The overarching goal of JGOFS was to advance the understanding of, as well as improve the measurement of, the biogeochemical processes underlying the exchange of carbon across the air—sea interface and within the ocean.
[1] Early in the programme in 1988, two long-term time-series projects were established in the Atlantic and Pacific basins.
In 1989, JGOFS undertook the multinational North Atlantic Bloom Experiment (NABE) to investigate and characterise the annual spring bloom of phytoplankton, a key feature in the carbon cycle of the open ocean.
[4] An important aspect of JGOFS lay in its objective to develop an increased network of observations, made using routine procedures, and curated such that they were easily available to researchers.
[1] JGOFS also oversaw the development of models of the marine system based on understanding gained from its observational programme.