JGOFS Protocols—June 1994 Preface
The Joint Global Ocean Flux Study relies on a variety of techniques and measurement strategies to characterize the biogeochemical state of the ocean, and to gain a better mechanistic understanding required for predictive capability. Early in the program, a list of Core Measurements was defined as the minimum set of properties and variables JGOFS needed to achieve these goals. Even at the time of the North Atlantic Bloom Experiment (NABE), in which just a few nations and a relatively small number of laboratories contributed most of the measurements, there was a general understanding that experience, capability and personal preferences about particular methods varied significantly within the program. An attempt to reach consensus about the best available techniques to use is documented in JGOFS Report 6, “Core Measurement Protocols: Reports of the Core Measurement Working Groups”. As JGOFS has grown and diversified, the need for
standardization has intensified. The present volume, edited by Dr. Anthony Knap and his colleagues at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, is JGOFS’ most recent attempt to catalog the core measurements and define the current state of the art. More importantly, the measurement protocols are presented in a standardized format which is intended to help new investigators to perform these measurements with some understanding of the procedures needed to
obtain reliable, repeatable and precise results.

The job is not finished. For many of the present techniques, the analytical precision is poorly quantified, and calibration standards do not exist. Some of the protocols represent compromises among competing approaches, where none seems clearly superior. The key to further advances lies in wider application of these methods within and beyond the JGOFS community, and greater involvement in modification and perfection of the techniques, or development of new approaches.
Readers and users of this manual are encouraged to send comments, suggestions and criticisms to the JGOFS Core Project Office. A second edition will be published in about two years.

JGOFS is most grateful to Dr. Knap and his colleagues at BBSR for the great labor involved in creating this manual. Many scientists besides the Bermuda group also contributed to these protocols, by providing protocols of their own, serving on experts’ working groups, or reviewing the draft chapters of this manual. We thank all those who contributed time and expertise toward this important aspect of JGOFS. Finally, we note the pivotal role played by Dr. Neil Andersen, US
National Science Foundation and Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, in motivating JGOFS to complete this effort. His insistence on the need for a rigorous, analytical approach employing the best available techniques and standards helped to build the foundation on which the scientific integrity of JGOFS must ultimately rest.

Hugh Ducklow
Andrew Dickson
January 1994