At the end of January, the 24th Annual Meeting of the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) was held in France, and representatives from more than 40 member units of POGO attended the meeting. Wang Yuntao, a Researcher from the State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics of the SIO, was invited to attend the meeting and delivered a speech.

    Launched in 1999 by the three major ocean research institutions in the world - the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the United States, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Southampton Oceanographic Centre (UK), POGO is a forum facing major ocean research institutions in the world. Currently, there are 55 member units of marine research institutions from 29 countries in the world, and its secretariat is located in the Plymouth Marine Laboratory of the United Kingdom. The SIO officially joined POGO in 2020, and actively responds to the initiatives of POGO on organizing international training courses and applying for the United Nations “Ocean Decade” project in collaboration with members to enhance the discipline integration, exchange and innovation.

    At the meeting, Wang Yuntao made a report entitled “Digital DEPTH Action Plan”, and introduced to POGO members the big science plan-Digital Deep-sea Typical Habitats that the SIO plans to apply for the United Nations “Ocean Decade” project. Relying on the China Oceanic Affairs Administration, with Academician Li Jiabiao of the SIO as the chief scientist, the plan focuses on the areas vulnerable to human activities and global changes in the four deep-sea habitats of seamounts, mid-ocean ridges, continental slopes and submarine plains, so as to improve our ability to observe, simulate and map these typical deep-sea habitats, and achieve the balance between deep-sea protection and sustainable development. The participants showed keen interest in the big science plan and expressed their willingness to jointly promote the application of the plan.

       At the annual general meeting of POGO, Wang Yuntao introduced to the POGO secretariat and member representatives the important work that the SIO has done in the field of ocean observation since joining the POGO, and the “Argo and BGC-Argo Observation Technology and Scientific Application International Training Course” organized by the SIO. The Training Course has been approved as the POGO International Foreign Aid Training Course Plan and will be held in Hangzhou this summer.