The International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group (IOCCG) is an international committee of experts comprised of representatives from national space agencies and research scientists from the aquatic radiometry user community. It was established in 1996 under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, following a resolution endorsed by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS). IOCCG promotes development and applications of science and technology that underpin remote sensing of ocean colour across all aquatic environments (in-land, coastal, open-ocean) through coordination, training, liaison between providers (space agencies) and users (scientists), advocacy, and provision of expert advice. Objectives include developing consensus and synthesis at the world scale in the subject area of satellite ocean colour radiometry (OCR), establishing specialised scientific working groups to investigate various aspects of ocean colour technology and its applications, and addressing continuity and consistency of ocean colour radiance datasets through the CEOS OCR-Virtual Constellation. The IOCCG also has a strong interest in capacity building, and conducts and sponsors advanced ocean colour training courses in various countries around the world.

The IOCCG is an affiliated project of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and an associate member of CEOS. The activities of the IOCCG are supported by national space agencies and other organisations, and by infrastructure support from SCOR and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada) where the IOCCG Project Office is hosted.

Highlights

The IOCS-2023 Meeting took place from 14-17 November 2023. Slides from all plenary presentations, as well as material for the training workshops are now available on the meeting website.

Applications are now OPEN for the 2024 IOCCG Trevor Platt Memorial Scholarship. Apply by 12 December 2023.