Context

Oceanographic institutions established QA/QC requirements to improve the quality of measurement data. Implementations, however, rarely consider metrological principles in order to ensure long-term metrological comparability. Moreover, they are rarely included in accreditation frameworks based on relevant standards of the ISO/IEC 17000-series.

The sharing of data to improve data quality assurance and to practice good data management would help to future-proof and secure valuable marine data. Agreed terminology and an agreed set of common standards for metadata, data format, and content should be developed, maintained, and supported through implementation by partners to facilitate international data exchange and ensure harmonisation of understanding. See, as an example, (in the UK) The Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN).

 

Challenges

  • Inclusion of metrological concepts in the QA/QC framework and associated tools to facilitate field measurement reliability and consistent uncertainties. Currently, few oceanographic institutions are familiar with ISO 17025 accreditation. A scheme could be created on the example of QA4EO, establishing guidelines written in collaboration between the oceanography and metrology communities.
  • Establishment of a framework to verify the fit-for-purpose measurement capability of institutions providing data to observation systems. NMI/DIs organize interlaboratory comparisons regularly to demonstrate their measurement capabilities. However, due to the diversity of the oceanographic community, available resources, and other structural barriers, this approach cannot readily be applied in oceanography. A challenge for the Metrology and oceanography communities is to devise a framework that can be practically implemented.
  • Moving beyond best practice guidance documents and standard measurement procedures to international documentary standards, which can provide longer stability of measurement procedures over time.

 

Active NMIs/DIs

 

Key stakeholders

  • IOC-UNESCO, GOOS, IOC Ocean Best Practice System, EMODnet, MINKE community