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Online resources for marine ecosystem analysis for the NF-POGO Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography (CofE)

24 - 28

Summary

This introductory training is designed for participants beginning to work with online ocean data. The course provides practical guidance on accessing freely available in situ and remote oceanographic datasets, and on using open-source software tools to generate basic ocean data products. Participants will gain experience in obtaining key oceanographic variables—including data from the World Ocean Database, sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-a concentration, wind, and surface currents—and in visualizing and processing them to support initial analysis and assessment of meso- to large-scale marine and coastal ecosystems.

Venue

Marine Institute of Memorial University. St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada

Learning outcomes

As a result of this course, CofE scholars will acquire basic knowledge to:

  • Obtaining relevant oceanographic variables such as ocean surface temperature, chlorophyll-a concentration, surface currents,
  • Visualising and developing products to support initial, analysis and assessment of meso to large-scale marine and coastal ecosystems. 

Target audience

The training is open to 10 CofE scholars, coming from different countries (Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil.

Pre-requisites:

Participants must:

  • Have prior knowledge of oceanography;

  • Bring their own laptop;

  • A working knowledge of English.

Course content

Module 1: Introduction to Ocean Observation 

  • Importance of observational oceanography and the Global Ocean Observing System
  • Platforms for collecting and visualising oceanographic data

Module 2: Defining Area of Interest & Folder structure

  • Selection and delimitation of area of interest.
  • Organisation of folder structure and file names

Module 3:  Ocean Data View & World Ocean Data database

  • The World Ocean Database (WOD), select and download WOD data
  • The Ocean Data View (ODV), download and install ODV
  • Create data collection on ODV
  • Import and analyse WOD data on ODV
  • Quality control on ODV
  • Prepare and export products on ODV
Module 4: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems & QGIS
  • Geographic Coordination System and Basic GIS file formats
  • QGIS, download and install, basic layout

Module 5: Creating a GIS project with basic marine and auxiliary data

  • Sources of basic, auxiliary data sources for marine GIS
  • Import shape and raster format data into the GIS
  • Shape and raster layers clipping
  • Prepare map figure
Module 6:  Importing Essential Ocean Variables
  • Obtain Essential Ocean Variables from diverse portals
  • GIS tools such as interpolation, clipping with masks, extract isolines from raster, raster calculator, derive vectors from scalar components

Module 7: Online visualisation of oceanographic products 

  • Acquaint with oceanographic data portals and their basic tools for plotting and consulting oceanographic parameters of interest
  • Export products (figures, plots, data, GIS format files)

Language of instruction: English

Duration, Synchronous Sessions, and Format

The training will take place face-to-face between 24 to 28 November, 2025, with a duration of approximately 35 hours.

Live sessions are planned from Monday to Friday, from 9:00-12:30 and 13:30-17:00.

The course has an online learning component to complement the learning activities and asessments. Live sessions will be broadcasted for some schoiars that may not be able to in present on-site.

Instructors

Lilian Anne Krug (POGO)

Organizers

This training course is a collaboration with a two-week module on Ocean Data Management as part of the NF-POGO Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography programme in Helgoland, Germany. OTGA has been contributing the Ocean Data Management module for the NF-POGO Centre of Excellence since 2015. 

Participation

This course is offered by NF-POGO Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography programme to its scholars.

POGO and UNESCO are committed to promoting equal access principles. Participation from minority or underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged.

Assessment & Certificate

Participants will carry out guided exercises in the classroom and OTGA e-Learning platform, focusing first on a shared Area of Interest (AOI). They will then apply the same methods individually to a second AOI of their choice. On the final day, each participant will present their results to the group, demonstrating the skills acquired throughout the training. The 12 assignments and the final presentation will be graded, and sucessfull completion will require achieving 70% passmark.

Contacts

Costs

Free of charge. There are no tuition fees.

Cancellation policy

In the event of cancellation of the course by the OTGA or its affiliates, we will provide notification of cancellation at least 7 days prior to the course date. In the event of cancellation by the attendee, we should receive notification of cancellation at least 7 days prior to the course date.

Location:

St. John’s
Canada

Event Times (UTC-5):

Starts: 23 Nov 2025 18:00:00
Ends: 27 Nov 2025 18:00:00
Attendance by invitation

Documents:

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