPM pre-operational product provided by NOAA and ESA
2017.09.3 Develop user engagement and training Community Actioned See for example, the ocean carbon from space workshop held under CEOS umbrella last year.
2023.04.1 The community should develop an open-access database of POC and DOC for inland and coastal waters Community Actioned Open-access databases already exist. IOCCG suggests collating and adding POC and DOC data for inland and coastal waters to existing community databases, such as SeaBASS.
2023.08.1 The community needs to conduct more research to identify all sources of discrepancies in merged datasets (beyond time and space, including geometry and other factors) and to quantify and correct them. Community OPEN
2023.08.2 The community needs to improve description of continuity metrics including reporting of possible extremes (tails), possibly using Probability Density Functions. Community OPEN
2023.08.3 Space agencies and distribution services (in collaboration with the ocean colour and metrology communities) need to prioritise calculating and distributing uncertainties associated with all products (pixel-based and composite), and including propagation through AC and algorithms following metrological practices. Agency OPEN
2023.08.4 The community and IOCCG need to consider revising/updating the 2006 IOCCG report on data merging. IOCCG OPEN
2023.08.5 Space agencies should advocate for mission design to ensure backwards compatibility to improve confidence in derived trends and ensure overlap between missions. Agency OPEN
2013.04.1 Collaboratively identify and resolve bottlenecks to free and open exchanges of source data and software (satellite and in situ). Community Actioned Agencies within IOCCG and CEOS are actively working to make their data open and available, and progress has been made in this regard.
2013.04.2 Space agencies should continue the pursuit and support of international multi-agency collaborations. Agency Actioned Agencies continue this through bilateral agreements, and under CEOS and IOCCG
2013.04.3 Researchers should archive satellite data sets used in publications. The agencies are not responsible for keeping older versions once the data has been reprocessed. Community Unmeasurable
2013.04.4 The user community should get together to discuss standardisation of metadata. Community Actioned
2013.04.5 Space agencies/data providers should commit to providing global Level-3 composites of ocean colour climate variables to facilitate sensor intercomparison and global biogeochemical modeling and research. Agency Actioned JAXA’a Level-3 of SGLI are produced and distribute freely. NASA Ocean Color Level-3 Browser doing the same, etc.
2013.11.1 All space agencies should adopt the netCDF4/CF format for their ocean-colour data. Agency Actioned Some agencies already use NETCDF. SGLI is by HDF5 (readable by NC4 routines) and some data sets are distributed by NC4.
2013.11.2 Space agencies should continue to support the existing line of data processing, analysis and exploitation tools (i.e. SeaDAS, BEAM and ODESA), and continue them for future sensors. This should include further development as well as training of users. Agency Actioned SGLI collaborates with SeaDAS. Training is available.
2013.11.3 Space agencies should support large volume, batch data access and download (e.g., through established means such as ftp/http), as well as more targeted access through protocols such as THREDDS/OpenDAP. Agency Actioned Completed for JAXA: SGLI can be accessed by SFTP and some Level-3 products are on GEE.
2013.11.4 Regarding data distribution, the ocean-colour community is requested to provide concrete and justified requirements to EUMETSAT so that the distribution of Sentinel 3 data through EUMETCAST can be properly dimensioned. Community Actioned EUMETSAT holds regular workshops to best identify and serve the community’s need
2015.10.1 There is a clear need for a centralized access (or information) point for BGC-Argo data Community Actioned https://biogeochemical-argo.org/data-access.php
2019.01.1 Develop and publish a community ‘open science’ statement to encourage making data, code, and software open and discoverable. IOCCG Actioned The community and agencies have generally moved towards open data and open science policies, and all agencies present are committed to open science.
2019.01.2 Encourage international adoption of ‘open science’ policies and open source technologies through existing training and education instances IOCCG Actioned Many discussions within the IOCCG have been occuring; many member agencies have adopted Open Source Science policies and training initiatives underway in support of this effort (e.g., EUMETSAT Copernicus trainings, NASA TOPS and ARSET programs, etc)
2019.01.3 Establish a code repository to exists as a live IOCCG report IOCCG Actioned Efforts were initially made to collect, publish, and share examples of Open Source Science analysis code and software deliverables via GitHub and other community resource forums. Open source code repositores are published in the software section on the IOCCG website.
2023.01.3 Space agencies are requested to review and expand the use of FAIR and open source standards in their commissioning processes to promote more open data and software. Agency Actioned Discussed at IOCCG-28. space agencies emphasize traceability and FAIR data practices and code that can legally be made available is available. ioccg.org/resources/software/
2015.05.1 A need to establish constituent-IOP relationships for the estimation of biogeochemical stocks Community OPEN
2015.05.2 Remote sensing observations (airborne or satellite platforms) at higher spatial resolution (<100 m) are needed to resolve the highly dynamic processes and strong bio-optical complexity of high latitude coastal waters Agency OPEN
2015.05.3 Increase the number of remote sensing observations over polar seas include: the use of geosynchronous satellites with inclined orbit (or other orbits permitting longer integration times in polar seas such as elliptical), Lidar technology and other means of measurements to complement ocean colour remote sensing (airborne radiometers, gliders, drones, unmanned autonomous vehicles). Agency OPEN CSA had this under consideration.
2015.05.4 A rapid action to increase the annual period of observation would be to increase the sun angle threshold (to 75° instead of 70° currently used) in processing software Agency Actioned Completed for JAXA: SGLI Level-2 data include sun zenith angle more than 75 deg.
2017.05.1 an accurate top of atmosphere ocean surface reflectance spectrum at high solar angles is needed. Community Actioned GM: reasonably constrained with multiple visible missions and strong effort to get top of atmosphere signals. With PACE and Japan’s GCOM SGLI there will be reflectance to 380 nm that can help with separating CDOM, detritus and mycosporine amino acids. There is a need I think to try to push the atmospheric correction to larger solar zenith angles (e.g. August and April, if possible)
2017.05.2 More research is needed to understand discrepencies among Southern Ocean algorithms Community Actioned
2017.05.3 More In-situ data from non-summer months is needed Community OPEN Argo and BGC-Argo help a lot, as some saildrone deployments. However they are still limited to a few parameters. Innovative ways of collecting autonomously (or quasi autonomously) more diverse data sets have to be invented.
2017.06.1 Advocate for the enhanced version of MESCAL as the scenario that is the most interesting for doing new science (Lidar at 355 and 532 nm, fluorescence sensor, 3-m vertical resolution). Community OPEN MESCAL was transformed into AOS after the release of the NASA Decadal Survey. AOS doesn’t include any oceanic capabilities. No space-borne oceanic profiling lidar is in development with other agencies, but Italian Space Agency is developing a UV-VIS-NIR lidar for clouds, aerosols and ocean with fluorescence and with potential ocean profiling capabilities for the atmospheric community.
2019.04.2 Develop capacities, such as numerical tools for Lidar simulation or “super sites”, to obtain comprehensive and high-quality data to improve our understanding of “complex” waters Community OPEN
2023.09.1 The community should to develop coupled atmosphere-ocean simulators for lidar propagation (Hydrolight-like) freely available Community OPEN
2023.09.2 The community should make open-source tools or codes for processing L1 and L2 CALIOP and ATLAS data freely available Community OPEN
2023.09.3 Space agencies need to make daily Ocean L1 and L2 CALIOP and ATLAS archives available, with a portal to easily view and download the data (such as oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov) as soon as possible. Agency OPEN
2023.09.4 The community needs to share current and past in-situ (shipborne, airborne, fixed platforms) lidar measurements. Agency OPEN
2023.09.5 Space agencies should fund, and the community should develop, in-situ oceanic profiling lidar (measurements up to the euphotic depth, Instruments to measure the back-scattering coefficient at 180°, Multi-wavelength : 355, 470, 532, 560 nm, Fluorescence profiles, Vertical resolution: ≤1 m, Temperature profiles) Agency OPEN
2023.09.6 The community should develop a ground-based network of profiling sensors to validate future ocean spaceborne lidar and passive OC missions Community OPEN
2023.09.7 The community needs to have better coordination with the atmospheric community for lidar development, scientific objectives and field campaigns Community OPEN
2023.09.8 The community should ensure better training on lidar, e.g. session at conferences (Ocean Optics), lectures at the IOCCG Lectures Series and Maine Summer School on fundamentals of lidar: principles, data processing, practical exercises to process the lidar data, courses on the components of a lidar: optics, electronics. Community OPEN
2023.09.9 The entire community (agencies, IOCCG, scientists, etc.) should promote/endorse space-borne oceanic profiling lidar (ocean capabilities of CALIGOLA space mission) Community OPEN
2019.07.1 Standardize VC for new radiometric platforms Community Actioned Ongoing
2019.07.2 Better spectral angle and angular scattering instrument and approaches Community Actioned This has partially been tackled.
2019.07.3 Cube-sat and pseudo satellites for low-cost demonstration mission Community Actioned Ongoing
2017.04.01 Identify potential new validation sites and set up hyperspectral AERONET/AERONET-OC stations in other coastal and inland water bodies Community Actioned Advancements through the HYPERWATERNET have been made to extend our existing validation networks. Other stationary sites (such as those equipped by WISP) have been established.
2017.04.02 Encourage researchers to collect optical properties of aerosols/trace gases together with bio-optical data and share the data on public databases such as SeaBASS and Limnades Community OPEN
2017.04.03 Apply spectral unmixing approaches to correct for adjacency effects from adjacent land/ice. Community OPEN Initiating a working group on this topic appears necessary
2017.04.04 Explore glint mitigation strategies such as tilting the sensor or shifting the orbits to maximize the utility of satellite observations; also explore beneficial uses of sun-glint signal Community OPEN Intercomparison of existing glint correction/mitigation approaches seems appropriate.
2017.04.05 Algorithms should be developed globally but applied locally Community Actioned Significant progress has been made over the past three years. Several promising approaches have been emerged
2017.04.06 Need more in situ data in local water bodies; data sharing and data publication should be encouraged Community Actioned A global in situ radiometric dataset (GLORIA with N > 7000 samples) has been released to support future algorithm advancements. GLORIA: The GLObal Reflectance community dataset for Imaging and optical sensing of Aquatic environments. There are also an inventory of databases linked from GEO AquaWatch.
2017.04.07 Need for standardization of procedures for in situ data collection in inland waters Community Actioned researchers use existing protocols for collecting various fiducial reference measurements, which are agnostic to whether they’re collected in inland, coastal, or open ocean waters.
2017.04.08 Measurements of mass-specific Inherent Optical Properties (sIOPs) are critical for algorithm development. Community No Action Required
2017.04.09 Quantitative studies evaluating the impact of various spatial resolutions on retrievals are needed in order to establish reasonable limits on desired spatial resolution Community OPEN
2017.04.10 Promote consistency in pre- and post-launch sensor calibration across multiple missions and multiple space agencies to enable robust blending of data products from a constellation of satellites. Agency Actioned IOCCG Task Force on Sensor Calibration aims to do this. NASA/USGS & Copernicus have collaborated. SBG and CHIME appear to coordinate efforts to ensure maximum synergies between the foreseen observations.
2017.04.11 The science community needs to better understand the needs of the management community and needs to showcase what products can be provided. The level of uncertainty that can be accepted needs to be better defined Community Actioned Some of the recently launched applications (CyAN) have aided in enhancing dialogue with end-users
2017.04.12 Building trust with the management community will require documented protocols, validation efforts and rigorous QA/QC Community Actioned
2017.04.13 Citizen science measures should be encouraged for generating in situ data for product validation Community Actioned Citizen science initiatives are on the increase and welcome within the community.
2017.07.1 Set-up a funded OCR-VC working group with specific deliverables IOCCG Actioned OCR-VC set up
2017.07.2 Develop an atmospheric correction prototype processor for coastal and inland waters. Community Actioned
2017.07.3 Develop a prototype processor that will deliver accurate transitions between open ocean, coastal waters and inland waters Community Actioned CERTO project is investigating this.
2017.07.4 Develop community guidance on the standardization of statistical metrics to assess algorithm performance Community Actioned
2017.07.5 Develop a strategy to inform the community of best practices for performance assessment of algorithms. Community Actioned IOCCG Report 18, publications and the Oceans Best Practices Repository
2019.04.1 Promote the application of IOPs, as it is the first-order inversion products from Rrs Community Actioned
2023.01.1 Space agencies should develop a strategy for remote sensing of optically complex waters in dialogue with the scientific community within the next two years. Agency Actioned CHIME and Sentinel next generation are part of the strategy by ESA, AquaWatch Australia also focusing on this. KRISHNA mission for coastal waters with plans to address spatial resolution issues, SBG, CoastWatch and GEOXO
2023.01.2 Community organisations should focus more strongly on the science policy interface, than on research and technology, to help improve the integration of remote sensing in traditional lake monitoring Community OPEN
2013.06.1 In situ measurement protocols should not be revised by a single investigator but through an international community effort spanning multiple universities and space agencies e.g. under the IOCCG umbrella. IOCCG Actioned IOCCG Protocol documents
2013.06.2 Some support for protocol development should be secured from various agencies (NASA, ESA, EUMESAT, etc.). IOCCG Actioned IOCCG now funds Protocol development
2013.06.3 Participants agreed on the following workshops to revise the protocols (ranked highest to lowest): IOPs, AOPs, Particle Sizes, Carbon Stocks and rates, Bio-fouling and depoyment Community Actioned
2013.07.1 More online / distance training are required. IOCCG Actioned SLS lectures recorded & online. Much support for many online trainings, etc. since 2013 https://ioccg.org/what-we-do/training-and-education/educational-links-and-resources/
2013.07.2 Provide training on software and tools to support use of VIIRS and OLCI data, as well as other new missions Agency Actioned
2013.07.3 EUMETSAT’s role in training may be best focused on the operational users and potentially those involved in the management / decision making processes. Agency Actioned
2013.07.4 Use Wikipedia for outreach and information provision to provide more information on ocean colour and ocean-colour training. Community Actioned
2013.07.5 Training and outreach activities aimed at the policy/decision making level Agency Actioned OSOS meetings, EUMETSAT training, etc
2013.07.6 Explore the value, and practicalities of competencies and certification IOCCG Actioned Certificates given for advanced training. IOCCG not a certifying body, so Universities are best for this.
2017.08.1 The current best practices for in-water measurements are not described and need to be detailed. Community Actioned We worked on a protocol document that detailed the in-water measurement practices
2017.08.2 SeaBASS should add a flag to indicate whether data is validation quality, or had been compromised in some way to make it useful, but not of sufficient quality for validation. Agency Actioned On-going effort
2023.03.1 IOCCG should maintain a living inventory of validation activities, and create an accompanying webtool that seamlessly allows the community to submit their information. This should be accompanied by a data catalogue that indicates where agencies/countries keep their data and how to access it (12 months) IOCCG OPEN
2013.05.1 The quality of operational ocean colour data is of critical importance. Operational agencies should develop and maintain infrastructure and scientific and technical activities to ensure that the accuracy and long-term stability requirements are met globally and across regions. Agency Actioned This recommendation is noted. Cal/val of SGLI is continued, and efforts are ongoing for all agencies.
2013.05.2 Assure data continuity and sustainability of product delivery. Distribute NRT data as well as consistent long-term time series of ocean colour observations. Agency Actioned Both NRT and standard products are produced.
2013.05.3 Produce and distribute Level-3 data. Agency Actioned Completed for JAXA: Level-3 of SGLI are produced and distribute freely.
2013.05.4 Ensure that operational capabilities are achieved soon after launch and enable early data access to marine service and cal/val users, even if the data are not yet well calibrated. Agency Actioned Completed for JAXA: we had distributed to data for PIs within 1-year, and to the public after 1 year.
2013.05.5 Provide open source modular software that matches the operational processor and that can be run in batch mode on local user computers; preferably multi-mission software. Agency Actioned This was tabled at the IOCCG-28 meeting, and agencies consider this request, Some agencies already have open source software.
2013.05.6 Provide all data online for downloading (instead of a limited rolling archive). Agency Actioned Completed for JAXA all data is available through both GUI and SFTP.
2013.05.7 Expand the core product suite; keep algorithms state-of-the-art. Agency Actioned SGLI Ver 3 is released in 2021 and reprocessed in 2022.
ESA: Project is on-going to provide a dedicated L2A aquatic reflectance product for coastal and inland waters (timeline: end of 2024)
2013.05.8 Consolidate ocean colour requirements for services, ecosystem and management applications. Agency Actioned IOCCG reports cover some part of the requirements. EUMETSAT is currently documenting end-user requirements and traceability to applications.
2013.05.9 Create a framework within which the wider international community can collaborate through permanent working groups on specific topics identified by the IOCCG/IOCS meeting and the stakeholder community. IOCCG Actioned Scope of IOCCG Task Forces and OCR-VC cover and coordinate on a more permanent basis
2015.04.1 Water quality end users provide examples of when less accurate data is better than no data. Community Actioned Geo Aquawatch has been active in this area, perhaps it’s worth liasing with them?
2015.04.2 Continued training and enhanced engagement with water quality end users are recommended IOCCG Actioned
2015.04.3 Need to explore the trade-off between data quality and user needs, in particular to address issues such as usability vs. accuracy and validity for water quality data. Community Actioned To engage Geo Aquawatch or CEOS COAST.
2019.06.1 Users want single consistent and stable time series, long-term to NRT, merged from multiple sensors, as well as anomaly products Agency Actioned This is addressed to some extent within the ESA OC-CCI project. Ad hoc group being established to carry this recommendation forward.
2019.06.2 Need to actively engage with users through workshops and trainings Agency Actioned
2019.06.3 IOCCG could extend its tasks to coordinate above (user engagement) IOCCG Actioned e.g. TownHall at Ocean Sciences 2020, IOCCG website advertises workshops and training for users
2023.05.1 IOCCG should form a User Engagement Task Force to oversee the following goals to be accomplished in the next 2 to 3 years: bridge the service gaps between space agencies and end-users; quick start guide for ocean colour data access; enable the novice ocean colour data user to see the value in ocean colour data products for their research or application; build community confidence and enhance user knowledge of the relative performance of ocean colour models; develop plain language and recommended standards for reporting uncertainties for ocean colour. [Full details of recommendation] IOCCG OPEN Call for proposals issued (May 2024)
2023.05.2 IOCCG should request agencies to acknowledge in their mid-to-long range planning that consistent (across sensors and missions) long term time series are needed in response to user requirements, and for agencies to fund efforts for development, production, performance evaluation, validation, monitoring, and reprocessing for operational long term time series data products in the next 2-7 years IOCCG Actioned Discussion and action taken at the IOCCG-28 Committee Meeting.
2013.03.1 Geostationary Broader distribution and application of GOCI data is recommended to demonstrate the utility of geostationary ocean colour radiometry data. Agency Actioned Web-based data service (http://kosc.kiost.ac.kr) open access for research/public use
2013.03.2 Geostationary Organize geostationary ocean colour radiometry sessions at future meetings (IOCS, Ocean Optics, AGU, EGU, etc.) Community Actioned The following IOCS in 2015 had a session.
2013.03.3 Geostationary Generate geostationary articles in various publications (IOCCG newsletter, EOS, peer-review articles, etc.) Community OPEN
2015.02.1 Geostationary Form a new IOCCG Geostationary WG that will do below IOCCG OPEN
2015.02.2 Geostationary Perform sensitivity studies to examine the accuracy of retrievals at large sensor and solar zenith angles Community OPEN
2015.02.3 Geostationary Optimize NASA’s OC aerosol models for coastal regions Community OPEN
2015.02.4 Geostationary Develop methods to detect different types of absorbing aerosols (mineral dust, black carbon, industrial pollutants, continental aerosols) Community OPEN
2015.02.5 Geostationary Explore the possibility of using aerosol transport models such as GOCART to identify and correct for different types of aerosols Community OPEN
2015.02.6 Geostationary Follow the expected improvements in atmospheric corrections algorithms, for example, developments by the NASA PACE science team Community OPEN
2015.04.4 Water Quality Future sensors such as the Landsat and Sentinel 2 series should incorporate additional narrow spectral channels to enable accurate observations of chlorophyll and cyanobacterial pigments concentrations. Agency Actioned the S2 Next Generation bands are evolving to incorporate extra narrow channels (Carsten Brockmann may be able to complete this comment), SuperDove, PACE, etc.
ESA: A number of additional bands are planned for S2NG to improve Chl retrieval, Chl/CDOM separation, (0: 412nm) cyanobacteria detection (3a:620nm, 3b:650nm), improved retrieval of pigments(1a:470nm)
2015.06.1 High Resolution The ocean colour community should be better represented at the formulation stage of high spatial resolution missions (Landsat-10+ and Sentinel-2E+) Agency Actioned Recommendations from the expert community are now routinely taken into account in planning stages of missions. (e.g. Carsten Brockmann is in the S2 Next Generation Advisory group for ESA)
2015.07.1 Hyperspectral The community must prioritize needs through a process of open dialog. Implementation of new product algorithms will be multi-staged, involving modeling, experimentation, validation, and peer-review. Community Actioned Some efforts are underway. For instance, there is now a open dialog between the SBG, GLIMR and PACE missions through the Aquatic Cross-Mission Exchange (ACME).
2015.07.2 Hyperspectral Establish working group to coordinate available airborne hyperspectral datasets IOCCG Actioned Hyperspectral TF now in place for such on-going needs. This may change with PACE-PAX. SBG has a number of such datasets, but no organized working group is coordinating airborne aquatic hyperspectral data collection, nor is there a central repository for such data.
2015.07.3 Hyperspectral Utilize existing data to demonstrate the potential use of hyperspectral information. Community Actioned Part of PACE justification as well as a variety of papers published. This effort, however, is still ongoing as such algoithms will be applied in coastal and inland regions by missions such as SBG or GLIMR.
2015.07.4 Hyperspectral it is essential to have a standard spectral library for specific absorption, backscatter for optical constituents of the water column and reflectance spectra for benthic and palustrine cover. Community Actioned Synthesized and measured data have been collected in preparation for PACE, but no standardized library has been developed for public use.
2017.01.1 Hyperspectral Work is required in order to fully catalogue metrics of performance when using hyperspectral data, including a characterization of the implications associated with a lack of spectral band coverage and radiometric sensitivity, and robust error estimates from higher order products, such as PFTs. Community Actioned Efforts are ongoing – hyperspectral data for coastal applications have been started to be exploited in last 5 years, TROPOMI/S5P provides possibility for clearer assessment of uncertainties in ocean colour retrievals than SCIAMACHY (e.g., Oelker et al. FMARS 2022).
2017.01.2 Hyperspectral establish a framework for clear traceability of errors Community Actioned See efforts Brewin et al. FMARS 2017, Xi et al. JGR 2021; Jorge et al. RSE 2021
2017.01.3 Hyperspectral increase the utilization of current hyperspectral satellite data as a test bed (SCIAMACHY, HICO, etc.) Community Actioned Efforts are ongoing – hyperspectral data for coastal applications have been started to be exploited in last 5 years, TROPOMI/S5P provides possibility for clearer assessment of uncertainties in ocean colour retrievals than SCIAMACHY (e.g., Oelker et al. FMARS 2022). New data are now available from EMIT, PRISMA, EnMAP and DESIS, including inland or coastal waters.
2017.01.4 Hyperspectral improve communication between data providers and users Community Actioned On-going. PACE has done quite a bit in this area and SBG applications team has also worked with early adopters.
2017.01.5 Hyperspectral Continue to mature the development and curation of hyperspectral optical databases and products (e.g. PFTs) for use in algorithm development.. Community Actioned new cured data collections were released, e.g. Lehmann et al. Scientific Data 2023, Valente et al. ESSD 2022
2017.01.6 Hyperspectral Ocean scientists to engage more with atmospheric scientists, and potentially abandon a “one-size-fits-all” approach to AC. Community Actioned Extensive collaboration has been underway with the PACE mission, which include a strong atmospheric component. SBG has also been in discussions with AOS to find helpful synergies between the surface and atmospheric observations. Both missions are evaluating the best approach to AC over water. ACIX modeling comparison excercise has intercompared various hyperspectral AC algorithhm performance. However, there has not been a lot of movement away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach. To the contrary, the direction seems still to be find a single algorithm that has the best performance.
2017.01.7 Hyperspectral Need to create more mature end-user requirements to help drive sensor design, which, in turn, may require an investment in the science and the creative exploitation of hyperspectral data capabilities (e.g. machine learning) Community Actioned
2017.02.1 Trichodesmium Need to understand the effects of fractal behavior of slicks by synoptically sampling from the sub-meter to the 1-km scales Community Actioned AS – We’ve used UAVs with hyperspectral sensors and with sub-meter scale ground resolution to try and get at the fractal behavior of surface slicks. So we were able to synoptically sample from sub meter to 1 Km scales and I am working on getting at the fractal effects, validating an algorithm is still a stretch.
2017.02.2 Trichodesmium Need for hyperspectral above-water reflectance data for both validating tricho algorithms but also to improve the atmospheric correction techniques Agency Actioned PACE hypersepectral era we’ll have a variety of hyperspectral radiometric measurements, both in situ and spaceborne, that will help us address point 2. Data from multi-angle polarimeters are likely to provide insight into surface slick detection as the BRDF as well as helping us discriminate Tricho from aerosols (something that is problematic with contemporary multispectral scanners).
Hyperspectral above-water reflectance acquired in the frame of the ESA HyperBoost project (2023-2024) along the European coastlines.
2017.02.3 Trichodesmium Need to determine appropriate ground-truthing measurements Community OPEN  “Ground truth” is complicated. It is not clear where one would sample for “ground truth” – we found measurements within meters of each other with an order of magnitude difference in trichome counts or chl/PE concentrations.
2017.02.4 Trichodesmium Need to have an appropriate operational (i.e. not a scene-by-scene approach) atmospheric correction for surface slicks, appropriate spectral bands to resolve phycoerythrin and spatial resolution to detect slicks Community Actioned
2017.02.5 Geostationary / Trichodesmium Geostationary satellites could resolve temporal variations of biomass and this maybe the key for models Community OPEN It’s worth considering which oceanic regions where Tricho is abundant currently are (or will be) observed by GEO ocean color missions.
2019.02.1 Phytoplankton from Hyperspectral Need for promoting, standardizing automated imaging particle counters and flow cytometry to allow routine phytoplankton taxonomy resolving observations & key community metric products in addition to IOP, AOP & HPLC. Community Actioned Efforts are taken, but coordination globally is lacking
2019.02.2 Phytoplankton from Hyperspectral Improve the translation of phytoplankton composition information from the different in-situ data source metrics into the IOP signal, primarily through the use of IOP models. Community OPEN .
2019.02.3 Phytoplankton from Hyperspectral Enhance capabilities of phytoplankton composition IOP measurements especially on the specific backscattering properties spectral slope, VSF, chi factors;  recognizing shape/structure beyond sphere) Community Actioned New data sets were collected and published (REF will follow).
2019.02.4 Phytoplankton from Hyperspectral Need to have an appropriate operational (i.e. not a scene-by-scene approach) atmospheric correction for surface slicks, appropriate spectral bands to resolve phycoerythrin and spatial resolution to detect slicks Community Actioned PACE now has the appropriate spectral bands for this.
2019.02.5 Phytoplankton from Hyperspectral Geostationary satellites could resolve temporal variations of biomass and this maybe the key for models Community Actioned Considerable progress in Geostationary satellites: KIOST, NOAA, NASA
2019.03.1 High Temporal/Spatial Resolution Applications A constellation of ~30-m resolution with land-sat radiometric performance and OLCI-like spectral coverage would serve a wide range of applications Agency Actioned SBG is working towards collaboration with ESA CHIME to provide a constellation of three satellites carrying high-spectral resolution spectrometers with Landsat/Sentinel 2 surface sampling and with Landsat-like radiometric performance. Australian AquaWatch mission concept could potentially add to this capability.
2019.03.2 High Temporal/Spatial Resolution Applications Space agencies should coordinate mission formulations, and pre-launch calibration to minimize differences in products Agency Actioned PACE, GLIMR and SBG (via the ACME) are coordinating aquatic algorithm evaluation and selection with the objective of developing a suite of common data products and looking to leverage cal/val activities. However, there are a few “missed” opportunities, such as the choice of a descending pre-noon orbit for SBG, which is less compatible to the PACE ascending afternoon orbit for leveraging cross-calibration opportunities. CEOS/WGCV and OCR-VC
2013.12.1 Calibration teams from each of the current and future ocean-colour sensor are encouraged to join the international collaborative effort GSICS (Global Space-based Intercalibration System) to help intercalibrate TOA radiances for different low Earth orbit sensors. Community Actioned Completed for JAXA – attending the GSICS
2013.12.2 A permanent calibration task force should be established to share expertise and information on instrument calibration and characterization. It should be supported by space agencies and should have close interaction with the extended ocean-colour community. It could be established either under the CEOS-IVOS framework, or the IOCCG/INSITU-OCR. IOCCG Actioned
2015.09.1 The interpretation of long-term trends in ocean color products should consider the calibration uncertainty in any assessment Community Actioned
2019.08.1 Every mission should evaluate if lunar observations can be acquired at least infrequently. Agency Actioned
2019.08.2 Every mission should evaluate if for a newly launched sensor, a tandem flight is possible to evaluate calibration consistency Agency Actioned Done for Sentinel-3. Recommended for others.
2019.08.3 Gain calibration trends should not contain discontinuities that are not clearly supported by calibration measurements Agency Actioned SGLI operates monthly lunar-cal and weekly solar/lamp cal.
2023.06.1 All missions should clearly identify which solar irradiance spectrum they are using to produce their science products Agency Actioned Agreed by agencies at the IOCCG-28 meeting and already implemented by some.
2013.08.1 The vicarious calibration of VIS bands with respect to NIR bands, with the application of highly accurate in situ VIS data, should be considered for the forthcoming missions. Agency Actioned Ongoing and recognized by most parties.
2013.08.2 The importance of involving National Reference Laboratories in the characterization of field radiometers and SI traceability of measurements is essential. Agency Actioned Ongoing and recognized by most parties.
2013.08.3 The analysis of legacy constraints for in situ measurements and sites supporting system vicarious calibration suggests that spatial homogeneity of the measurement site(s) is an essential requirement. The constraint on the aerosol optical thickness lower than 0.1 in the visible could be likely “relaxed” as long as the atmospheric conditions are well characterized. It is additionally recommended that the availability of supplementary atmospheric measurements at the vicarious measurement site(s) (e.g., vertical characterizations of the atmospheric components) are of potential aid to system vicarious calibration. Agency Actioned Ongoing consideration
2013.08.4 The use of commercial systems to support system vicarious calibration imposes the generation of in situ traceable measurements through fully characterized hyperspectral systems. This requires comprehensive characterizations of commercial hyperspectral systems whose performances often need thorough verification. Agency Actioned Ongoing
2013.08.5 The standardization of system vicarious calibration is a necessary strategy for the generation of CDRs from multiple satellite instruments. Current system vicarious calibration exercises involving NASA and ESA sensors appear to indicate that the lack of standardization between institutions (not only for the system vicarious calibration process) may lead to significant differences in derived satellite data products not compatible with the creation of CDRs from independent missions. However, standardization using current technologies should consider that forthcoming advanced systems like PACE may benefit from additional measurement capabilities (e.g., polarization) with respect to current space sensors. Agency Actioned Ongoing consideration
2013.08.6 Results from this Splinter Session should be the start for additional international actions aiming at detailing specific requirements and methods for System Vicarious Calibration of new missions like PACE and Sentinel-3. Agency Actioned Session fed into OC-SVC TF
2017.03.1 Main priority for operational SVC is to ensure sustainable resources (staff, knowledge and infrastructure) to build long-term data series over multi-mission lifetime Community Actioned
2017.03.2 Since SVC is today only justified for open-ocean clear-waters we need a way to clearly illustrate this need for a SVC, through a self-explanatory image intended to decision-makers Community Actioned
2017.03.3 it was recommended to not write definitive numbers in public documents when they cannot be perfectly justified. Community Unmeasurable
2017.03.4 Aerosols need to be characterized and monitored at the SVC site measurements need Community Actioned
2017.03.5 The monograph in preparation (by the IOCCG SVC WG) should recommend the agencies to further fund the required development of SVC infrastructures. IOCCG Actioned IOCCG has set up a task force on SVC. Agencies have continued to fund SVC infrastructure and there is a harmonized approach towards SVC infrastructure.
2019.05.1 There is still disagreement of how to define protocols for some aspects of matching data for analysis (i.e. box size, time lag). Develop white paper to try to achieve agreement Community Actioned SVC White paper generated
2015.03.1 Establish permanent IOCCG WG on uncertainities. IOCCG Actioned See IOCCG Report 18 (2019)
2015.03.2 The community needs to engage in more discussion regarding temporal and spatial variability in uncertainty Community Actioned
2015.03.3 The community should leverage uncertainty studies conducted in other fields. Closure studies common to atmospheric sciences were given as an example. Community Actioned See IOCCG Report 18 (2019)
2015.03.4 As the space agencies are looking at propagating uncertainties from at-sensor radiometry to Rrs uncertainties, additional exploration of propagating Rrs uncertainties into bio-optical algorithms is recommended. Likewise, further exploration of propagating in situ measurement uncertainties into bio-optical algorithms is also recommended. Community Actioned Some published studies now exist. Work remains.
2015.03.5 Developers of propagation of uncertainty approaches should work to include the inherent algorithm uncertainty Community Actioned
2015.03.6 More work be done to compare and understand the pros and cons of the various methods that are being developed for the evaluation of uncertainties associated with ocean colour products Community Actioned
2015.03.7 The community further explore propagating uncertainties from Level-2 scenes to Level-3 composites. Community Actioned Ongoing; not much apparent progress